1

Creativity is a phenomenon whereby something new and in some way valuable is created
(such as an idea, a joke, a literary work, painting or musical composition, a solution, an
invention etc). The range of scholarly interest in creativity includes a multitude of definitions
and approaches involving several disciplines; psychology, cognitive
science, education,philosophy (particularly philosophy of
science), technology, theology, sociology, linguistics, business
studies, songwritingand economics, taking in the relationship between creativity and general
intelligence, mental and neurological processes associated with creativity, the relationships
between personality type and creative ability and between creativity and mental health, the
potential for fostering creativity through education and training, especially as augmented by
technology, and the application of creative resources to improve the effectiveness of
learning and teaching processes.

2
individual Creativity
An individual is a person or a specific object. Individuality (or selfhood) is the state or quality of
being an individual; particularly of being a person separate from other persons and possessing his or
her own needs or goals. The exact definition of an individual is important in the fields of biology, law,
and philosophy.
From the 15th century and earlier (and also today within the fields
of statistics and metaphysics) individual meant "indivisible", typically describing any numerically
singular thing, but sometimes meaning "a person." (q.v. "The problem of proper names"[clarification needed]).
From the 17th century on, individual indicates separateness, as in individualism.[1]

Group Creativity
The need for creativity is inversely related to the level of our
understanding of the problem. The less well understood the problem, the
greater the need for creativity. For example, the problem of constructing a
warehouse is reasonably well understood, and the degree of creativity
required to carry out the construction project is relatively low. The problems
involved in developing a long-term habitat for moon dwellers are not well
understood, and therefore would require a great deal of creativity.

It has been repeatedly shown [22] that groups are more effective in generating
creative solutions to unstructured (poorly understood) problems than
individuals. It is also clear that if the problem is structured (well understood),
then individuals do a better job of problem solving than groups. (if you doubt
this generality, consider the case of using a committee to add a column of
numbers-a well-structured problem.) Thus, the fundamental reason for
seeking creativity through a group process is that the problem structure is
ambiguous.
The discussion on group creativity in the remainder of this section is largely
adapted from [5, 8, 33, 35]. (The latter is a particularly valuable reference on
techniques to foster group creativity.) It is generally accepted that there are
five major advantages associated with using group creativity processes:
1. Groups bring together knowledge and skills not possessed by any
individual member of the group.
2. Groups are more effective than individuals in eliminating errors and
avoiding mistakes.
3. A group solution is more likely to be accepted by those who must
implement it than is the solution of an individual.
4. If the members of a group must act on evidence, it is likely that they will
be more productive and effective if they have played a role in
developing that evidence,
5. Group members learn from one another, stimulate one another, and add
to each other's knowledge and skills-that is, synergism occurs.

Creativity in organizations can be measured and acquired

Creativity plays an ever-increasing role in organizations as they strive for a
continuous flow of innovations. After all, there is no innovation without creativity. A
model consisting of five criteria for creativity in organizations was the foundation of
the Creativity Awareness Programme (CAP), which is being applied successfully at
Unilever Research Vlaardingen (URV, Vlaardingen, The Netherlands). Unilever
(www.unilever.com) is a global corporation that manufactures food, home, and
personal care products. At URV, 1600 employees support the Unilever companies
worldwide by providing them with the latest technologies and insights to improve and
develop these consumer products. Like many other companies, URV wants to

stimulate creativity in its workers to reach big and bold innovations (see box, The
making of . . . Creativity within URV).
The Creativity Awareness Programme

We developed CAP as a tool to place creativity in individual and organizational

contexts. As such, the program can be used by individual staff members, teams,
departments, or entire organizations.
The package comprises the Creativity Awareness Model, the Creativity Climate
Questionnaire, and the Creativity Awareness Training Modules. Together, these form
an all-in-one package suitable for individuals and organizations looking for ways to
enhance the use of creativity. We foresee that the outcome of the program will be
the implementation of Creative Problem Solving methods in the daily working
environment and will result in new creative projects and patents, as well as new
individual and organizational attitudes.
CAP aims to make creativity the subject of discussion within organizations. All too
often, the concept of creativity is vague and hard to describe. This program focuses
on making the concept tangible and concrete by measuring and learning to use
creativity. Participants are offered a set of tools to tap and use their own creativity
and that of the team, and to implement the results in the work and structures of the
organization.
By following the program, participants are able to change their work processes and
environment and to remove barriers to creativity once and for all. They do this by
singling out the organizational aspects of creativity, such as required resources,
time, rewards, idea management structures, and high-level support.

