International School of Economics

and Administrative Sciences

Course:
Creativity, Innovation, and Product and Service Design

1. Fundamentals of Creativity:
1.2 What is Creativity and how it function?
1.2.1. Basic concepts
Professor: Fernando Calderon
2020-2 1
1.2 What is Creativity and how it function?

Section Objectives:

1. To understand what creativity is.

2. To identify the characteristics of creative ideas and actions

3. To know the myths of creativity

4. To differentiate the types of problems.

2
a) Concept of Creativity

3
 Our perspective: Brainstorming’s school of creativity

Alex Osborn
(1888 – 1966)

Manager, entrepreneur and publicist who, from his

observation of daily practice, became a theorist of
creativity. He invented Brainstorming and the
Creative Problem Solution method.
What is Creativity?
 A simple definition of Creativity

Creativity =
novelty that is useful

Stan Gryskiewicz.
Center for Creative Leadership.
Greensboro, North Carolina, USA 6
 Creativity = Novel + Useful

Novelty: Useful:
Innovation, That it serves a
originality, a purpose, that it
new approach. has value.

Stan Gryskiewicz. Center for Creative Leadership. Greensboro, North Carolina, EU.
7
 What makes a Product Creative?
Fads Creative Products

High

(Product disappears when

Novelty

novelty wears off) (Original and meets a need)

Repeating Past Mistakes Utilitarian Products

Low

(Unproductive traditions or habits) (Products that stand the test of time)

Low High
Puccio, G.; Mance, M.; Barbero, L.; Realy, P. (2012). Usefulness 14
Example Fads Creative Products
(Product disappears when (Original and meets a need)
novelty wears off)

High

Novelty
Repeating Past Mistakes
(Unproductive traditions or habits)

Traditional Circus Low

Utilitarian Products
(Products that stand the test of time)

Low High
Usefulness
15
 Creative Products
Example (Original and meets a need)

Fads
(Product disappears when
novelty wears off)

High
Novelty

Repeating Past Mistakes “The cartridge of life”

(Unproductive traditions or habits)

Low
Protocol to
clean weapons Utilitarian Products
Accidents: (Products that stand the test of time)
Soldiers are hurt or die
while cleaning their Low High
weapons Usefulness 16
What else is needed to
have Creativity?
 From other points of view, Creativity is …

• Ackoff and Vergara’s (1981) definition explains that creativity is

focused on a personal ability to overcome self-imposed constraints

• Amabile (1996) points out in her review of definitions of creativity

that there are definitions which focus on a) process and b) product
in addition to c) person.

• MacKinnon (1978) adds one more aspect to Amabile’s list by

pointing out d) the creative situation.

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 A complete definition for Creativity

This begins to sound rather like the classic definition by Rhodes (1961), in which he
conducted a meta-study of definitions in order to conclude with a definition of
creativity as follows:

The word ‘creativity’ is a noun naming the phenomenon in which a person

communicates a new concept (which is the product). Mental activity (or mental
process) is implicit in the definition, and of course no one could conceive of a person
living or operating in a vacuum, so the term press is implicit. The definition begs the
questions as to how new the concept must be and to whom it must be new. (p. 305).
21
 The 4’Ps of Creativity
Mel Rhodes (1961)

“… the definitions form four ropes.

Each rope has an academic
Person identity, but only in unity the four
ropes operate functionally”.

Process

Environment
Product
(Press)
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b) Organizational Creativity

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At the organizational level ….

Creativity is described as …

“the creation of a valuable, useful new product, service,

idea, procedure or process by individuals working
together in a complex social system”.

(Woodman, Sawyer, & Griffin, 1993, p. 293)

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Creative Change Model: A System Approach

LEADERSHIP

Person(s) Process Interaction Product Adoption

Creative
leads to leads to
(e.g. theories,
solutions to
Change
(e.g. social change,
Environment problems, ideas,
personal change,
services,
innovation, etc.)
inventions, etc.)

Transition to

Sustainable change

Source: Puccio, Murdock and Mance (2005) 25

 c) Types of Problems

When should we apply creativity?

26
 Types of Problems

Problems with out

known solution

Problems with a known

solution, or an established
process that leads to a
single right answer
After a Before a
problem problem
occurs arise

27
Source: Puccio, Murdock and Mance (2005)
 Types of Problems

28
Source: Puccio, Murdock and Mance (2005)
Our university is flooded!
(April 25th, 2011)

What kind of problem was this?

29
30
d) Myths of creativity

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 Myths of Creativity

Myth 1: Creativity is magical

Myth 2: Creativity is all about having fun and letting loose
Myth 3: Creativity is all about having Ideas
Myth 4: Creativity is about the arts
Myth 5: Creativity is associated with Madness and Mental Illness
Myth 6: I'm not creative.
Myth 7: Creativity is inspiration.
Myth 8: Creativity requires isolation.
Myth 9: Bosses know more about innovation than me.
Myth 10: Everything is invented. 32
 International School of Economics
and Administrative Sciences

Course:
Creativity, Innovation, and Product and Service Design

1. Fundamentals of Creativity:
1.2 What is Creativity and how it function?
1.2.2 Creative Products
Professor: Fernando Calderon
2019-2 33
 Examples of Creative Products from “ideas world”

Theories Microeconomic Theory Theory of competitiveness

Models The supply and demand model Business Model

Tools

34
Examples of Creative Products from “physical world”

35
 What makes a product creative?, A cool packaging?, A good name?, Its usefulness?

While most people say that they recognize a creative product when they see it, research by Susan
Besemer, Donald Treffinger and Karan O'Quinn revealed that there are three explicit dimensions to a
creative product.

The three Dimensions:

A creative product is the result of a creative effort. It can be tangible Resolu-
or intangible - a new car or a new concept - and it will surely show the Novelty tion or
novelty, resolution, elaboration and synthesis. Utility

Novelty: Resolution or Utility:

Is the product original in
any way? The novelty is
the degree of originality of
the product in terms of
new concepts, processes
or new materials.
Does the product work? That is, how much does Elaboration
the product solve the challenge for which it was and Synthesis
created? Is it useful? Does it create value?
Elaboration and Synthesis:
Is the product consistent? Elaboration and synthesis is the degree to which a
product combines different elements in a whole. A little criterion: is it aesthetic?
Is it understandable? Is it well produced?
37