Innovation

Abilities
Arousal
Attitude
Behavior
Beliefs
Competencies
Engagement
Environment
EI
Experience
Feelings
Intention
Motivation
Nature and genes
Organization
Performance
Performance Improvement
Performers
Process
Results
Skills
Social Pressure
Talent
Understanding
Values

Creativity is the ability to find new solutions to a problem or new modes of expression; thus it brings into existence something new to the individual and to the culture. As the births of living creatures at first are ill-shapen, so are all innovations, which are the births of time.

Creativity is the ability to bring into existence something new to the individual and to the culture, while a "new solution" is the innovation. Innovations are the "births of time". For example, when going back to rocketry (see creativity), we see that it was not simply one big creative thought that took place after a "mind-stretcher," but rather a series of innovations that took place over a long period of time. That is, someone did not say, "hey, let's build a rocket to go to the moon," but rather it started with the simple concept of gunpowder and then took on a number of innovations throughout history. Thus, creativity and innovation are closely linked together. Creativity is the process, while innovation is the product.

Drivers of Innovation

- Stay Out of the Way: You cannot drive innovation is you spend your time putting out fires. Therefore, hire and develope teams that can do the job and then stay out of their way.

- Get Results: Results are the drivers of business, and in turn, innovation drives results.

- Recognize Patterns: New ideas (creativity) are normally the result of connecting one or more ideas together (seeing a pattern).

- Forget Technology: While technology is indeed important, at times what we really need to do is find new ways to use our existing technology rather than invent new technology.

Copyright 2003-2010 by Liviu Marcoci