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Creativity & Innovation

Executive Summary In this report I am going to talk all about the concept creativity and innovation. Creativity and innovation are becoming increasingly important for the development of the 21st century knowledge society. They contribute to economic prosperity as well as to social and individual wellbeing and are essential factors for a more competitive and dynamic Europe. Education is seen as central in fostering creative and innovative skills. Creativity and Innovation is a concept, an individual, a team and an organization facing on their daily business activities. Change is the rule of life. Change is constant which a universal truth is. Though, creativity and Innovation is two different concepts, it moves on hand in hand. Both contribute each other. Business Organization is a system which begins with an individual develops as a team and end up with the term called organization. This report talks about how an individual, group and an organization look at the concept creativity and organization.

Creativity and Innovation Innovation is the lifeblood of every business today. In fact, Peter Drucker claimed that "business has only two functions marketing and innovation." It doesn't matter what type of business you are in you need to live, breathe and think innovation. In a world of change, innovation is the only way to survive. Innovation has become a big business of its own. Organizations are springing up that claim to offer some new angle on enhancing creativity. Some new technique or technology that will help you is that little bit more creative. But with all this creativity being sold and innovation being bought, there is one big question that begs to be answered.

Creativity & Innovation

What is the distinction between creativity and innovation? In this article, I'm going to try to explain how creativity and innovation differ. And they are different. Both creativity and innovation are based on new. It includes new ideas, thoughts, value and new technology. But if both of them rely on new then that's not going to be the main differentiator between them. Creativity is the capability or act of conceiving something original or unusual. Innovation is the implementation of something new. Invention is the creation of something that has never been made before and is recognized as the product of some unique insight. Best example is Apples iPod. Both creativity and innovation usually rely on outside influence to create the new. It takes a little spark of an idea in order to get creativity to start on any large scale. And innovation requires outside influence otherwise it becomes simply improvement. So while there is some difference there, it's only a matter of intensity rather than something substantive. Both creativity and innovation involve action although of different types. Creativity often involves meetings, debate and other actions which fuel and direct the creativity. Innovation also requires action as the ideas are brought to focus and turned into new products with new value formulas. And both versions involve change. But there's a difference that may be worth considering. Creativity involves undirected change. You never know what you are going to get and where it's going. Innovation on the other hand, involves vectored change. It involves change with direction and purpose. What is the relationship between creativity and innovation? Let's look at the relationship between creativity and innovation. Creativity contributes to innovation. If we do so then we find that innovation requires a healthy dosage of creativity. In fact, organizations define innovation as the final output or the product of creativity and execution. In that definition, we find the true difference between creativity and innovation. Creativity is the effort and conditions involved in creating a new idea. But innovation involves taking that idea and executing it. It involves taking the idea and turning it into reality. Innovation is executed creativity. But more than that, its route creativity executed and turned into reality.

Creativity & Innovation

How creativity and innovation can be enhanced in organizations Creativity and innovation is the essential skillset for each and every organization existing in this business world. Beside a backdrop of uncertainty, economic instability and exceptional change a new picture is emerging of the skills and traits for success in the 21st century. At the heart of this essential skillset for the future lies in creativity and innovation. Creativity and innovation are the number one strategic priorities for organizations all over the world. In the recent decade creativity and innovation have been the top ranked strategic domineering. Almost not surprising it is creativity and innovation that enable the development of new ways of working that ensure profitability. Creativity and innovation is part of all our day businesses. Many academics have come up with the statement that creativity and innovation is concerned with generating ideas that are unique and valuable in order to solve problems and exploit opportunities. When we consider creativity to be part of everyday problem solving, we can see not only just for Chief Executives or arch-strategists, but for all of us. We can all find unique and valuable ways of solving the problems we encounter. In some industries and sectors, it may not be so much that we can, but rather that we must. Organizational profitability rests on individual creativity. Considerable evidence now suggests that employee creativity can make a substantial contribution to an organization's growth and competitiveness" (Baer & Oldham, 2006) Creativity and Innovation goes hand in hand. The biggest challenge facing by organizations is identifying and developing individuals with brainpower and especially the ability to think creatively Creative teams perform better and are more efficient. Teams that are more creative scored higher on objective measures of performance and are also found to work more cost effectively within budgets. These teams are characterized by their enthusiasm to think creativity and find innovative solutions to problems. Creative organizations are more profitable. In the initial stage of creative and innovation, creative companies connect the creativity within the organization to increase or invent new products, processes and services. Creativity and innovation is a part of management studies. It consists all the functions belongs to management discipline. Therefore, highly successful companies realize that planning, organizing, directing and controlling the

