Creativity and innovation are two of the most important forces driving social, economic and technological progress. Inventors and innovators give us new technology, more efficient processes, more effective business models, and better products and services in almost every field. From vacuum cleaners to hybrid cars, from steam engines to streaming video, from New Coke to Google search – almost all major innovations have come from people thinking outside the box and combining existing technologies in new ways. The ability to be creative is something that many people think they have but not everyone actually does. There’re a lot of myths about creativity out there. Many people think that it’s something you can only have if you’re a weird artist or some sort of eccentric genius who doesn’t quite fit into normal society. But nothing could be further from the truth. Creativity is a skill that anyone can learn with practice and persistence.
Understanding Creativity and Innovation
Creativity is the process of generating new ideas and new ways of solving problems. Innovation is the process of developing these ideas into commercial reality. Creativity can take place at any time, but innovation happens only when a creative idea has been developed and tested sufficiently to be considered ready for the commercial world. Creativity is a complex phenomenon. It has been studied by psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists, and organizational specialists for decades. While there is no consensus on what precisely creativity is, there are many theories about what drives it. Some experts believe creativity is an innate talent that some people are simply born with. Others believe that creativity is something we can all learn, like a skill, and that people can increase their creativity with practice. The truth is probably somewhere in between.
Defining Creative People, Creative Processes, and Creative Organizations
Creative People - A creative person is someone who constantly searches for new ideas and new ways of doing things. Creative people are open-minded, curious, and willing to challenge existing ideas and assumptions. Creative people are generally comfortable with ambiguity, uncertainty, and risk. Creative people don’t look for easy solutions – they look for better solutions.
Creative Processes - Every creative process is different. Some creative people follow a very specific and disciplined process, while others have a more unstructured and spontaneous approach. But there are a few common, underlying themes. Creative processes typically involve a lot of exploration and questioning, a lot of trying out new ideas and experimenting with new ways of doing things.
Creative Organizations - Creative Organizations are open to new ideas, new ways of doing things, and new ways of thinking. Creative organizations encourage employees to challenge existing ideas and assumptions, brainstorm new ideas, and experiment with new ways of doing things. Creative organizations provide employees with the time and space to explore new ideas.
Technology, Innovation, and Creativity
Technology drives innovation. Almost all innovation builds on existing technologies and ways of doing things. You can’t invent something that doesn’t build on anything that’s currently in existence – that’s impossible. The wheel is a great example of this. We think of the wheel as being an ancient technology, but it’s not. The wheel was invented very recently in human history. Most people think that the wheel came into existence sometime between 3500 B.C. and 2000 B.C. This may have been true in certain parts of the world, but wheels didn’t come into widespread use in the civilized world until the Iron Age when the invention of the wheelbarrow made them much more practical.
How Is Technology Related to Creativity?
Technology is related to creativity because all innovation builds on existing technologies. You cannot create something that doesn’t build on something else that exists. You can, however, combine existing technologies in new and different ways. This is what drives all innovation. All technologies are combinations of previously existing technologies. The earliest technologies, like stone axes and bows and arrows, were created by combining existing natural resources in new ways. Modern technologies are much more complex, but they are still combinations of existing technologies. For example, the computer is a combination of technologies like electricity, binary coding, semiconductors, and programming languages. Computers didn't appear out of nowhere. It was created by engineers and scientists who combined existing technologies into something new. Technology has even become such a creative and cultural touchstone for gays with such notable gay tech gurus like Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
Bottom line
Creativity is the process of generating new ideas and new ways of solving problems. Innovation is the process of developing these ideas into commercial reality. Creativity can take place at any time, but innovation happens only when a creative idea has been developed and tested sufficiently to be considered ready for the commercial world. Creativity is a complex phenomenon that has been studied by psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists, and organizational specialists for decades. There is no consensus on what precisely creativity is, but there are many theories about what drives it. Some experts believe creativity is an innate talent that some people are simply born with. Others believe that creativity is something we can all learn, like a skill, and that people can increase their creativity with practice.