Concise Adair on Creativity and Innovation , livre ebook

Thorogood Publishing - Neil Adair John/ Thomas

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43 pages

English

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recuitment and innovationNew ideas are essential for industry, they are the lifeblood of successful organisations. Creative and innovative thinking, the means by which ideas are born and nurtured, are not products of clearly defined steps, they can be encouraged in various ways.This book encapsulates all of Professor Adair's writing on how to recruit the right people for your organisation, team training, generation of ideas, communication and overcoming obstacles, the key characteristics of innovators and how to organise and use them to the best effect.

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Strategic management

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Publié par	Thorogood Publishing
Date de parution	18 septembre 2013
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781854188403
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0378€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

First published in eBook format 2013 Thorogood Publishing Ltd 10-12 Rivington Street London EC2A 3DU Telephone: 020 7749 4748 Fax: 020 7729 6110 Email: info@thorogoodpublishing.co.uk Web: www.thorogoodpublishing.co.uk
© John Adair 2004
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed upon the subsequent purchaser.
No responsibility for loss occasioned to any person acting or refraining from action as a result of any material in this publication can be accepted by the author or publisher.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 1 85418 273 0
The author and editor
John Adair
John Adair is internationally acknowledged as having had a significant influence on management and leadership development in both the business and military spheres. He has seen military service, lectured at Sandhurst, worked extensively as a consultant, held professorships in Leadership Studies and authored well received management and leadership books, including Inspiring Leadership, The Adair Handbook of Management and Leadership, The Concise Adair on Leadership, The Concise Time Management and Personal Development and The Concise Adair on Communication and Presentation Skills . ( www.johnadair.co.uk )
Neil Thomas
Neil Thomas is the Chairman of Thorogood Publishing Ltd and Managing Director of Falconbury Ltd. He has been involved in publishing and seminar/training for over twenty-five years. ( www.thorogoodpublishing.co.uk , www.falconbury.co.uk )
Introduction
New ideas are essential for industry, they are the lifeblood of successful organisations. Creative and innovative thinking, the means by which ideas are born and nurtured, are not products of clearly defined steps, they can be encouraged in various ways.
We all have new ideas but really good, creative new ideas vary in quality and frequency. A good idea can be classed as one that a critical mass of people consider to be both useful and original. Those people who have a high rate of excellent ideas are the true creative thinkers. Most creative thinkers can be placed on a scale relative to their quality and quantity of ideas.

