The importance of creativity in management was realized by businesses quite late. In the beginning stages of industrial revolution an analytical approach to any business was the in thing. As the competition picked up, people realized that creativity, innovation and excellence are the keys to survival and growth. The one question that is often asked is what is creativity ?
The Dictionary.com defines 'creativity' as the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.; originality, progressiveness or imagination. It is a noun.
Most people think that creativity is a gift of god in some people. It is not true. Everyone can be creative. All one needs is imagination. Creativity improves with practice. There are some essentials to being creative and they are mentioned below.
The process of creativity goes through following stages:
Preparation - This means one sits in a calm, cool place and concentrates. I recommend a beach, a green forest or a waterfall or a park. Just be with nature. Forget all your day to day worries and think.
Illumination - You will get various ideas flowing in your mind. Evaluate them and choose the best out of the lot. Always have a pocket notebook and pencil at hand to write it down. Such things will disappear from your mind in milliseconds. You will never be able to recall it.
Incubation - This is similar to a hen hatching eggs. Just sit on the idea and think about it. Evaluate the pros and cons and what is to be done. How it is to be done and by whom. Define your goals and objectives. Draw a broad mental map as to how you will reach there.
Implementation and Verification - This is the final stage. Start implementing your creative plan. Check for any drawbacks or loopholes in your plans, strategy and tactics. Remember, you will not be able to anticipate all the problems you are likely to encounter on the way. Just take it as it comes and keep fine tuning.
Very few business organizations attach importance to creativity though its importance is realized of late. Progressive organizations have large creative teams and no wonder they win. What is the problem with GE and IBM amongst the top 5 global brands ? Both lack creativity and originality. Both are left brain driven companies. Though they are classified as innovative companies in academic circles, they are innovative in acquisitions only. Their strengths lies elsewhere.
© Copyright, Aug 02-08 . Without prejudice. All rights reserved
Creativity Management - To learn more about this author, visit Madhavan T Gopalachary's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
 |
Related Articles |
|
 Qualities of Successful Entrepreneurs
|
| |
What makes a successful business owner or entrepreneur? Some say creativity, others say passion, organization, or leadership skills. In fact, there have been many qualities identified with successful entrepreneurs. ...
|
|
Creativity Management
|
| |
Very few business organizations attach importance to creativity though its importance is realized of late. Progressive organizations have large creative teams and no wonder they win. What is the problem with GE and ...
|
|
Nurturing Creativity at Work
|
| |
Good managers know that creativity is essential for the health and
prosperity of the companies they work for. And therefore, good
managers also know that their single most important job is to
nurture creativit...
|
|
The Decent Thing to Do Is the Smart Thing to Do
|
| |
 Going back 25 years to 1982 and In Search of Excellence, Bob Waterman and I were simply interested in what made for excellent corporate performance.
|
|
How to Creatively Increase Your Sales
|
| |
You probably think creativity is something those artsy aesthetics types have. You may be surprised to know that creativity is a learned skill.
|
 |
Related Businesses - Evan Elite Authors |
|
Dave Kurlan
Dave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development.
Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit.
He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine.
He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball.
He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
|
Dr. John Oda
John Oda Ph.D NLP is a business peak performance expert, an author, and speaker frequently called upon to provide corporate training, workshops and seminars for many companies in the United States. He is an expert in coaching sales and business professionals in overcoming the behaviors and obstacles that may impede their sales results and affect their bottom line. Since 1995, John has created a speaking bureau such topics, which include: time management, sales training, human diversity, leadership programs and etc. He provides companies with a strategic plan to increase their bottom line by over 25 percent yearly. - Visit Dr. John Oda's Website |
|
The Evan Elite Authors program is currently in beta phase. For details please contact us.
|
|
|
Madhavan T Gopalachary
(Visit Madhavan's Website)
Madhavan Gopalachary, nick name "madgopes"
(g pronounced as in go) given by IIT
classmates, is a Mechanical Engineer and
an alumnus of Indian Institute of
Technology, Madras having passed out
specializing in IC Engines &
Thermodynamics.
He has nearly 35 years of experience in
the Corporate World. He started off as a
trainee and handled sales, marketing,
manufacturing, product management, profit
center management, strategic planning and
corporate development including R & D in
various organizations and at various
levels before becoming a CEO. His last two
professional assignments were at CEO level
before embarking to start management
consultancy business on January 01, 1998.
He has worked for British, Swedish MNCs as
well as very large Indian business houses.
He has spent a large portion of his time
from June 1998 till date in East African
Countries practicing as an independent
Management Consultant.
More details can be obtained at the
following web sites:
mmg.name
/mtg.html;
mmgconsu
lting.biz/
Madhavan's articles can be accessed at www.madgopes.com
.
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
![[Get Copyright Permissions]](http://license.icopyright.net/images/icopy-w.gif){kind=small}
