ENT/ETR300 – FUNDAMENTALS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

CREATIVITY & INNOVATION

CHAPTER 3:
CREATIVITY AND
INNOVATION

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WHAT IS CREATIVITY

 (Lotherington,2008) - the merging of ideas which have not been merged

before. New ideas are formed by developing current ones within our minds.

 (Dorf and Byers, 2005) - the ability to use the imagination to develop new
ideas, new things or new solutions

 (Matherly & Goldsmith, 1985) – the generation of ideas that result in

improved efficiency or effectiveness of a system.

 (May, 1975) – the process of bringing something new into being.

3 WHAT IS INNOVATION

 (Howell & Higgins, 1990) – the process by which entrepreneurs

convert opportunities into marketable ideas.

 (Drucker, 1985) - the specific instrument of entrepreneurs, the

means by which they exploit change as an opportunity for a
different business or a different service.

 Luecke and Katz (2003) - "Innovation….is generally understood as

the successful introduction of a new thing or method . . . Innovation
is the embodiment, combination, or synthesis of knowledge in
original, relevant, valued new products, processes, or services.
4
CREATIVITY, INNOVATION &
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
 Davila et al (2006) - "Often, in common parlance, the words creativity and
innovation are used interchangeably. They shouldn't be, because while
creativity implies coming up with ideas, it's the "bringing ideas to life“……
that makes innovation the distinct undertaking it is.“

 (Lotherington, 2003) - Creativity enables people to connect unconnected

things and from that meeting, new ideas spring forth, whether they are
new ideas for doing things or new ideas for using things.

 Amabile et al (1996) – “All innovation begins with creative ideas…..We

define innovation as the successful implementation of creative ideas within
an organization. In this view, creativity by individuals and teams is a
starting point for innovation; the first is necessary but not sufficient
condition for the second"
5
CREATIVITY, INNOVATION &
ENTREPRENEURSHIP

 Creativity is the process of generating unique and useful ideas.

 Innovation will take place when there is a creative idea

generation.

 Innovation is about taking the creative/unique new idea and

turning it into something of value

 Innovation requires discipline and action to evaluate the ideas,

test them, modify them and then apply them. It is through there
disciplined and actions that turn an idea into something of
value.
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CREATIVITY, INNOVATION &
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
 Creative entrepreneurs observed people’s problem, and see
opportunities. These entrepreneurs then innovate by applying
creative solutions to people’s problems to better enhance
people’s quality of life.
 Entrepreneurship is the commercialization of creativity.
 Entrepreneurship occurs when an individual or organization:

a. Sees the potential in an idea that can be developed for the

marketplace or user groups

b. Is prepared to take the necessary risks to stir things up and get

things out of their neat or comfortable spaces

c. Has the skills (or access to them), confidence, determination,

and the funds (or access to them) to carry out the innovation
that is required to turn the idea into reality.
7 CREATIVE PROCESS

 Edward De Bono, 1992 – creativity is a process that can

be developed and improved.

 Everyone possessed a certain degree of creativity, some

of us are more creative, and some are a little less.

 Creative process involves looking with different

perspectives on unique relationships of the surroundings.
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PHASES OF CREATIVE
PROCESS

 Phase 1: Background or Knowledge Accumulation

• Involves seeking and gathering of information through

observations, readings, conversations with others, attending
seminars, meetings and workshops, etc.

 Phase 2: The Incubation Process

• Entrepreneurs deliberately allows creativity to spur by

breaking-away from the problem and let the subconscious
mind work on it.
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PHASES OF CREATIVE
PROCESS

 Phase 3: The Idea Experience

• Discovery of the idea or solutions to the problems (eureka

factor).