Creativity & Innovation

activities of an organization with creativity and innovation is directly linked to the growth and achievement of an organization without any doubt. Flexibility and speed of reaction were strongly dependent on creativity and innovation. High Performing organizations created powerful strategies encouraged deep insight, originality and the engagement of creativity across all employees. Creative Leadership is fundamental. Though, the creativity is essential and plays a vital role among individuals, teams and organizations creativity and innovation is considered to be the number one leadership trait for the future business world. Change is the rule of life. Only change is constant in this world. Leaders will need to be creative and innovative to stay up-to-date of rapid change. Further, they will need to inspire and coordinate creativity and innovation across all the levels where it is essential. They will need to identify and develop creativity and innovative skills in individuals, build and nurture in teams and set the culture and line up the processes to spread creativity and innovation throughout the whole organization. Finally, Successful economies and societies will need to be creative otherwise surviving in this business world is mirage. From an organizational viewpoint we can see why we must demand creativity from individuals, teams and the organization. However, successful economies will need to utilize cash, commodities and creativity and innovation. In conclusion, Creativity and innovation may be the most powerful and precious of all the resources to be rich in. With massive numbers of people entering the workforce, titanic improvements in productivity, and continued globalization, the rewards for creativity and innovation will become even better and greater.

Creativity & Innovation

Implementation of theoretical concepts and models of creativity and innovation To discuss the theoretical concepts and models of Creativity and innovation I would like to talk about my work place which is the world's leading international fund administration organization. It is typically categorized into business process outsourcing which includes internal business functions such as human resources or finance and accounting, and front office outsourcing which includes customer related services such as contact center services. It is contracted outside a company's country is called offshore outsourcing. BPO that is contracted to a company's neighboring country is called near shore outsourcing. Often the businesses processes are information technology based, and are referred to as ITES-BPO, where ITES stands for Information Technology Enabled Service. Knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) and legal process outsourcing (LPO) are some of the sub segments of business process outsourcing industry.

Investment theory of creativity and innovation It requires six resources of creativity. They are; Intellectual skills

Creativity & Innovation

1. Ability to see problems from different perspectives and move away from conventional thinking - As we work on number oriented activities to find the solution for a problem, we need to apply our academic knowledge as well as think logically. 2. Evaluate which ideas are promising To solve a problem we may use different accounting methods and tools and finally we have to choose the best way of solving the problem. 3. Ability to persuade others regarding the value of ideas that are worth pursuing Since, we are coordinating with neighboring country we have to convince and encourage them with our ideas to find the best solution among the other alternatives. Knowledge 1. Knowledge is essential for any progress to be made Both knowledge and skill is required to work in this process. Therefore, the HR finds the right person for right position by long process of filtering. 2. Must fully understand the point from which one starts The person who works on this process must have fully understood the concept going behind the process and act accordingly. 3. Ones perspective may be hindered or assisted by knowledge reflecting past experience Newly joined employees might have different opinions in solving different issues. But, experienced employees are over involved in finding the right solution on time. Thinking styles A preference for thinking in new ways is desirable for creativity individuals come up with different ideas and to solve different types of issues. It helps each other to think more and more in different perspective.

Personality 1. Willingness to overcome obstacles Each individual in the team contributes their maximum and best to overcome the obstacle. Sometimes, we may have to extend our working hours and complete the task to deliver on to the client.

Creativity & Innovation

2. Preparedness to take sensible risks As higher the risk higher the return, while working on some activities we may not aware what would be the outcome. Even though, we try our best with different alternatives to find the appropriate solution. 3. Tolerate ambiguity - Some of the alternatives may not suit for the solution at that time. It might be useful for another task in different manner. Motivation 1. Intrinsic, task focused motivation is essential Since, it is an interesting operation the essential internal motivation is important. An individuals willingness towards the operation activity is more important than the support by another team mate. 2. People who love what they do and focused on the task rather than reward Usually, the employees who are interested in the job that they engaged with never expect for reward but they give their best to their role. 3. Love at first sight or out of necessity Every individual loves their own role at work place. It is essential to feel the ownership for what they are doing. It gives more effective and efficient and the final output is highly productive. Environment Supportive and rewarding of creative ideas Environment is the atmosphere where the individuals work. Therefore, the environment must be friendly. Environment includes the colleagues work with each individual, desk and chair, lighting, refreshments, cafeteria etc. Environment plays a vital role in individuals productive and quality of the work.

