 Creativity is imagining something new and making it happen.
The novelty can be big or small, radically new or somewhat different. Imagination is vital. So is action because the value of creative ideas is realized only when they are implemented. New ideas always involve a change of mindset. According to Russel Ackoff creativity is the ability to identify and overcome self-imposed constraints. Making conscious efforts to see things in new ways is very important and not always easy. We have ample evidence-based research that we are all creative. We are not equally creative nor do we use our creative skills in the same ways. Yet we can all further develop our own creative skills. In our times of fast and accelerating change, more and more organizations are recognizing the value of creativity, without which no innovation can happen. A recent IBM survey of 1500+ CEOs concludes that creativity is the most significant leadership skill. The following twelve tips will help you improve your creative skills at work and in life. Tip # 1 Idea generation is only part of the process. First, do the groundwork - explore, understand and clearly define your challenge – beforeyou start seeking creative ...
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 Fuelled by creativity, imagination, reason, science and technology, innovation has served as the basis of human progress since the beginning of history. Innovation increases happiness as it solves problems, satisfies needs and makes people better off. It is essential for our well-being. I do not subscribe to the nostalgic nonsense that technology is evil and dangerous and that “good old days” are gone forever. Of course we need to understand that innovation always happens within a socio-political context which in turn shapes its outcomes. The costs and benefits of innovation can be very unevenly distributed and this, in turn, impacts society and politics. Innovation often serves selfish and even evil purposes. And it is undoubtedly impacting climate too, in ways which only international co-operation can address, and it shall do so with more, not less, innovation. At the level of individuals, the renowned psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has shown how happiness and creativity are intimately related in two seminal books*. Innovation practitioners will also attest to the importance of personal engagement and enjoyment in the act of collaborative creation. Beyond individuals and teams, companies and communities, what might we learn from surveying happiness at the level of nation-states? The World Happiness Report 2019**, commissioned by the UN and edited by economists Helliwell, Layard and Sachs, is the 7th of its kind. It is a pioneering study in the emerging science of happiness which shows how the quality of people’s lives can be coherently, reliably and validly assessed by a variety of measures of subjective well-being. (See table) "We have become entrepreneurs first by deeply realising our artistic identity and then by creating an entity that will support that identity."  We have learned to understand different forms of art in categories with common themes suggested by art critics, like impressionism, fauvism, cubism, surrealism, abstract expressionism, op art, pop art and many more. William Gompertz, Arts Editor at the BBC, offered a word to bring together a large number of contemporary artists who are in vogue today: Entrepreneurialism – characterizes a group of artists whose common theme is to have recognized and taken on art in many ways as a business start-up. He cites Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, Jeff Koons, Murakami and Ai Weiwei among others, and one might even add Cirque du Soleil.
(re: Will Gompertz: “What are you Looking at? 150 years of Modern Art in the Blink of an Eye”, Viking 2012). Throughout the ages some artists have always been more commercially minded than others, but a set of artists active today is more openly learning from business and blending with it. Dr Sophia Serghi, educator, musician and entrepreneur and Dr Joan Gavaler, educator, choreographer and performer, Professors at William and Mary College, Virginia, responded to some of my questions about business and the arts. Published by Better Business Focus Magazine - November 2019 The essence of timing, improvisation and exiting the realm of reasonLeading innovation in organizations calls for changing strategies (objectives, business models), structures (processes, systems, hierarchies and ways of working) and cultures (behaviours, attitudes and organizational norms). Some attempts at deep transformational change succeed (IBM and Whirlpool are well documented) and many fail (Kodak and Borders books come to mind). The failures are often because of bad timing, skillsets that cannot cope with the unknown and an unreasonable imprisonment within the realm of reason. Here are three tips to overcome these challenges.
Tip #1: Set the pace and stick to it Timing is always of the essence when change is effected in organizations. Keeping a lookout on what is going on out there and reasoned judgment on what new things are on the way are vital for strategic planning. Changes in the business context are of course beyond any single company’s control. To forge a new strategy and gain competitive advantage in a new business context, especially one that is greatly affected by digitalization and new technology in its many forms, established companies must also transform themselves internally. This might mean extensive firing and/or hiring, redeployment, new jobs with new work content, new chains of command and changing the content and form of communication with clients and colleagues. Change is always disruptive in that, for a period, the organization will be working both in the old way and the new way. In the process not all people will be equally happy because people have different rates of resisting, accepting or adopting change. Crisis management nearly always requires more directive leadership (and less time to discuss) whilst anticipative strategies can be more participatory. In any case setting a pace for the new way to completely replace the old way is essential and, in general, fast is better than slow.  Executive Excellence - Combine Leadership and Management to Create and Deliver Value |
| Author of lauded book ‘The Art of Innovation – Integrating Creativity in Organisations’, Dimis Michaelides puts forth how to get the balance right with sole and group creative problem solving. |  First published for Health Management.org Journal, Volume 19 - Issue 3 - 2019 See here |
Health professionals are well aware of the value of collaboration. The surgery and the emergency room, the care of a single patient always call for different competencies working together in an organised way. Health professionals are also well aware of the value of a single expert - a specialist diagnostician, a skilled surgeon, a researcher inventing new treatments. In an organised health establishment people will at times complain of poor collaboration, at other times of too many people meddling in their work and causing delays. They will complain that they have no help when they need it and too much interference when they want to get on with their work. We will argue that from the perspective of innovation, they are usually always right.
The innovation game is not played on a level playing field. Start-ups - companies under 5 years old owned by one or a small number of entrepreneurs and venture capitalists - will innovate quite differently from established companies, which have a history of successful growth and a market share to defend. Recent start-ups that have grown up, such as Facebook, Google and Netflix are hybrid cases, still youthful and on the warpath for new products and markets, and also with huge existing businesses to consolidate. Here are some of the differences between newly beginning and existing companies.
# Different appetites for disruption
The start-up thrives on it. Challenging the status quo is its bread and butter.
# Different appetites for disruption
The start-up thrives on it. Challenging the status quo is its bread and butter.
Leading innovation in organizations calls for changing strategies (objectives, business models), structures (processes, systems, hierarchies and ways of working) and cultures (behaviors, attitudes and organizational norms). Some attempts at deep transformational change succeed (IBM and Whirlpool are well documented) and many fail (Kodak and Borders books come to mind). The failures are often because of bad timing, skillsets that cannot cope with the unknown and an unreasonable imprisonment within the realm of reason. Here are three tips to overcome these challenges.