 Phase 4: Evaluation and Implementation

• Evaluation and implementation of workable ideas requires

high level of persistency and patience. Entrepreneurs do
not easily give-up when they face obstacles.
10 COMPONENTS OF CREATIVITY

a. Creative thinking skills

 The use of creative intelligence to approach
problems and find solutions
b. Knowledge
 Four styles of creative intelligence:
 Intuitive
 Innovative
 Imaginative
 Inspirational
c. Motivation
 Extrinsic
 Intrinsic
11
COMMON CREATIVITY
TECHNIQUES

a. Brainstorming  (Alex F. Osborn)

b. SCAMMPERR  (Micheal Michalko)
c. Lateral thinking  (Edward De Bono)
d. Mind mapping  (Tony Buzan)
e. Problem reversal  (Charles Thompson)
f. Attribute listing

Source: Adopted from http://www.mycoted.com/Category:Creativity_Techniques

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BRAINSTORMING
(ALEX F. OSBORN )

 Organize the group of ideally 4-8 students (per group).

 Choose the topic (problem) and write it on a whiteboard.
Lecturer must make sure that everyone understands the problem
or issue.
 Remember the rules:
i. Do not criticize. All ideas are welcome and valid.
ii. Do not limit the number of ideas. The aim of
brainstorming is to get large number of ideas.
iii. Do not filter /censor any ideas. Keep the brainstorming
session flowing.
iv. Listen to other ideas and use it to generate other ideas.
v. Do not discuss or question as it could stop the flow of
ideas.
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BRAINSTORMING
(ALEX F. OSBORN )

 The lecturer can conduct the session either in an unstructured

way (any group can give ideas at any time) or structure (going
round the group for ideas).

 The lecturer must be around to enforce the rules and write

down all the ideas.

 Lecturer should clarify and conclude the session.

 Lecturer should get a consensus of the best ideas produced

from the session (at least two).
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SCAMMPERR (MICHEAL
MICHALKO)
 A checklist that could assists students to imagine various changes they can make to an existing
products/things to create a new one.
 SCAMMPERR stands for:
 S - Substitute - components, materials, people
 C - Combine - mix, combine with other assemblies or services, integrate
 A - Adapt - alter, change function, use part of another element
 M - Magnify - Make it enormous, longer, higher, overstated, added features
 M - Modify - increase or reduce in scale, change shape, modify attributes (e.g. colour)
 P - Put to another use
 E - Eliminate - remove elements, simplify, reduce to core functionality
 R - Rearrange - change the order, interchange components, change the speed or other
pattern.
 R - Reverse - turn inside out or upside down.
Students can use these changes as starting points for Lateral Thinking
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LATERAL THINKING
(EDWARD DE BONO)

 Lateral Thinking – seeking to solve problems by unorthodox or apparently

illogical methods (Concise Oxford Dictionary).

 Lateral thinking - moving sideways when working on a problem to try

different perceptions, different concepts and different points of entry (get
us out of the usual line of thought).

 Lateral Thinking can be used in two approaches:

 Specific: A set of systematic techniques used for changing concepts and

perceptions, and generating new ones.

 General: Exploring multiple possibilities and approaches instead of

pursuing a single approach.
16
MIND MAPPING
(TONY BUZAN)
 Also called ‘spider diagrams’ which represents ideas, notes, information, etc. in
far-reaching tree-diagrams.

 To draw a mind-map:

 Put down a large sheet of paper and write a short heading for the
subject/theme in the centre of the page.

 For each major sub-topic start a new major branch from the central
subject/theme and label it.

 Each sub-sub-topic, creates a subordinate branch to the appropriate main

branch

 Carry on in this way for ever finer sub-branches.