The Creativity Awareness Model

The Creativity Awareness Model, which supports the program objectives, defines
five creativity criteria: attitude, behavior, skills, structures, and environment (see box,
Five creativity awareness criteria). This model has a multilevel focus: personal
attitude and creativity skills, team behavior, and organizational structures and
environment. The first three criteria are used to find out what employees think of
their own creativity (Am I creative?) or the way they handle creativity within the team
(How do we react to each others ideas? Which creativity skills are used most
often?). The last two criteria are aimed specifically at the implementation of creativity
in the workplace. They help organizations focus on establishing creativity as part of
daily routines: making time to work on creative ideas, providing rewards,
implementing idea management structures, and ensuring high-level support.
The Creativity Climate Questionnaire
The Creativity Climate Questionnaire is a tool to measure the individual, team, or
organizational creativity. It is based on the five creativity criteria, and each section
consists of a number of questions relating to the specific criterion.
The questionnaire can be used by individuals and within groups. When it is used as
a self-assessment tool, the employee fills in the questionnaire, determines a score
using the enclosed score sheet, and reads the provided tips
and hints to improve on specific areas.
When the questionnaire is used as a tool for measuring
creativity within a team or entire organization, each member
completes the self-assessment. All of the score sheets are then
sent to the facilitator, who works out the scores and analysis for
the teams or organization. The anonymity of participants can
be guaranteed. On the basis of the results, the facilitator
recommends a training plan for the individual or the team by
designing the Creativity Awareness Training Modules using all
five modules, or just the ones needed.
If necessary, the Creativity Climate Questionnaire is repeated after a specific period
of time to measure changes in the creative abilities of the employees and the
creative climate of the organization.
The Creativity Awareness Training Modules
Creativity training helps to make individuals aware of their own creative abilities and
the abilities of the team. The outcome of the Creativity Climate Questionnaire may

lead to the conclusion that creativity training is needed. The training modules that
have been developed especially for this purpose can be used in any sequence, and
their contents and duration can be adjusted to each specific team or work
environment. Each complete training consists of separate modules composing a
training route.
Supported by established management science and psychological theories, the
modules relate to the five creative criteria defined earlier. Through the use of
assignments, participants put the theories into practice for themselves. After the
training, participants will be aware of the meaning of creativity and its influencing
factors. An assessment of creativity skills and techniques that are used in practical
assignments are offered to them as well. After the training, participants will be able
to eliminate barriers to creativity within the structure of the
organization and promote progress in the efforts of the
organization.
So far, 300 URV staff members have followed the Creativity
Awareness Training modules, and their responses have been
very positive. The program has also elicited positive reactions
from persons outside the company, because CAP has
influenced the organization as a whole, in addition to increasing
individual creativity.
The creativity awareness route
A manager who wants to assess the creativity of his or her employees would initiate
a discussion with a facilitator and potential participants to determine an individuals
or a groups objectives and the best steps to take at that time. The individual or
group completes the Creativity Climate Questionnaire (CCQ), and a facilitator
reports back to the manager. A program is designed based on the report, in
consultation with the manager and the group. Multilevel intervention may be an
option. The facilitator adjusts the training modules on the basis of the CCQ results
and the wishes of the manager and the group. Ongoing intermediate assessments
take place with the manager. If necessary, the CCQ is repeated after a specified
period of time.
What are the results?
After completing the program, we foresee that participants will have developed their
creative problem-solving skills that allow them to begin new projects and have a
changed outlook toward creativity. At URV, the number of Creative Problem Solving
(CPS) sessions has increased considerably since they were first introduced. CPS

