The Investment Theory of Creativity - Coursework Example

BUENT2639 CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION Name: Institution Affiliation: Table of Contents Executive Summary 3 The Investment Theory of Creativity 3 Aspects of Creativity and Innovation 4 Mind Map 1 4 Barriers to Creativity and Innovation in an organization 7 Mind Map 2 7 Solutions to challenges of creativity and innovation 9 Conclusion 9 References 10 CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION Executive Summary Creativity and innovation are one of the most applied competitive advantage strategies in most of the successful organizations across the globe. As well, creative and innovative entrepreneurs are the people that have driven the world towards success. The main reason is that they create new products, services, organizations, and ventures. According to Martins & Terblanche, “creativity is the power of the imagination to break away from the perceptual set so as to restructure or structure ideas, thoughts, and feelings into a novel and associative bonds” (Martins & Terblanche, 2003). Several research studies and theories have been formulated to understand the nature of creativity and innovation. As such, two main researchers played a vital role in the success of such studies. These researchers are J. P. Guilford (1950) and E. Paul Torrance (1962, 1974). One of the main issues that the duo researched on is the nature of creativity and how to measure it. Both were great thinkers and emphasized on the measuring creativity on a psychometric point of view (Agbor, 2008). The Investment Theory of Creativity One of the most significant theories of creativity is the investment theory of creativity. The theory states that creative people are the people who can buy low and sell high. In this case, buying low is used to refer to the situation of pursuing ideas that are unknown but of potential growth. However, several challenges are encountered when dealing with such innovative and creative design in an organization. The most common problem faced is resistance. People in an organization tend to resist anything that is new for fear of the unknown and other reasons. However, the creative and innovative individuals are expected to be persistent with an objective of selling high (Wilson & Brown, 2015). Aspects of Creativity and Innovation Mind Map 1 There are six most important aspects of the investment theory that are worth discussing. The first aspects are the intellectual skills. Some key advantages are associated with having high intellectual skills. It enables an individual to view things in different dimensions and avoid seeing things in a conventional way. The second way is that it gives a person the analytical skills to be in a better position analyze the best ideas to pursue. As well, the theory gives a person the practical skills to be able to persuade others in the organization to accept and support their innovative ideas. A creative and innovative individual should be in a better position to depict the three most important confluent skills. When the analytical skills alone are used, the ideas developed will not be sufficiently creative. On the other hand, application of synthetic skills alone will lead to the development of ideas that are not fully scrutinized and will be difficult to improve in the future (Agbor, 2008). The second aspect of creativity and innovation is knowledge. An individual should have enough information about the field being innovated. Knowledge is essential since it enables the individual to advance the concepts and the ideas that are viewed as common. The third aspect of creativity is the thinking skills. One of the most preferred thinking styles is the legislative one since it is elemental in decision making. Creative people should be in a better position to make informed and timely decisions to ensure that the best ideas in an organization are implemented. Fourthly, creativity is fostered by a person’s personality (Wilson & Brown, 2015). Some key attributes are necessary for effective creative and innovative thinking. One of the common attributes is the willingness to overcome obstacles internal or external to the organization. The second attribute is the ability to take sensible risks since the field of creative is considered as very risk prone. For instance, a company may risk a lot of resources developing new products. In an as situation, they are not sure if the will get the customers and thus may end up in losses. However, creative and innovative managers will take such risks without fear of the risks that may be encountered. In addition to the above, creative people often seek opposition in that they decide what other find it conflicting. Moreover, the other aspect of creativity and innovation is motivation. The most common type of motivation is the task-focused or intrinsic motivation. Motivation plays a vital role in an organization that wants to maximize on creativity and innovation. As such, managers must put in place all the necessary measures to ensure that worker motivation is provided. One of the most significant ways of which successful managers has provided that motivation is the use of rewards and incentives. Employees who initiate others to be creative or develop new ideas are rewarded so that they continue with the spirit of creativity. As such, it is imperative to note that motivation is not something inherent in an individual. The individual has to be motivated by things such as rewards or incentives. In most cases, people are motivated when they try to do new things. Their main objective is to see the results and the benefits associated with the new ideas (Matthews, 2007). Furthermore, it is profound that creativity and innovation are substantially determined by the individual’s environment. Sternberg asserts that “One could have all of the internal resources needed to think creatively, but without some environmental support (such as a forum for proposing those ideas), the creativity that a person has within him or her might never be displayed” (Sternberg, 2006). One has to be in an encouraging and supporting environment to develop new ideas. Thus, this is a clear indication that despite the presence of