Creativity, Invention and Innovation – Relationship and Differentiation
Creativity, Invention and Innovation – Relationship and differentiation
This article explores the relationship and differences between creativity, invention and innovation in the organisational context.
Creativity, invention and innovation are not the same thing. Creativity is the ability to see or perceive the world in different ways and to make connections between things that may be unrelated or those that we previously thought were not connected resulting in a generation of solutions to problems.
Cooper (1998) considered creativity as an element of competitive advantage for organisations.
Creative organisations need to be skilled at creating, acquiring and transferring knowledge and modifying behaviours.
A number of research initiatives on creativity have shown that creativity is influenced by the organisational context. One of the notable research is that of Amabile (1997) who showed that there are a number of parameters that impeded or stimulated creativity:
- Organisational encouragement;
- Supervisory encouragement ;
- Work group encouragement ;
- Freedom and autonomy ;
- Resources ;
- Pressures ;
- Organisational Impediments
Ekvall (1996) looked at the organisational climatic dimensions which affects organisational creativity. He identified ten dimensions :
- Challenge ;
- Freedom ;
- Idea Time ;
- Dynamism ;
- Idea Support ;
- Trust and Openess ;
- Plyfulness and Humour ;
- Conflicts ;
- Debates ;
- Risk-taking
The strength of both Ekvall and Amiable research is that they both demonstrated the relationship between individual creativity and the organisation culture and climate. The weakness however is that they both have not included leadership impact on creatvity.
Andreopaulos (2001) included leadesrhip style with organisational climate, organisational culture, resources and skills, and structure and systems of an organisation as paramters that affect organisational creativity.
It is a myth to believe that
This article explores the relationship and differences between creativity, invention and innovation in the organisational context.
Creativity, invention and innovation are not the same thing. Creativity is the ability to see or perceive the world in different ways and to make connections between things that may be unrelated or those that we previously thought were not connected resulting in a generation of solutions to problems.
Cooper (1998) considered creativity as an element of competitive advantage for organisations.
Creative organisations need to be skilled at creating, acquiring and transferring knowledge and modifying behaviours.
A number of research initiatives on creativity have shown that creativity is influenced by the organisational context. One of the notable research is that of Amabile (1997) who showed that there are a number of parameters that impeded or stimulated creativity:
- Organisational encouragement;
- Supervisory encouragement ;
- Work group encouragement ;
- Freedom and autonomy ;
- Resources ;
- Pressures ;
- Organisational Impediments
Ekvall (1996) looked at the organisational climatic dimensions which affects organisational creativity. He identified ten dimensions :
- Challenge ;
- Freedom ;
- Idea Time ;
- Dynamism ;
- Idea Support ;
- Trust and Openess ;
- Plyfulness and Humour ;
- Conflicts ;
- Debates ;
- Risk-taking
The strength of both Ekvall and Amiable research is that they both demonstrated the relationship between individual creativity and the organisation culture and climate. The weakness however is that they both have not included leadership impact on creatvity.
Andreopaulos (2001) included leadesrhip style with organisational climate, organisational culture, resources and skills, and structure and systems of an organisation as paramters that affect organisational creativity.
It is a myth to believe that
Bibliography: Andriopoulos, C. (2001) Determinants of organisational creativity: a literature review, Management Decision, Vol.39, No.10 Amabile, T. (1997) Motivating creativity in organizations: On doing what you love and loving what you do, California Management Review Cooper, J. R. (1998). A Multidimensional Approach to the Adoption of Innovation. Management Decision, 36(8), pp. 493-502. Ekvall, G. (1996) Organizational climate for creativity and innovation. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 5 (1), 105-123 Land, G., Jarman, B. (1993) Breakpoint and Beyond: Mastering the Future Today. New York, Harper Collins Publishers