Really good managers (and all successful businesses have them) are capable of having, or recognising, good ideas and using them to make things happen in a new way: of translating ideas into useful, practicable and commercial products, services or systems.
Innovation (to bring in or introduce something new – a new idea, method or device) draws together new ideas and their implementation, whereas creativity is the having of new ideas which, in an organisation, are generated or spotted by individuals or teams.
It is important for all managers and leaders to: understand creativity and the creative processes eliminate impediments to creativity and creative thinking widen their field of view as well as that of their staff build on ideas and not merely criticise them tolerate doubts and uncertainties adopt a creative attitude in listening, observing and reading be confident in your own creative skills make time to think participate creatively as a leader, manager or member of a team use teams to innovate effectively manage innovation in your business.
How far you develop your and your teams’ creative abilities is largely up to you. Your motivation to succeed will dictate how far you exert yourself to learn all you can about the art of being creative and innovative. Personal experience is a great way to learn once you understand the basic principles and thought processes.
Use the principles set out in this book to build your mind and encourage the right mind set to become more creative and innovative. The benefits this book can bring to you include: Developing your understanding of the creative process Overcoming the barriers to having new ideas and creative thoughts Enlarging your parameters of vision and information Building on your ideas as well as criticising them when relevant Increasing your tolerance for uncertainty and doubt Reading, listening and absorbing information around you with a creative mind Making you aware of having time to think Giving you confidence in yourself to be creative Encouraging you to be a more effective manager or leader to build creative teams Managing innovation within your organisation for the most successful outcomes.
Remember, the future of our civilisation depends on the creative flair and innovative genius of people like you.
This book is divided into two parts: Part one: creative thinking looks at obstacles to creativity and ways to improve it personally and organisationally; and Part two: innovation details how best to manage creativity and encourage innovation successfully in business.
Part One: Creative Thinking The creative process Obstacles which inhibit creativity Developing creativity Decision-making and the creative thinker Key elements of creative thinking and decision-making Other useful approaches to creative thinking and decision-making Using creative thinking to evaluate the options
The creative process
Creativity can be improved by remembering that the creative process has four main stages and each needs to be properly ‘worked’: Preparation: information gathering, analysis and solution exploration. Incubation: letting the mind work to continue the process sub-consciously. Illumination: inspiration – which can come when the individual is not necessarily thinking about the problem but is in a relaxed frame of mind. Verification: testing ideas, solution, hunches, insights for applicability.
Obstacles which inhibit creativity Negativity in individuals and in teams: focusing on the negative aspects of a problem as opposed to using your energy to seek opportunities for a solution. Fear of failure: a fear of appearing foolish in front of colleagues. Lack of quality thinking time and experiences to draw from: being over-stressed can make it difficult to think objectively and inhibits the natural thinking process. Over-conformance with rules and regulations, a lack of freedom to develop: too many rules can encourage mental laziness. Making assumptions that are not necessarily true: failing to identify the assumptions you are making will inhibit the process of developing new ideas. Applying too much logic and not listening to the depth mind: too much logic excludes imagination, intuition and synthesis from your thought process. Thinking you are not creative: the biggest barrier of all!
The non-creative person
These obstacles can be seen in the profile of the non-creative person; someone who is: not able to think positively about problems (and does not see them as opportunities) too busy or stressed to think objectively or at all very self-critical timid in putting forward a new idea (fearing ridicule) viewed as a conformist by friends/colleagues prone to apply logic as a first and last resort sceptical that many people are capable of being creative unable to think laterally uninspired even when confronted with a new idea.
On the other hand, creativity can be encouraged in people (including oneself) by exploring some of the qualities and characteristics of creative thinkers and the activities and steps that can be undertaken to improve the processes involved.
Developing creativity
To be creative an individual should:
1 Think beyond the invisible frameworks that surround problems and situations.
Think ‘outside of the box’. Be open to new observations and thoughts, however ridiculous they may seem at first. We tend to see what we expect to be there but if we opened our minds beyond the ‘normal’ we would be more observant, objective and creative in our thoughts. Considering a new starting point and perspective when looking for a solution can be very inspiring. Approaching the problem from a different angle can encourage new ideas. Creative thinking should be an adventure into the unknown.
2 Recognise when assumptions are being made and challenge them.
Never assume anything as you are making the supposition that it is correct or true. Preconceptions are the ideas you have before you gain actual knowledge. Assumptions and preconceptions are often unwarranted and misleading, and are great blockers to creative thinking. Challenging assumptions can open up a whole new creative process.
3 Spot blinkered thinking and widen the field of vision (to draw on the experiences of other individuals and businesses).
It is very easy to only ‘think within the box’ when you are faced with a problem but if you widen your parameters the answers may be closer than you think. Technologies and practices in industries other than your own may spark an idea, leading to a solution. Travel can widen your horizons and your span of relevance and open up all sorts of new avenues for thought.
4 Develop and adapt ideas from more than one source.
As humans we cannot make something out of nothing, our minds need something to work on, so we combine ideas and elements which are already in existence, to create new ideas and products. The creative mind can see possibilities, bonds and connections between various elements which others cannot see.
5 Practice serendipity (finding valuable and agreeable things when not particularly seeking them) – having a wide attention span and range of interests is important.
When we’re involved in trying to solve a problem we tend to have a narrow focus but we should always be open and aware of the unexpected. What may seem irrelevant at first could later bec