has become a standard tool that project teams use whenever applicable. Sessions
are organized to generate ideas for innovative food or detergent products or to solve
technical problems. These sessions typically produce 120160 ideas;
some of them are worked out in detail, potentially leading to
innovations.
At URV, several projects have started from the ideas that were
generated in the sessions. Some of the ideas arising from a CPS session have even
produced patented inventions. Some project teams that have used the CPS
sessions to
advance their project have been nominated for the
annual
Unilever Research Vlaardingen Award, where
creativity is a
criterion.
Of course, the results are not apparent overnight. The Creativity Climate
Questionnaire reveals any bottlenecks in the organization on an individual level,
team level, or senior management level. A team may have high scores for own
perception of creativity, while falling short in team behavior. Analysis of the results
may lead to the conclusion that individual creativity does not surface in the team.
Apparently, team behavior does not provide members sufficient stimulation to show
any creativity they may have. Conclusions such as this may demonstrate the need
to reopen the discussion on organizational changes needed to break
down obstacles to creativity.

TYPES OF
INNOVATION

TYPES OF
INNOVATIO
N: THE 4PS
Innovation is often in the eye of the beholder what may be new and radical
for one person, may be old news for another. Despite this subjectivity in
identifying and classifying innovation, there has been useful work in thinking
about the focus of different innovation processes, guided by the question:
what is it that innovation processes seek to change and improve?
The 4Ps model developed by John Bessant and Joe Tidd provide a
powerful tool for such analysis. It builds on the hypothesis that successful
innovation is essentially about positive change, and puts forward four broad
categories where such change can take place:

Product innovation changes in the things (products/services)

which an organisation offers

Process innovation changes in the ways in which products and

services are created or delivered

Position innovation changes in the context in which the

products/services are framed and communicated

Paradigm innovation changes in the underlying mental models
which shape what the organisation does

Product innovation
Perhaps the most commonly understood form of innovation is that which
introduces or improves aproduct or service a change in what is offered to
end users. The Bic ballpoint pen is an example of a product innovation,
which has also benefited from a range of incremental innovations since its
original invention. The emblematic humanitarian product is food, which is
the dominant form of assistance. Different forms of food aid might be seen
as incremental innovations.
There may also be innovative products which help to achieve humanitarian
goals. For example, the LifeStraw is a portable water filter developed by
Vestergaard-Frandsen which enables individuals to drink clean water from
almost any source. Another example is PlumpyNut, a therapeutic food which
is both durable and can be dispensed outside of traditional medical settings.

Process innovation
Innovations can also focus on processes through which products are
created or delivered. Because so many of the products used in relief settings
are initially developed for non-relief contexts, a natural focus for
humanitarian innovation is to consider how an existing product might be
used in resource-poor or rapidly changing settings. Examples of process
innovations that have had a positive effect on the humanitarian sector are
the increasing stockpiling of goods in strategic locations, or the use of premade packs and kits.

Position innovation
The third focus of innovation involves re-positioning the perception of an
established product or process in a specific context. Position-based
innovations refer to changes in how a specific product or process is

perceived symbolically and how they are used. For example, Levi-Strauss
jeans are a well-established global product line, originally developed as
manual workers clothing materials, but then re-branded as a fashion item.
In the humanitarian context, position innovations include changes in the
signals that are disseminated about a humanitarian organisation and its
work. This may relate to the way in which aid is marketed and packaged for
potential donors. Alternatively, it may involve a repositioning of
humanitarian assistance within a particular operational context or for
particular users. An example of the former can be seen in attempts by
humanitarian agencies in different complex emergencies to develop principle
based cross-agency positions in relation to belligerent parties in complex
emergencies which amount to a set of conditions under which humanitarian
aid would be delivered, and a clear articulation of the situations where it
would not. Agencies such as Disability International or HelpAge International
are position innovators in that they call for the delivery of humanitarian
products and services to groups that are often excluded.

