Innovation and creativity: Skill or talent

In schools, colleges, work place we always hear the phrases Innovation is the key, Be creative. Think out of box etc.. Ask anyone “ Tell me about yourself” 99 out 100 would say I am optimistic, Innovative and creative. In a context those who preach to be innovative and creative, as well as the one who claims to be innovative and creative may not necessarily have a good understanding about what it means? Are we taught to be innovative and creative in schools, colleges or University.. It's a big no.... Then how to be innovative and creative? one need to figure out himself/herself.

I have decided to write about innovation and creativity to share my opinion about creativity and Innovation. I leave it to the audience or readers to decide its right decision to write about the very wage and really close terminologies, I hope my post possess the creativity & the X-factor. 

Let me put innovation in this way- It's doing things differently. Then what is creativity - It's doing things with your imagination. Isn’t the definition gives a better understanding of the magical phrase. Still not.. continue reading. Innovation is doing things in an unconventional way whereas creativity is approaching things in an unconventional way.

There are set of rules taught or followed to do or approach or tackle certain situation or to perform a certain work, if a bright idea results in increase of efficiency, reduction of time, evolution of new product etc... etc.. then that bright Idea said to be Innovative. Letting loose your imagination, conceiving bright ideas is being creative. Both the magical terms is not confining your thought process but just letting it loose and enjoying the magic it brings in. Creativity kicks in at an early age but innovation comes out of maturity. You know the funny part is both innovation and creativity cannot be taught. Bit confusing right.. no...confusing a lot... it needs to be conceived, perceived and nurtured .

According to an journal published by National Centre for Education and Economy suggests one needs to have Expertise, creative thinking skills and motivation to be creative. It also suggests that the environment needs to be conducive which implies one needs to challenged, Given enough space and provided with enough resources. These recommendations create a fair chance of triggering creativity and innovation.

A canvas painting artist needs to be creative with colors by mixing  different colors, creating wonderful colors and shades whereas he needs to be innovative with characterization for his art to stand out.

Creativity needs a conducive environment, Innovation needs an encouraging environment both of them needs a lot a time as it needs to crack the code. Innovation, creativity and out of the box thinking has become a new norm in any corporate. Do we have time? and environment to pitch in creative and innovative ideas. I guess no... we are jammed with meetings, targets and commitments. So what are we going to do? We are in a fix.. We were neither taught to be creative nor presented with an conducive environment. I did a bit of research in the internet and could not find a single article giving clear steps to develop the X-factor, so I tried to figure out from my experience and help the readers to understand about the subject.

Creativity and innovation if not applied in a right direction, it can be misleading, pulling us down to the point of start or keep us circling around the same point. Two teams were handed over the task of delivering a tough project with very tough timeline, budget and resources. First team decided the only way to deliver the project with minimum collateral is to execute with, "out of the box" ideas. They spent months together thinking and searching for out of box ideas. Second team decided first things first and started with planning, selecting right resources got the project moving, making slight changes here and there creatively. Guess which team made to the finish line successfully; first team spent lot of time in finding the magic formulae before starting, missing the timeline whereas the second team started the project then looked for innovative ideas.

Creativity& innovation are not alternative for the basic skill required to perform a job but enhances. Creativity & Innovation brings in change to the business, society, games, entertainment etc. The way we used work two decades ago is far different from present day. This is one the main reason of why modern corporate insist on Performance management and change management.

Creativity, Innovation & out of the box thinking were never taught in university, conducive environment is scarce and finally one doesn’t have required time to be creative & Innovative. With lack of every required parameter the below ways will definitely help us to be creative and Innovative.

As mentioned earlier creativity and innovation brings change, so the first and foremost to be  creative and innovative is Willingness to accept change. If there is no willingness to accept and change, you will not be searching for new possibilities and Ideas.

Creativity becomes blunt when there is no Rewards or Appreciation. Develop a social circle who are creative and innovative , so you can share appreciation among the group. Leaders, teachers and Parents shall appreciate, encourage and reward their employees, student or children when they come up with even a small creative or innovative ideas

At work brainstorming is a strong tool to create bright ideas. In a brainstorming session everyone is free to pitches new ideas which can be listed and selected. A collection of these new ideas could bring in creative and innovative dimension.

Lateral thinking  helps develop creativity and innovation. Developing the analytical skills, Puzzles, mind mapping techniques and to great extent practicing Vedic math's, Abacus could help improve lateral thinking which in turns multiplies the creativity and innovation.
Keen observation, Visualization helps quickening or triggering creativity and Innovation. With Keen observation one can be adaptive and visualization helps application of knowledge in various circumstances.
In this busy and buzzing world we work in a mono colored, boring interior, highly illuminated, sound proof & climate controlled offices without having any clue of environmental changes like varying temperature or luminosity. In such environments our brain experience boredom and stress which is the worst enemy of creativity. Be close to nature  and avoid boredom. Reflection, shadows, weather, natural colors help nourish the creativity.

Let's equip ourselves to be creative and Innovative and get in to action when the situations calls for. Next time if your boss, teacher or  parent tells you to be creative and innovative, ask them to join you in the process........Just for fun .......after all creativity and innovation is fun.

Picture courtesy: Pictures are collected from internet. Thankful to whom so ever have created these great images

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Allwyn's blog has many self-improvement, motivational and Inspiration blog articles. Get the latest update as soon as a new blog is posted by following the  blog directly or through social media accounts to get updates on the latest post



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                                                                        Blog By: Allwyn Chellakumar