Nature of Creativity and Innovation - Google - Case Study Example

Nature of Creativity and Innovation Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Nature of Creativity and Innovation Executive Summary Creativity and innovation are vital topics and aspects in the business world. It would be impossible to read a business journal, magazine, or attend a business conference without hearing on the significance of creativity and innovation. Creativity and innovation have been regarded as vital elements for successful businesses. Moreover, it is a fact and reality that businesses around the world must be creative and innovative to survive. Even from the earliest conceptions of creativity, it is clear that people in the arts relied on creativity to advance their professions or works. In the business world, creative may be considered as the process of developing the big or unique idea while innovation is concerned with executing the idea. Currently, creativity and innovation have been widely applied both in theory and practice in the business or organizational environment. The following report aims at discussing the nature of creativity and innovation in terms of analysing personal and organizational styles and assessment of strategies for creative thinking and innovation. Definitions of Creativity and Innovation Creativity and innovation have various definitions, but there is no universally accepted definition. Creativity can simply be defined as the process of coming up with a unique idea or concept (Bryan & Cameron, 1999). The main source of this creative thinking process is a problem. Therefore, creativity or creative thinking is a method for viewing situations or problems from a new perspective that entails unconventional solutions. It is in trying to solve this problem, that creative thinking is used to come up with a unique or revolutionary idea. Innovation in a simple definition may be defined as the process of executing the unique or big idea. In the business context, innovation is taken to mean the process of interpreting an invention or idea into a product or service that creates value that consumers will pay (Drucker & Ferdinand, 1999). According to Kuhn (1993), creativity in management involves new ideas, new methods, new direction, and new modes of operation while innovation in management involves the processes of implementing these creative ideas for an effective transition to new directions. Kaufmann (2001) argues that creativity is closely related to problem solving that leads to high-innovation solutions. Additionally, if a mentally disabled person or psychotic person conceives weird ideas, the ideas may be regarded as original and innovative, but they may be hardly considered creative. In this case, creative thinking can only be justified if the ideas generated have some value or use. An additional criterion for considering an idea as creative also includes nourishing on high persistence and motivation and occurs either within a moderately long period of time, intermittently or continuously, or at a high-level intensity (Kaufmann, 2001). When it comes to innovation, not every idea either a process or product can be considered innovative. For an idea to be considered innovative, it must also be accompanied by a value or use (Auernhammer & Hall, 2013). In the economic sense, the creative idea is commercialized either as a new process, product, device or system. Overall, creative can be understood as the process of developing an idea that has a certain use or value in the real world. Moreover, innovation is the process of translating creative idea into a useful or valuable service or commodity. In the economic or organizational sense, an innovation should not only meet consumer needs, but should be profitable for the organization. However, it is important to note that all processes or concepts involve some sought of value or use. Therefore, ideas or new products/services that have no value or add no value cannot be considered creative and innovative. A major lesson on the definition of creativity and innovation is that employees and leaders should use creative thinking and innovation to add value to new products, systems, or services. Nature of Creativity and Innovation Even with the definition of creativity and innovation, people and organizations use different strategies for creative thinking and innovation. Previous and current literature has identified numerous styles and strategies for creative thinking and innovation. The basic strategies for applying creative thinking can be understood from the definition. According to Kaufmann (2001), creativity or creative thinking is closely linked to problem solving. Problem-solving is major challenge in all organizations and takes a larger context. Businesses seeking to introduce a new product/service or improve/upgrade an existing service/product have to undertake problem-solving processes. Therefore, it is through creativity that problem solvers are able to develop an innovative solution, one that is revolutionary in terms of use or value. One of the main features or strategies organizations use is challenging the status quo (Henry & Mayle, 2002). This involves going beyond the set rules or processes for finding a solution and doing the unexpected. One of the strategies used in this area is the concept of perpetual challenging. Andriopoulos & Lowe (2000), argued that perpetual challenging means the methods used by creative organizations to improve their employee’s internal motivation to recognize each project as a fresh creative challenge. By doing this, the employees’ personal input is maximized and an innovative solution can be developed. The use of perpetual challenging is based on four variables including opportunising, overt confronting, adventuring, and portfolioing (Andriopoulos & Lowe 2000). All these variables are based on challenging the status quo. When using adventuring, it means that employees can go beyond the normal or required process boundaries and in turn exploit their individual contributions to develop innovative solutions. Creativity and innovation are also based on relevant skills. According to Auernhammer & Hall (2013), if an individual has a motivation to perform a certain task, the performance will be considered acceptable or satisfactory based on the required level of skills to handle the required task. However, the same person, even with high-level skills, may not yield creative work if the creative-significant skills are missing. Creative thinking requires an individual with the mental or intellectual skills of taking fresh perspectives on challenges or problems. In general creative skills are based on numerous factors including personality qualities, diverse experience, naiveté, and social skills among others. People who possess creative skills have the ability to turn the familiar into strange (Gordon, 1961). Moreover, the environment has to be right or conducive for creativity and innovation to occur. When thinking of these creativity and innovation relevant skills, it is clear that organizations require numerous styles or strategies harnessing the intellectual and knowledge resources among their employees (Harvard Business Essentials, 2003). One the main vital elements needed to support innovation is leadership. Leadership ensures that the right environment is created to support creative thinking and innovation. According