MODULE 3

CREATIVITY AND
INNOVATION

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 CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION- CONTENTS

• Define creativity and innovation

• Explain stages of creative process
• Explain enhancement of creativity
• Describe types and sources of innovation
• Explain principles of innovation

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 A. Define creativity and innovation

• Creativity is the ability to develop new

ideas and discover new ways of looking
at problems and opportunities.
While
• Innovation is the process by which
entrepreneurs convert opportunities
into marketable ideas. It is the means by
which they become catalysts for change.
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A: CONCEPT OF CREATIVITY
• Creativity is the ability to develop
new ideas and discover new ways
of looking at problems and
opportunities.
• It is a function of knowledge,
curiosity, imagination and
evaluation. Creativity is not only an
important source for building a
competitive advantage, but it also
is a necessity for survival.
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B: CREATIVE PROCESS/STAGES

The Nature of the Creative

Process
• Creativity is a process that can be
developed and improved.
Everyone is creative to certain
Degree. However, as is the case
with many abilities and talents (for
example, athletic, artistic), some
individuals have greater aptitude
for creativity than others.
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Cont…..

• Some people have been

raised and educated in an
environment that encouraged
them to develop their
creativity.
• They have been taught to
think and act creatively.
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Cont….

• For others the process is more

difficult because they have not
been positively reinforced, and if
they are to be creative, they
must learn how to implement the
creative process.
• Creativity process involves five
stages i.e Preparation,
Incubation, illumination,
implementation & evaluation.
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 Phases or steps or stages of creative process

1. Background or knowledge
Accumulation (Preparation)
• Successful creations are generally
preceded by investigation and
information gathering. People
practice the creative search for
background knowledge in a number
of ways.
– Extensive reading of variety of fields.
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Cont…..

–Join professional groups and

associations
–Attend professional
meetings and seminars
–Travel to new places
–Talk to anyone and
everyone about your
subject
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Cont….
– Scan magazines, newspapers
and journals for articles related
to the subject.
– Develop a subject library for
future reference
– Carry a small note book and
record useful information
– Conversations with others
working in the field etc
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Cont…

2. Incubation
• While the individual begins to
process his/her ideas he/she
begins to synthesize using the
imagination and begins to
construct a creation. Some of the
most helpful steps to induce
incubation follow:

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Cont…..

– Engage in routine, “mindless”

activities cutting the grass,
painting the house.
– Exercise regularly
– Think about the project a
problem before falling asleep.
– Sit back and relax on a
regular basis
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Cont…
3. Illumination
• As ideas begin to mature, the
individual has dream regarding
how to piece her thoughts
together in a manner that makes
sense. Because it is often difficult
to determine when the incubation
process ends and the idea
experience phase starts, many
people are unaware of moving
from phase 2 to phase 3.
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Cont…

• Ways to speed up the ideas

experience includes; Practice
his/her hobbies, Work in a
leisure environment, Put the
problem on the back burner
and take breaks while
working.

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Cont…

4. Implementation
• The implementation of an
idea in the creative process
model is when an individual
begins the process of
transforming his/her thoughts
into a final product.

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Cont…

5. Evaluation
• After an idea/solution reveals itself in
implementation stage, the individual
evaluate whether the insight is worth
the pursuit. Then he/she may make
changes to her/his idea to make it
worth and effective.
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C: ENHANCING CREATVITY
• How to enhance the creativity
depends on the targeted
group.
• For instance the
enhancement for
organizational creativity and
is not the same to the
enhancement of individual
creativity.
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 ****ENHANCING ORGANIZATIONAL CREATIVITY

• Creativity does not just happen

in organizations; entrepreneurs
must establish an environment in
which creativity increase for
themselves and for their workers.
• Entrepreneurs can stimulate
their own creativity and
encourage it among workers by
following the suggestions:-
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Cont…
• Include creativity as a core
company value. Entrepreneurs
have the responsibility of setting a
creative tone in an organization
which begins with the company’s
mission.
• Expecting and tolerating failure:
Creative idea will produce failure as
well as success. Creativity requires
taking chances, and managers must
remove employees’ fear of failure.
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Cont…

• Viewing Problems as
Challenges: Every problem
offers the opportunity for
innovation.
• Providing Support:
Entrepreneurs must give
employees the tools and
resources they need to be
creative.
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Cont…

• Developing a Procedure
for Capturing Idea.
Workers in every organization
come up with creative idea;
however, not every
organization is prepared to
capture those ideas.

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Cont…..

• Talking with Customers.

Business organization should
take the time to get feedback
about how they use the
company products and
services listening for new
ideas.
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Cont…

• Rewarding Creativity:
Entrepreneurs can encourage
creativity by rewarding it
when it occurs e.g. Financial
rewards and non monetary
rewards

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 ***ENHANCING INDIVIDUAL CREATIVITY

Just as entrepreneurs can cultivate an

environment of creativity in their
organizations by using techniques
described above, also they can
enhance their own creativity by using
the following techniques.
• Allow personal mind to be
creative. Giving him/her the
permission to be creative is the first
step toward establishing a pattern of
creative thinking.
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Cont…
• Give personal mind fresh input
every day. To be creative mind
needs stimulation.
• Observe the products and
service of others companies,
especially those in completely
different markets. Creative
entrepreneurs often borrow idea
from companies that are in
business totally unrelated to their
own.
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Cont…

• Recognize the creative power

of mistakes. Innovations
sometimes are the result of
probability, finding something
while looking for something else,
and sometimes they arise as
result of mistakes. Creative
people recognize that even their
errors may lead to new ideas,
products, and services.
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Cont…

