Smart things to know about innovation and creativity - Dennis Sherwood

Why is it that so many of us find it difficult to be creative? When so many organizations worldwide are desperate to hire and keep people who are creative, innovative and flexible, why is it that they so often inadvertently encourage exactly the opposite behaviours? Why do great ideas take so long to get approval? And why is it that by the time an idea breaks through into the mainstream of the business it has become sanitized? Enter leading innovation and creativity guru, Dennis Sherwood. Smart Things to Know About Innovation & Creativity shows the difference between the two, and how you can fill your life and company with both. Here are just some of the Smart issues to know about innovation and creativity:
* The ability to generate new ideas is within us all. It's a skill that can be learnt and its application enhanced with practice. But how?
* The invention, development and successful launch of new products and services is very important but it isn't the only way that innovation creates value in business. How can we put innovation at the heart of the whole business?
* Before you can generate new ideas you must be willing to unlearn existing ones. But how can you 'unlearn'?
* Did you know creativity isn't about luck or genius, but a deliberate search for new patterns of component parts that already exist?
* Once the generation of stunning new ideas starts to fly – and it will – how do we evaluate all the ideas and decide which ones to take forward?
* If you are going to put innovation to work you will need the culture of the organization to be right behind you. What do you have to do to change your current culture to make it truly innovative?
Innovation is fundamentally about risk. Smart business managers are not daunted by risk. In fact they know that in today's business climate being safe can be even more risky than taking that first step into the unknown. Smart Things to Know About Innovation & Creativity shows you how to take those first steps in a – surprise – innovative and creative way! Smart Quotes: "Unlike cutting costs, or making an acquisition, innovation does not happen just because the chief executive wills it. Indeed, it is confoundedly difficult to come up with new ideas year in, year out – especially brilliant ones. Underneath the gurus' diagrams, lists and charts, most of the available answers seem to focus on two strengths that are difficult to create by diktat: a culture that looks for new ideas, and leaders who know which ones to back." The Economist, December 4, 1999