Generating Creative and Innovative Ideas

Remember when you were a child and the best toy was a large cardboard box? With a few crayon lines and a wild imagination, that box could become a Roman fort, a family home, a high-rise office, or the vanguard spaceship in an intergalactic fleet. In it, you could go anywhere and be anything. If you were given an empty box to play with today, would you find as many fascinating uses for it as you did back then?Albert Einstein said imagination is more important than knowledge. He knew it's only through creativity that remarkable things are created. Many people get frustrated because they think "I'm just not a creative person." But everyone has creative potential. Being able to identify and develop the characteristics you already possess can boost your creativity and enhance your creative output in the workplace. But what exactly is creativity, and how is it linked to innovation? Creativity is the ability to develop something new. It relates specifically to the art of being creative - seeing things in a new and different way. Innovation is often the end result of being creative. When creative ideas are implemented, this results in innovation. Creativity is evident in the development of original artwork, literature, music, scientific theories, and inventions. In the workplace, brainstorming for new ideas and the development of new products are examples of creativity. Examples of workplace innovation include the introduction of different procedures into a department, using new processes to improve work methods, and the development of new product lines. Organizations are increasingly turning to creativity and innovation because the ability to develop innovative new products gives a company an advantage over its competitors. And generating ideas for new products - creativity - is the first step in that process. A creative imagination - just like a healthy body - needs regular attention and exercise. It's easy to get stuck doing what you've always done, thinking the way you always have, and producing what you've always produced. To break out of the norm, you need to think differently, keep your imagination healthy, and most of all, believe in yourself and your own creativity. In this course, the focus is on enhancing personal creativity so you'll be able to generate creative and innovative ideas. You do this by first assessing your creativity, identifying and overcoming any barriers to creativity, and then by boosting your creativity quotient. This course includes strategies to help you recognize how various personal characteristics foster creative ideas at work. Everyone possesses or can nurture these characteristics, which include open- mindedness, making connections, risk-taking, communicating, and persistence. You'll be introduced to techniques to help you recognize and overcome any barriers that limit your creativity, whether the barriers are organizational or personal. You'll also learn the strategies to enhance creativity, such as thinking outside the confines of the problem or situation, listening to your unconscious mind, using analogies, and drawing ideas from different sources. Think back to a time when you sat around with coworkers and brainstormed to find ways to address an identified problem or opportunity. As you searched for answers, you might have let your rational, judging mind take a break and instead relied on a more creative, open approach. Perhaps some of the ideas were fanciful or overly ambitious?But in your brainstorming session, you knew that it's normal for some ideas to stretch the bounds of reality. You and your colleagues may have abandoned some of these fanciful ideas because they were unsuitable. But some ideas, or parts of them, were undoubtedly kept, or they sparked a more suitable idea. Many of today's most successful businesses are those that have been most creative and therefore innovative. Creativity is a powerful tool for innovation and can drive businesses forward.