• Listen to other people: No rule

of creativity says that an idea has to
be your own. Sometimes the best
business idea come from someone
else, but entrepreneurs are the ones
to act on them.
• Listen to customers. Entrepreneurs
who take the time to listen to their
customers often receive idea they
may never have come up with their
own.
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Cont…

• Read books on stimulating

creativity or take a class on
creativity. Creative thinking is
a technique that anyone can
learn. Understanding and
applying the principles of
creativity can improved the
ability to develop new and
innovative idea.
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D: CONCEPT OF INNOVATION, TYPES AND SOURCES

I. CONCEPT OF INNOVATION.
• Innovation is the process of making
changes to something established by
introducing something new that adds
value to customers.
• Innovation is the process of
translating an idea or invention into a
good or service that creates value or
for which customers will pay.
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Cont…

• Innovation is the process by which

entrepreneurs convert
opportunities into marketable
ideas. It is the means by which
they become catalysts for change.
• Thus innovation is a combination
of the vision to create a good idea,
determination and dedication to
remain with the concept through
implementation.
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Cont…..

• In addition, potential
entrepreneurs are always looking
for unique opportunities to fill
needs or wants.
• Most innovations result from a
conscious, purposeful search for
new opportunities. This process
begins with the analysis of the
sources of new opportunities.
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Cont…
• Successful innovators use both
the right and left sides of their
brains. They look at figures.
They look at people. They
analytically work out what the
innovation has to satisfy the
opportunity. Then they go out
and look at potential product
users to study their
expectations, values and needs.
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Cont…

• Most successful innovations

are simple and focused. They
are directed toward a specific,
clear and carefully designed
application. In this process
they create new customers
and new markets.

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Cont…..

• The following five criteria have

proven useful in measuring
economic innovation
– Introduction of new goods
– Introduction of new method of
production
– Opening of new markets
– Opening of new sources of supply
– Implementing industrial
reorganization
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ii. TYPES OF INNOVATION
• There are four basic types of
innovation
–Invention: The creation of
a new goods, service, or
process often one that is
unproven.

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Cont…..

• Extension: The expansion of

a goods, service or process
already in existence. Such
concepts make a different
application of a current idea.

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Cont…

– Duplication: The replication

of an already existing
product, or process. The
duplication effort, however, is
not simply copying but adding
the entrepreneurs own
creative touch to enhance or
improve the concept to beat
the competition.
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Cont…..

- Synthesis: The combination of

existing concepts and factors
into a new formulation. This
involves taking a number of
ideas or items already invented
and finding a way, so together
they form a new application.

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iii: SOURCES OF INNOVATION

Innovation is a tool by which

entrepreneurs typically exploit
change rather than create
change. Although some
inventions have created change,
they are very rare. It is more
common to find innovations that
take advantage of change.
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Cont…..

The internal and external areas that

serve as innovation sources are
presented next.
• Unexpected occurrences: These
are successes or failures that,
because they were unanticipated or
planned, often end up proving to be
major innovative surprise to the firm.

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Cont…

• strangeness : These occur whenever

a gap or difference exists between
expectations and reality.
• Industry and market changes:
Continual shifts in the market place
occur, caused by developments such
as consumer attitudes, advancements
in technology, industry growth, and
the like. Industries and markets are
always undergoing changes in
structure, design, or definition.
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Cont…

• Process needs: These exist whenever

a demand arises for the entrepreneur to
innovate and answer a particular need.
The creation of health foods and time
saving devices are examples.
• Demographic changes: These arise
from trend changes in population, age,
education, geographic locations, and
similar factors. Demographic shifts are
important and often provide new
entrepreneurial opportunities.
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Cont…
• Perceptual changes: These changes
occur in people’s interpretation of facts
and concepts. They are intangible yet
meaningful. Perception can cause
major shifts in ideas to take place. The
current fitness trend, caused by the
perceived need to be healthy and
physically fit has created a demand for
both health foods and health facilities
throughout the country.

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Cont…

• Knowledge based concepts/

new knowledge: These are the
basis for the creation or
development of something brand
new, trying into our earlier
discussion of invention as a type
of innovation. Inventions are
knowledge based they are the
product of new thinking, new
methods, and new knowledge.
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 E. PRINCIPLES OF INNOVATION

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 Principles of Innovations

These principles can be learned and when

combined with opportunity, can enable
individuals to innovate.
• Be action oriented. Innovators always must be active
and searching for new ideas, opportunities, or sources
of innovation works.
• Make the product, process, or service simple and
understandable. People must readily understand how
the innovation works.
• Make the product, process, or service customer
based. Innovators always must keep the customer in
mind.
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 Principles of Innovations cont..
Start small. Innovators should not attempt a project or
development on a grandiose scale. They should begin
small and then develop, allowing for planned growth
and proper expansion in the right manner and at the
right time.
• Aim high. Innovators should aim high for success by
seeking a niche in the market place.
• Try/test/revise. Innovators always should follow the
rule of try, test, and revise. This helps to work out
any flaw/ error/mistake in the product, process or
service.
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 Principles of Innovations cont..
• Learn from failures. Innovation does not guarantee
success. More important failures often give rise to
innovations.

• Follow a milestone schedule. Every innovator

should follow a schedule that indicates milestone
accomplishments. Although the project may run
ahead or behind schedule, it still is important to
have the schedule in order to plan and evaluate the
project.
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 Principles of Innovations cont..
• Reward heroic/brave activity. This principle
applies more to those involved in seeking and
motivating others to innovate. Innovative
activity should be rewarded and given the
proper amount of respect.

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 read
Do you think that creativity is part of human
nature or is it something that must be nurtured
and learned? Discuss your answer by providing
real examples

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