OI/361
December 4, 2013
Definitions Paper: Innovation, design and creativity
Innovation, in the business sense of the word, can be defined as the act of introducing a new product or service. Creativity is the cornerstone to innovation; in order to be innovative, one must be creative. In its simplest form, creativity is the propensity to develop or recognize new ideas or alternatives. According to Von Stamm (2008), “creativity is an essential building block for innovation” (pg. 1). Von Stamm (2008) also claims that, “Often ‘creativity’ and ‘innovation’ are used interchangeably.” (pg. 1). While creativity is an essential part of innovation, creativity and innovation are different. …show more content…
Regardless if creativity is easily measurable or not, it is critical for organizations to foster creativity in today’s competitive business world. Organizations can stimulate creativity through training and work environment development. Marshall (2013) confirms this by stating, “Driving business results by running ideas through an innovation process puts those [creative] ideas to work — for companies and their customers. Creativity is the price of admission, but it’s innovation that pays the bills” (par. 13). Organizations cannot survive alone on creative ideas and innovative processes. This is where design thinking comes into play; design refers to a plan to transform an idea into something, usually a product or service for a business. Von Stamm (2008) confirms this by stating, “Design is the conscious decision-making process by which information (an idea) is transformed into an outcome, be it tangible (product) or intangible (service)” (pg. 17). Design thinking allows organizations to capitalize on creativity by monitoring the idea life cycle. For any organization, applied creativity should always lead to innovation. Design thinking demands