Creativity and Idea Generation

Introduction
Creativity and the Competitive Firm
Creativity Management
Individual Creativity
Group Creativity
Evaluation of Creativity Methods
Organizing to Allow and Assist Creativity
Bibliography


Download the Word version of this topic.

Evaluation of Creativity Methods

A 1971 Industry Week article [3] indicated that the 13 fastest-growing companies in the United States had programs to encourage employee innovation and creativity. Brainstorming was the most widely known and used method, and there is no reason to believe this has changed. The morphological box was in second place, though it was listed only half as frequently as brainstorming. Use of creativity methods is greatest in the area of product development, with next most frequent uses in value analysis, research, marketing, and planning/organization, in that order. The article noted that half of all the ideas generated and considered for further investigation proved to be viable and were implemented. This is far in excess of the 1 percent usually estimated for the viability of new ideas.

Since the early 1970s, the use of creativity techniques seems to have decreased somewhat. This is felt to result from some disappointment in the use of the techniques, many of which have been oversold by their developers. It is, of course, not possible to measure the contribution of these methods to firm growth and profitability, or even to idea generation itself, because one can argue that the idea "would have occurred anyway." Specific difficulties noted in employing creativity techniques were:
  • Insufficient time; overloaded key personnel; inability to find acceptable meeting dates.
  • Personal tension; inability to think abstractly; blocks in interpersonal communication; lack of experience; not observing the rules of the method.
  • Insufficient knowledge of the problem; lack of top-management support.
  • Inability to measure the benefits; patent problems.

The future of specific idea-generation techniques appears mixed. Interested individuals have been quite creative in thinking up new methods for fostering creativity. Among the more interesting recent additions are:
  1. Mechanical Techniques
    These are typically straightforward mechanisms such as Savo Bojicic's "Think Tank," a hollow plastic sphere containing 13,000 words to be used as idea take-offs. As the sphere is turned, the words come into view, stimulating the brain to make various associations.
  2. Electronic Methods
    The techniques of biofeedback and electrical stimulation are included here, and would seem to have much to offer. Considerable experimentation is being conducted on these techniques, and this area will certainly become better developed in the future.
  3. Chemical Techniques
    Several drugs and chemicals appear to produce the kinds of mental states described as desirable in the creativity literature. The primary question is whether or not such chemically induced states are harmless to the individual and can be usefully applied to the task of creative problem solving in an organizational setting. If used at all, these techniques require care and expert control.
  4. Environmental, Psychological
    These approaches involve the use of sound, color, sensory stimulation/deprivation, odor, and so forth, to alter the brain's normal environment to aid creativity. The prime issues here are potential and safety when used in organizational settings.

A final, important point to remember is that individuals in highly stressful situations are rarely creative. A little pressure stimulates, but too much paralyzes creativity because the human body reacts to stress as if preparing to fiht or flee. The blood supply to the brain is diminished, and the brain receives less oxygen. The most important factor affecting creativity in the future will be the emphasis and encouragement given it by managers. Supportive organizational leadership is needed. If creativity is sought, failure must be tolerated.