Paradigm innovation
The final P relates to innovation that defines or redefines the
dominantparadigms of an organisation or entire sector. Paradigm-based
innovations relate to the mental models which shape what an organisation or
business is about. Henry Ford provides a pithy quote, when talking about the
development of the Model T motor car: If I asked people what they wanted,
they would have asked for a five-legged horse.
Examples of paradigm innovation in the international humanitarian sector
include an increasing emphasis on local ownership and leadership of
responses to crises as an alternative to internationally dominated responses.
A greater and more central role for aid recipients is another example, and
finally, perhaps the most radical innovation is the idea of disaster risk
reduction approaches, which if successful can negate the need for any kind
of response.
The development of community-based feeding therapy is one of the most
recent examples of such innovations, with the combination of a product
(PlumpyNut), a process (community-based distribution) , a re-positioning
(the idea that aid agencies do not need to do the feeding themselves

directly) and a paradigm shift (the notion that families and communities can
treat malnutrition at home). Similarly, cash-based programming at its most
radical involves a new product (cash), new processes (means of distributing
cash), new position (a change in how aid is perceived by donors) and new
paradigms (a change in how recipients are perceived by aid agencies).

The discussion may give rise to a new outlook on the subject of creativity in which
employees share their problems and accept different opinions and ideas. Funny
ideas are considered a potential source of innovation and are taken very seriously.
Consequently, people appreciate each other more, which, naturally, has a positive
effect on the work climate.
New developments
The Creativity Awareness Programme has been designed to be used in any
company. The package is available in English and Dutch. URV is currently
investigating the possibility of licensing the package to one or more training or
consulting agencies to guarantee sufficient coaching as the program is implemented
in other companies. Future plans involve introducing the questionnaire on intranets
or the Internet so that interested people could conduct their own self-assessments.

The Innovation Process

By Jeffrey Baumgartner

The innovation process, in the business context, is a structured action that is

remarkably easy to implement. It begins with a problem and ends with profit.
As such, it is the ideal business process. So it is remarkable that so few
businesses have actually implemented this structured innovation process.
Fortunately, all you have to do is read this and implement it in your firm!

Step by Step
1. Begin with a problem
The innovation process starts with a problem or possibly a goal. However, the
fact that the business has not already achieved the goal might be considered a

problem. So, we can safely say the process begins with a problem. All
businesses have problems. Sales could be better, products could be better,
processes could be more efficient, costs could be reduced and so on.
2. Convert the problem into a challenge
Once a problem has been identified, it needs to be converted into a challenge.
A challenge is a short, terse question that invites creative solutions. Example
challenges include: "In what ways might we improve product X?" and "How
might we reduce wastage in our manufacturing process?" A challenge may
also be in the form of a call to action: "Sketch design ideas for product X" or
"Use building blocks to demonstrate ways in which we might combine
processes in manufacturing." Formulating a good challenge that addresses
your problem is critical to the innovation process. If your challenge does not
properly address the underlying problem, you may get a lot of ideas -- but
they won't solve your problem and therefore are unlikely to become
innovations!
3. Challenge colleagues to suggest creative solutions
Once you have a terrific innovation challenge, you need to communicate it to
colleagues -- or others such as business partners, customers or even the public
-- so that they can generate ideas. How you communicate depends on the
method of idea generation you will use for each instance of the innovation
process.
4. Collaborative idea generation
Idea generation might be in the form of a brainstorming activity, through the
use of real idea management software (one like our Jenni, which uses ideas
campaigns based around innovation challenges) or a team may be assigned to
devise and develop ideas. You could even generate ideas yourself, but as a
general rule, diverse teams generate more creative (both in terms of quantity
and quality) than individuals -- at least in the right circumstances.