 It may be appropriate to put an item in more than one place, cross-link it to

several other items or show relationships between items on different
branches. This can be done through colour coding, type of writing etc.
17
PROBLEM REVERSAL (CHARLES
THOMPSON)
The Method
a. Create negative statements. For example, in dealing with Customer Service
issues, ask students to generate a list of all the ways to make customer service
bad.
b. Doing what everybody else doesn't. For example, food delivery using “mangkuk
tingkat” or selling women accessories using vending machine.
c. Make a list of pairs of opposing actions which can be applied to the problem.
Make students ask themselves "What if I ........" and plug in each one of the
opposites. A small sample:-
i. Stretch it/Shrink It
ii. Freeze it/Melt it
iii. Personalise it/De-personalise it
d. Change the direction or location of your perspective.
e. “Flip-flop” the results. For example, if we want to increase sales, think about
decreasing them. What would you have to do?
f. Turn defeat into victory or victory into defeat. For example, if something turns
out bad, think about the positive aspects of the situation. If I lost all of the files
off this computer, what good would come out of it? Maybe I would spend more
time with my family?! Who knows!
18 ATTRIBUTE LISTING
Steps:
a. Identify the product or process you are dissatisfied with or wish
to improve.
b. List its attributes. For a simple physical object like a pen, this
might include: material, shape, target market, colours,
textures, etc.
c. Choose, say, 7-8 of these attributes that seem particularly
interesting or important.
d. Identify alternative ways to achieve each attribute (e.g.
different shapes: cylindrical cubic, multi-faceted….), either by
conventional enquiry, or via any idea-generating technique.
e. Combine one or more of these alternative ways of achieving
the required attributes, and see if you can come up with a new
approach to the product or process you were working on.
19 BLOCKS TO CREATIVITY

 Blockages to creativity need to be recognized and eliminated

so that it will smooth the way to creativity.
CLASSIFICATION OF BLOCKS ARE :
a. Perceptual
b. Emotional
c. Cultural
d. Environmental
e. Intellectual/Conceptual
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PERCEPTUAL BLOCKS

 Prevent problem recognition, limiting the problem.

 Inability to see problems from different perspectives

 Stereotyping, missing the connections or

associations

 Not thinking outside the box

 Literal thinking
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EMOTIONAL BLOCKS

 Fear of failure can paralyse us if we think what we

are doing won’t be good enough. Will lead to
procrastination and project abandonment.

 Most blockages are attitudinal or psychological.

Inability to incubate can lead to other fears such as:
fear of problem, fear of work, fear of fun, fear of
exploring and fear of abandonment.
22 EMOTIONAL BLOCKS
a. Fear of problem We are inclined to worry when we view our situation
as a problem to be solved.

b. Fear of work Lazy to merge or seek new ideas

c. Fear of fun Believe that fun is childish and a waste of time, yet
some of the best ideas come when we are relaxing or
fooling around.

d. Fear of exploring Uncertainties of the unknown, rigid people feel

uncomfortable to be adventurous and discover
because they have to leave the safety of their known
world.

e. Fear of abandonment Comes from the need to conform. Conformity brings

new acceptance while deviating from normal path or
escape show our independence and make us stand
out.
23
EMOTIONAL BLOCKS

f. Judging rather than generating ideas like :

“Oh, that won’t work”

“We have tried that before. It didn’t work out well”

g. Dislike new challenges

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CULTURAL BLOCKS

a. Tradition is to be maintained.
b. Playfulness is only for children
c. Fantasies or dreams are for crazy people
d. Comfortable zone
25
ENVIRONMENTAL BLOCKS

 Environmental blockages are those impose upon us

by external factors. These include the working
atmosphere, amount of stress on individual,
organizational culture, supervisory practices and
even the physical surroundings of our workspace.

 Blockages can also arise from physical and mental

exhaustion.
26 ENVIRONMENTAL BLOCKS

a. Lack of corporation and trust among colleagues

(lack esprit de corp)
b. Bosses who practice autocratic management
c. Too many distractions
d. Lack of financial and top management support
to bring ideas to implementation
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INTELLECTUAL/ CONCEPTUAL
BLOCKS
a. Failure to understand and acknowledge
problems that need to be solved.
b. “I don’t know; “Don’t’ ask me”
c. “Try asking someone else”
d. Many creative solutions are hidden by
mistaken assumptions. Therefore, people
need to be more open minded and
receptive.
28 TYPES OF INNOVATION

 There are 3 types of innovation :

a. Technological Innovation
b. Operational Innovation
c. Organizational Innovation
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TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION

 These are breakthrough inventions that have wide-reaching

impact and influence which benefit society and business.