all the required resources in an organization, without a supportive and conducive environment creativity and innovation cannot be enhanced. There are several obstacles to creativity and innovation in an environment. One of the most common of these obstacles is the presence of negative feedback. Most innovative ideas are not supported because people send a lot of negative feedbacks concerning the same. For instance, when an innovative manager wants to introduce a new product or process in organization employees may resist this thinking that it is a way of mismanaging funds. However, success depends on how a creative individual responds to such challenges and obstacles in the environment (Matthews, 2007). Barriers to Creativity and Innovation in an organization Mind Map 2 Many organizations have tried to incorporate creative and innovative strategies but in failure. Research has identified three main barriers to creativity and innovation in the organization. Firstly, lack of motivation and trust are considered as the primary barriers. Motivation is crucial in ensuring that new and innovative ideas are developed. For instance, a manager should ensure that the employees are inspired in teams. As such, teamwork will ensure that innovative ideas are developed and implemented. In addition to the above, managers should ensure that they give the necessary confidence to the creative and innovative employees. One way of boosting this confidence in an organization involves the employees in the major decision managers. The senior managers should cultivate a culture whereby employees and managers sit together and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. In so doing, innovative ideas are developed and implemented (Martins & Terblanche, 2003). The second common challenge to creativity and innovation in an organization is a lack of acceptance and tolerance of criticism in the conflict. It is profound to note that most of the innovative ideas in a group are welcomed with resistance and criticism. For instance, if an organization wants to use computerized systems a lot of resistance and conflicts will arise. One of the most significant is that the employees will fear that they may lose their jobs when the systems are implemented. Some managers also may fear that the system may not be successful leading to lose of the invested resources. As such, it is imperative that amicable solutions to such conflicts and resistance be put in place. Successful managers have devised various ways of overcoming the issue of resistance to change in organizations. Firstly, employees must be informed of the benefits of implementing the innovative and creative ideas. Secondly, the employees must be involved in the process of making decisions concerning these innovative and creative ideas. As such, this will encourage them to have the feeling that they are part of the planned changes. On the other hand, this will be essential in ensuring that the chances of resisting implementation of innovative and creative ideas are minimized. The last obstacle to creativity and innovation in many organizations is conservatism and authoritarian management. Managers play a sensitive role in promoting innovative and creative ideas in an organization. One of the most significant ways of ensuring that this is possible is through management support. Managers must develop effective plans to ensure that resources are set in place to fund innovative and creative projects and ideas. Another way of supporting creativity is through creating awareness. Managers should organize programs whereby employees in various departments are informant the importance of innovation (Wilson & Brown, 2015). Solutions to challenges of creativity and innovation As such, this will be instrumental in ensuring that most of the members of the organization have high awareness on innovation. Similarly, the management can organize training and competition programs whereby employees compete with innovative projects and the most competitive ideas are rewarded. This is one way in which the management can implement innovative ideas and fund them till they are developed and can be marketed (Srividhya at al., 2014). This is the strategy that is used by most of the successful companies across the globe. For instance, most of the software developing and vendor companies such as Microsoft, Apple, and Oracle frequently organize innovation contests. The contestants must have innovative ideas that can bring beneficial changes in the contemporary society. The best ideas such as software are implemented and sold in the software markets. Conclusion In conclusion, creativity and innovation should be encouraged in all organization that wants to succeed. However, for this to be achieved there are some key aspects that must be considered. Some of the most significant aspects include motivation, environment, knowledge, and personality. As such, managers and entrepreneurs must ensure that all these aspects are put in place. For instance, managers should make sure that the environment is conducive and supportive for the development of innovative ideas. As such, creative and innovative ideas will enable the organization to increase their production and increase their profitability. References Agbor, E. (2008). Creativity and innovation: The leadership dynamics. Journal of Strategic Leadership, 1(1), 39-45. Martins, E. C., & Terblanche, F. (2003). Building organizational culture that stimulates creativity and innovation. European journal of innovation management, 6(1), 64-74. Matthews, Judith H. (2007) Creativity and Entrepreneurship: Potential Partners or Distant Cousins? In Chapman, Ross, Eds. Proceedings Managing Our Intellectual and Social Capital: 21st ANZAM 2007 Conference, pages pp. 1-17, Sydney, Australia. Sternberg, R. J. (2006). The nature of creativity. Creativity Research Journal, 18(1), 87-98. Srividhya, S., Viji, P., Alikhani, S., Zakiani, S. H., Abouelhag, H. A., El-Sadawy, H. A., & Halimi, M. (2014). 717 Faculty leadership through self-assessment. Relation, 4796, 4800. Wilson, C., & Brown, M. (2015). Ambiguity, uncertainty and new realities: perspectives of creative value, utility and authenticity. KIE Conference Publications. Read More