Whatever method of idea generation you use, it should ideally be in a

collaborative environment in which people can work together to develop
ideas. Ideally, there should be no criticism, censorship or destruction of ideas
during this phase. You want to encourage people to think creatively and be
unafraid to suggest ideas. Early criticism of any kind will only make people
reluctant to share ideas, especially their most outlandishly creative ideas (in
other words, the best ideas), for fear of also being criticised.
Note: lots of people think that idea generation is the most important element
of the innovation process. It's not. A great idea, unimplemented, is worthless
to business. Nevertheless, you do need ideas to keep the process going and
creating an environment for generating creative ideas means that the resulting
innovations will be more.. innovative!
5. Combine and evaluate ideas
With lots of ideas in the pot, the next step is to combine similar ideas into
idea clusters or big ideas. Each idea cluster can be processed as a single idea,
thus making the next steps of the process more efficient.
This done, you can then evaluate ideas with an evaluation matrix in which
promising ideas are compared to relevant business criteria. The better the idea
meets each criterion, the higher its score. In the end, those ideas with the
highest evaluation scores are taken to the next step.
Note: evaluators tend to be overly critical of ideas. Hence it is important to
ask them not only what does not work with an idea, but also to ask them how
these problems might be dealt with in order to improve the idea.
6. Develop ideas
How you develop ideas depends on the innovation challenge and the kind of
ideas generated. New product ideas might be developed into prototypes.
Process efficiency ideas may be modeled. Marketing ideas may be evaluated

in consumer surveys and so on. The purpose of developing ideas is to test

them in the business environment and, if no insoluble problems are
discovered, prepare them for implementation.
In the case of highly creative ideas, it is usually best to create a prototype if at
all possible. A prototype makes it easier to sell a radical idea to managers,
committees and other dingalings who will be tempted to kill it off.
7. Implement ideas
Finally, you are now ready to manufacture your new product, restructure your
processes or do whatever is necessary to turn the evaluated and developed
ideas into implementations that generate value for the organisation. It is at
this step that creative ideas grow up and become innovations.
If ideas are radically different to business as usual or if they require
substantial investment, it is wise to implement them with a series of
milestones along the way. This enables you to review the implementation of
the idea in order to ensure it is either delivering value or retains the potential
to deliver value at a future milestone. Although many organisations today
make it difficult to implement radical ideas, once those ideas are launched as
projects, the responsible teams are often remarkably reluctant to stop the
implementation for fear of reprisals, losses or other consequences. You need
to minimise those consequences so under-performing ideas can be killed and
resources can rapidly be reinvested in promising new ideas.

A Scalable, Repeatable and Effective Process

There are three terrific qualities of the innovation process. Firstly, it is
scalable. An individual freelancer can use it to innovate in her business, small
teams can use it for innovative projects, business units and even entire
companies can use it. Although, with large groups, specialised idea
management software is needed to capture and facilitate the processing of the
ideas efficiently.

Secondly, the process is repeatable. A company can have numerous instances

of the innovation process in action at all times. A team leader can launch new
challenges once the ideas from old challenges have been implemented (or
even sooner in some instances).
Thirdly, the process is effective. It is based on a combination of Creative
Problem Solving (CPS) and standard business processes. It has been proven
again and again. Indeed, it should be clear that the innovation process enables
you to align innovation with strategy, focus creative thinking on current
business needs and combine multiple ideas in order to develop
comprehensive solutions to all kinds of business problems.
And, as we stated in the beginning, it is a simple process; one that can readily
be implemented in most companies. Although, you will also need to have
something of a culture of innovation in place in your firm in order for the
process to work. If new ideas are routinely criticised from conception and
committees are so risk adverse they are afraid to cross the street (as is
typically the case without a culture of innovation), there is little hope for the
innovation process.
On the other hand, if new ideas are always welcome, the CEO really believes
in innovation (rather than just makes bland statements about it) and the
company is willing to invest resources not only in innovation, but also the
implementation of radical ideas, the innovation process will perform
wonderfully!

Implementing the Process in Your Company

If you are interested in implementing the innovation process in your
company, contact us and tell us a little about your firm.
If you would like the world's best innovation process management software
to support your process, take a look at Jenni. Better still, contact your nearest
representative for a demo so you can see how well Jenni complements the

innovation process and enables you to align your idea generation with
corporate strategy!