to Allen (1999), top management are the only people in the organization who can buy into innovation. Without the support of top management, innovation is likely to fail or seize to exist within the organization. Therefore managers must be the type of leaders who embrace innovation. Additionally, the environment and whole organizational culture should relate or reflect a creative and innovative environment. Organizational behaviour has been illustrated to help some of the most innovative business in the world. To understand the nature and in this case the ingredients to successful innovation, the case of Google Inc. as an organization whose success is based on innovation is discussed. Innovation at Google Google is one of the largest IT and web search companies with its search engine being the biggest one in the world (Steiber & Alänge 2013). The company has grown over the years to offer diversified products including internet, adverting, TV, smartphones, and software among others. Google is ranked one of the most innovative companies based on the finances spent in research and development and their overall sales or profits achieved from investing in R&D. One of the main features or strategies used by Google is in their employee recruitment. Google receives about one million job applications annually, but only about 0.5% of these applicants are hired (Steiber & Alänge 2013). The hiring process is based on ensuring that applicants are able to illustrate their professional and individual skills. This ensures that only the best in terms of personal and professional levels make to Google. As discussed earlier, professional or career skills may not be adequate enough to guarantee creativity and innovation. Unlike other companies, Google has tons of innovative products or features on their numerous product and service segments. All these innovations and continuous improvements are owned to a highly innovative team with the creative –relevant skills. Therefore, one of the main ingredients of successful innovation is having the right type of people or people with the right or suitable creative and innovative skills. Another major strategy of Google’s success through innovation is providing the suitable environment for innovation and creativity (Steiber & Alänge 2013). Google has ensured that all their employee’s safety and physiological needs are adequate and effective. This includes compensation, rewards, and bonuses, which are the common incentives in all companies. However, Google has taken the notch higher by offering benefits such as gym, laundry rooms, massage rooms, carwashes, commuting buses, haircuts, and dining facilities. Overall, the company offers just about everything a hardworking and creative employee might want in their busy lives outside the organization (Steiber & Alänge 2013). Even the manner in which employees are treated is based on Google’s philosophy of striving to be innovative and unique in all service provisions to customers and employees. Employees at Google even enjoy special benefits such as mounting climbing or adopting children. All these special and unique benefits relate to the theory of perpetual challenging in terms of adventuring. Moreover, offering all these benefits and amenities ensures that employees have total focus on their work and problems in terms of developing innovative solutions. Another major ingredient of successful innovation is organizational culture. Google has one of the best organizational culture that is based on innovation and creativity (McLean, 2005). Employees who are hired by Google are asked to take a trip around the organization and identify a team or project that they believe they can make a contribution (McLean, 2005). This gives new employees the autonomy to choose what they can do best, thus they are able to offer their best in terms of creativity and innovation. The environment is also developed to focus on engagement of employees in a relatively significant manner. Another organizational culture element is the ability to engage in openly sharing ideas since Google believes that everyone in the company is committed to discovering the best idea (McLean, 2005). Employees are allowed and have developed the culture of openly sharing their ideas as well as question and challenge their ideas in a healthy manner. Additionally, the adopting of culture is strongly instilled in the leadership styles used by Google managers. Leadership plays a critical role in successful innovation since it enables employees to be open-minded and have the support of top management. Leaders at Google have developed a culture of learning that is trained into new employees through enriching experiences. When employees are recruited, they are treated in a manner that teaches them the culture at Google. New employees are assigned mentors who drop by their work stations regularly to check on their progress as well as challenges (McLean, 2005). The overall, organizational culture applies the whole engagement formula that requires increased investment in ensuring that the knowledge resources are well managed and preserved. Overall, Google’s success is based on its strategies of managing creativity and innovation. Organizations seeking to emulate Google should consider the issues of organizational culture, leadership, suitable working environment, employee skills, training and mentorship. Personal Reflection I have learnt a lot from doing this assignment. Firstly, I am now well aware of the differences between creativity and innovation. I believe that these two terms are different but related. It is from creative thinking that one can innovate. Another major lesson is that without any value or use, no idea, service, or product can be considered creative. Additionally, I was able to understand the key ingredients of successful innovation through Google’s case. I believe that the key ingredients of successful innovation include relevant skills, leadership, focus, a conducive environment, organizational culture, and mentorship. References Allen Clegg, B. (1999). Creativity and innovation for managers. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. Drucker, P. F. & Ferdinand, P. (1999). Innovation and entrepreneurship: practice and principles. Oxford: Kaufmann, G. (2001). ‘Creativity and problem solving’. In J. Henry (ed.). Creative management (2nd ed.). London:Sage. Andriopoulos, C, & Lowe, A. (2000). ‘Enhancing organisational creativity: the process of perpetual challenging’. Management Decision, 38(10): 734-742. Bryan, M & Cameron, J. (1999). The artist’s way at work. The Artist's Way at Work. Auernhammer, J., & Hall, H. (2013). Organizational culture in knowledge creation, creativity and innovation: Towards the Freiraum model. Journal of Information Science, 0165551513508356. Harvard Business Essentials, (2003). Managing creativity and innovation. Harvard Business School Publishing. Henry, J & Mayle, D. (2002). Managing innovation and change. (2nd ed). London: Sage Publications. McLean, L. D. (2005). Organizational culture’s influence on creativity and innovation: A review of the literature and implications for human resource development. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 7(2), 226-246. Steiber, A., & Alänge, S. (2013). A corporate system for continuous innovation: the case of Google Inc. European Journal of Innovation Management, 16(2), 243-264. Read More