Hints and Tips
Below you will find some useful hints and tips for using creativity and innovation. Some of the topics are covered in greater detail in our Creativity and Innovation blog.
Twelve Tips for Innovators
- Innovation is work not genius
- Innovation should be systematic
- Adopt creative management techniques
- Technology push or market pull - be clear
- Understand the innovation life cycle
- Use 'creative swiping' - scan your environment
- Benchmark against competitors
- Scenario planning not forecasting
- Look at 'soft data' such as tacit knowledge and intuition as well as 'hard data'
- Create a shared vision
- Pay attention to internal structures
- Adopt appropriate processes - borrow from Knowledge Management
...and be prepared for change.
Twelve Golden Rules for Creative Thinkers
- Adopt a 'set to break sets'
Drive to break fixed patterns and mind-sets
- Explore the 'givens'
Re-examine your assumptions
- Broad picture, local detail
Look at the bigger picture as well as 'zooming in'
- Value play
We learned rapidly like this as children.
- Build up, don't knock down
Say 'yes and..' not 'yes but…'.
- Live with looseness
Allow a degree of ambiguity or uncertainty.
- It is already there - nurture it
Remove the barriers and let it flourish.
- Involve others
Help develop each other's half-formed ideas.
- Connect and be receptive
Be open to idea triggers from elsewhere.
- Know what you really want
Be clear about motivation and content.
- Cycle often and close late
Allow for iterations and avoid premature closure.
- Manage the process
Pay attention to the 'cast', the 'stage' and the 'script'
… and above all, learn from the process. To find out more about breaking mindsets and removing barriers read an article on power and politics at work.