5/18/2012

HOW DOES CREATIVITY WORK?


Creativity refers to the phenomenon whereby a person creates something new (a product, solution, artwork, literary work, joke, etc.) that has some kind of value. What counts as "new" may be in reference to the individual creator, or to the society or domain within which the novelty occurs. What counts as "valuable" is similarly defined in a variety of ways.

The most creative solutions to difficult problems often seem to come out of nowhere. The mysterious nature of the “sudden flash of insight” has given rise to the myth of inspiration – the idea that brilliant ideas are visited upon us by some mysterious force.

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In fact, as Jonah Lehrer explains in his new book Imagine: How Creativity Works, neuroscientists are beginning to understand those flashes of creative genius that give rise to inventions.

Interestingly, sitting around waiting is definitively the wrong way to trigger right-brain creative activity. What gets the alpha waves flowing, facilitating the semi-dream-state in which we’re best able to connect those unlikely dots, is a change of scenery.

InnoCentive  is a crowdsourcing site where it could post its thorniest R&D problems for anyone to solve – and reap a monetary reward. InnoCentive was designed to expand Eli Lilly’s brainpower, by tapping into a larger pool of innovators than the company could ever employ. 

And it works. 30 to 50 percent of the problems posted on InnoCentive are solved within six months – a significant improvement over previous rates. But what’s interesting, says Lehrer, is how it works. A study by Karim Lakhani at Harvard Business School shows that most problems on InnoCentive are solved by experts outside of the field – chemistry problems solved by physicists. Engineering problems solved by chemists.

This is further evidence of what innovation experts have long observed – that it is often the outsider who is best able to “think outside of the box” – to approach longstanding problems in an entirely new way or take the conversation in a completely different direction, precisely because she isn’t constrained by the “common sense” of the discipline. 

There are many ways to boost your creativity and it really is a part of any learning experience.  An imaginative mind is one that can visualize beyond direct input and one that can explore things outside of the immediate reality and vicinity.    Read more http://learnthis.ca/2009/04/the-imaginative-mind-mental-creativity/

What is Neuroscience?

Neuroscience, the study of the nervous system, advances the understanding of human thought, emotion, and behavior.

Neuroscientists use tools ranging from computers to special dyes to examine molecules, nerve cells, networks, brain systems, and behavior. From these studies, they learn how the nervous system develops and functions normally and what goes wrong in neurological disorders.


What is the mind?


Why do people feel emotions?


What are the underlying causes

of neurological and psychiatric disorders?

These are among the many mysteries being unraveled by neuroscientists.

Neuroscience is the study of the nervous system -- including the brain, the spinal cord, and networks of sensory nerve cells, or neurons, throughout the body. Humans contain roughly 100 billion neurons, the functional units of the nervous system. Neurons communicate with each other by sending electrical signals long distances and then releasing chemicals called neurotransmitters which cross synapses -- small gaps between neurons. 

Creativity and Innovation

Linda Naiman

Creativity is the act of turning new and imaginative ideas into reality. Creativity involves two processes: thinking, then producing. Innovation is the production or implementation of an idea. If you have ideas, but don’t act on them, you are imaginative but not creative.” — Linda Naiman

Innovation means making meaningful change to improve an organization’s products, services, programs, processes, operations, and business model to create new value for the organization’s stakeholders. Innovation should lead your organization to new dimensions of performance. Innovation is no longer strictly the purview of research and development departments; innovation is important for all aspects of your operations and all work systems and work processes.
 
Organizations should be led and managed so that innovation becomes part of the learning culture. Innovation should be integrated into daily work and should be supported by your performance improvement system.
 
Malcolm Baldridge - 26th
US Secretary of Commerce
Systematic processes for innovation should reach across your entire organization. Innovation builds on the accumulated knowledge of your organization and its people. Therefore, the ability to rapidly disseminate and capitalize on this knowledge is critical to driving organizational innovation.   —2009-2010 Baldrige Criteria for Innovation

Endnote:  I was a Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award Examiner from 1993-1995 and was a member of the auditing team in 1993 when Eastman Chemical Company in Kingsport, TN won the award, but this is a post for another day.

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