Creative problem Solving process It is one of the preferable problems solving model which I practice in every activity that I work on. Assuming that working on difference appearing between the clients requirement and prime brokers act is explained below;

Creativity & Innovation

1. Objective Finding: The objective finding stage essentially involves divergent thinking to generate a list of problems. In this stage, different types of problems will be identified related to a situation. Convergence is then used to identify the most relevant problem areas for further exploration. Finally, the most important problem will recognized. 2. Fact Finding: Since, few individuals work together for an activity, in this stage where overall comprehension of the problem is increased by collection of relevant information. This also helps new ideas to be generated. 3. Problem Finding: It essentially uses the previous stage 'hits' to identify the most productive problem definition possible. 4. Ideafinding: It helps to structure the search for potential solutions. Mainly divergent activity is used to generate many ideas using a variety of idea generation aids. Sometimes, the ideas generated for a previous incident also used for the present scenario. 5. Solutionfinding: It is basically the choice of ideas that can be transformed into workable solutions. When the above main stages are completed it is easy to find the solution without any delay. 6. Acceptance Finding: It is primarily a divergent activity that helps to implement solutions successfully.

Techniques used to introduce or practice in my work situation. I would like to discuss about two main techniques that I prefer to introduce or practice in my work situation. They are;

2
Heuristic Ideation Technique:

Creativity & Innovation

Heuristic ideation technique is a simple and very effective technique to use in any work situation. Basically, it provides an interesting variation in the approach to suggesting new output ideas. Initial step is to have faith in my creativity. It means, that I have to believe and have confident on what I am doing. Therefore, without having over confidence on the activity that I am working on, using my knowledge and skill at optimum level is necessary. Secondly, destroy the negative judgment that I am having on myself. When I feel negative on myself with fear the concentration that l should contribute to solve the problem will get reduced. Therefore, the outcome would not be more productive and efficient. Thirdly, precise observation and pay attention towards the activity. Making myself confortable and having necessary information to find the solution is very important. Better understanding of the problem and having relevant information is more than enough to complete the task. Asking questions towards me is very important. In every situation I should raise all possible questions and try to understand what is exactly happening related to the activity is essential.

Brain Storming:

Creativity & Innovation

It refers to a group problem-solving technique that involves the spontaneous contribution of ideas from all members of the group and also the give consideration to over of ideas by one or more individuals in an attempt to plan or find a solution to a problem. Simply stated, brainstorming is a problem solving technique that encourages creative thinking. The primary rule when it comes to brainstorming is that no idea is a bad idea. This concept is something that Activity and Recreation Professionals really can grasp since we are often "outside the box" thinkers. With the other team members, we can have session before or during solving an issue. It helps not only myself but also the others to come up with their own ideas. There are many benefits to an appropriately facilitated brainstorming session. Some benefits include; increased creativity , increased teamwork everyone is involved and has a chance to be heard, increased employee morale and motivation, better work environment, increased productivity, certain individuals may surprise you and impress you with their ideas, you may actually solve the problem.

References:

Creativity & Innovation Proctor, T. (2010). Creative problem solving for managers: Developing skills for decision making and innovation. (3 r d ed.) http://ezinearticles.com/?Overcoming-Barriers-to-Creativity-and-Innovation-for-OrganizationGrowth-and-Improvement&id=7381965 http://ezinearticles.com/?Cultivating-Creativity-and-Innovation-in-a-ModernOrganization&id=7155834 http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/work-matters/201007/ideas-weird-ideas-work http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/working-creativity/201205/top-ten-creativity-questions http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/working-creativity/201003/recruiting-creativity http://www.innovationexcellence.com/blog/2012/08/04/whats-the-difference-betweencreativity-and-innovation/ http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Basics-of-Brainstorming&id=6447528 Melchior, T. (2012).C R E A T I V I T Y & I N N O V A T I O N Creativity and its Importance in Business (PPT Slides)

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