 Major breakthroughs can be radical and disruptive for

people, society, businesses and countries or the whole world.
Example; the internet.

 They can change the way people live their lives, the way
companies do business and the way countries govern and
behave
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TECHNOLOGICAL
INNOVATION

 Example of major technological breakthroughs are : the wheel,

the printing press, steam power, electricity, wireless
technology, the computer, the internet, high performance
materials like plastic, fiber board, nuclear power and so on.

 Smaller technological inventions have less impact but still have

significant benefit to certain users.

 Example of small technological inventions are: the paper cup,

the ball-point pen, the electric toothbrush, the electric razor,
hair dryers, the garden hose, electric toys, remote control toys,
computer games, electric pencil sharpener and so on.
31
OPERATIONAL INNOVATION

 Operational Innovation is smaller, more process-oriented

Innovation

 Tends to be incremental in nature

 Doesn’t necessarily change products or services or how they

are used and most of it goes unnoticed by the public, but
often it is the means to improved products and lower
operating costs.
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OPERATIONAL
INNOVATION

 This type of Innovation happens by the very act of people doing

their work… “Hmm, what if we try doing it this way instead?”

 Have much smaller impact, per invention, compared with

breakthrough technological innovation, but cumulatively their
effect can be enormous. Their effect builds and grows over
time.
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OPERATIONAL INNOVATION INCLUDES:

a. New systems or refinements to existing ones. For example, internal

systems and methods for many aspects of work such as staff
administration, purchasing, distribution and sales.

b. Small improvements in operations or processes. For example, changes to

make equipment run more effectively.

c. Minor improvements or developments that will enhance it to a

technological product.

d. Innovative new business practices. For example, new ways for thinking
strategically.
34 ORGANIZATIONAL INNOVATION

 Organizational Innovation is where a company or organization

itself is innovative

 In an innovative company or organization everyone knows his

or her specific role in innovation

 It can be purposely built through putting organizational

culture as the operational style or mode to get things done.

 Innovative companies don’t just produce innovative goods

and services. They use innovative methods in everything they
do.
35 HOW TO INSTILL ORGANIZATIONAL
INNOVATION

a. Developing and instituting an innovative work

culture among the people within the company or
organization.

b. By enforcing work culture, company or organization

able to:
a. Change the way the staff work

b. Change their attitudes and mindsets

c. Improve their skills

d. Improve the methods they use to carry out their work

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EXAMPLES OF ORGANIZATIONAL
INNOVATION

1. A CEO who accepts the challenge to be innovative and

encourages risk-taking (a spur to innovation) and rewards
good ideas as well as the successful completion of projects
(the results of innovation)

2. An organization where everyone understands the many

benefits of innovation. Even those who are not directly
involved in innovative work, such as production people,
recognize they have a part to play in identifying better ways
of doing things. They notice what’s going on around them and
they find opportunities or way for improvement.
37 SOURCES OF INNOVATION
 Within the company or industry
a. Unexpected occurrence (viagra, penicillin)
b. Incongruities (Federal Express)
c. Process needs (enzyme for cataract operation, sugar free products)
d. Industry and market changes (advances in technology, healthcare industry)

 Within the social environment

a. Demographic changes (change in consumer preference)
b. Perceptual changes (fitness craze)
c. New knowledge (video industry, robotics)

Source: Adopted from Entrepreneurship A Contemporary Approach, Donald F. Kuratko and Richard M. Hodgetts, 5th Ed. Harcourt, 2001
 COMMON CHARACTERISTICS OF
38
CREATIVE ENTREPRENEURS

 Sensitive to problems
 Broad perspectives
 Flexible and adaptable
 Original thinker and stick-to-own opinion
 Risk-taker
 Motivated and dedicated
 Curious
39