Hints and tips on Creativity and Innovation

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 where you can find a whole host of thought leadership articles.

Twelve top tips for Innovators

1. Innovation is work not genius
2. Innovation should be systematic
3. Adopt creative management techniques
4. Technology push or market pull - be clear
5. Understand the innovation life cycle
6. Use 'creative swiping' - scan your environment
7. Benchmark against competitors
8. Scenario planning not forecasting
9. Look at 'soft data' such as tacit knowledge and intuition as well as 'hard data'
10. Create a shared vision
11. Pay attention to internal structures
12. Adopt appropriate processes - borrow from Knowledge Management

...and be prepared for change.

Twelve Golden Rules for Creative Thinkers

1. Adopt a 'set to break sets' Drive to break fixed patterns and mind-sets
2. Explore the 'givens' Re-examine your assumptions
3. Broad picture, local detail Look at the bigger picture as well as 'zooming in'
4. Value play We learned rapidly like this as children
5. Build up, don't knock down Say 'yes and..' not 'yes but…'
6. Live with looseness Allow a degree of ambiguity or uncertainty
7. It is already there - nurture itRemove the barriers and let it flourish
8. Involve others Help develop each other's half-formed ideas
9. Connect and be receptive Be open to idea triggers from elsewhere
10. Know what you really want Be clear about motivation and content
11. Cycle often and close lateAllow for iterations and avoid premature closure
12. 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.