For serious study and practice of creativity, it’s worthwhile defining what you are studying.

Here are some dictionary definitions (Britannica)

Creativity
The ability to make or otherwise bring into existence something new, whether a new solution to a problem, a new method or device, or a new artistic object or form.

Innovation

1 : The introduction of something new
2 : A new idea, method, or device

Innovation as the “successful exploitation of new ideas.”

For the more technically minded, David Archibald explains what innovation and creativity means by these simple formulae:

Creativity = Idea + Action

In other words having an idea is just the beginning. To truly create something take action on the idea. You must do something to bring the idea into reality to create something new.

Innovation = Creativity + Productivity

Business innovation means taking the creative process one step further.  Effective innovation requires productive-drive, determination, and persistence. Introducing new products and processes can take a great deal of effort. This effort needs to be ongoing, and efficient, which is why productivity is a useful term. Thomas Edison called it perspiration.

You can of course re-express the innovation formulae as:

Innovation = Idea + Action + Productivity

In reality the sequence is: get an idea, test or prototype it, produce a finished item and bring it into use.

Artists may recognise this as: get inspiration, sketch it, put it down on canvas, and finally exhibit.

The Ideal IDEA

Creative people normally enjoy the idea stage of a project. It is the first stage of the innovation sequence, so it is extremely important. You must produce at least one high quality idea that can be taken into action. You can get the idea by producing a huge number of basic ideas, and then selecting the best. The skill is knowing which idea is the best. The worlds best innovators, artists, and musicians intuitively know what’s best. Intuitive thinkers instantly, and simultaneously, create and evaluate ideas. Until you develop intuitive creativity, there are techniques that can be learned.

Generally, for important innovation projects, you will want to generate a lot of potentially usable ideas before moving to action. With a lot of ideas to choose from you then need idea-selection skills. The importance of selecting the best idea cannot be overemphasised The challenge is to balance your time between generating, selecting, and being productive with ideas.

For many businesses the ultimate goal is for the idea to produce profit. In this case innovation must come from ideas that lead to sales.

Profitable Innovation = Innovation + Marketing

Marketing is the whole process from market-research to sales promotion.

Marketing = Emotion and Expression (for Artists)

Marketing = Insight and Judgement (for Entrepreneurs)

Marketing = Product + Price + Place + Promotion (for MBA’s)

Brainstorming Teams

Team creative output can be doubled very quickly. With more work you can double again. For the same time and effort, your team can will get more good ideas.

This is a major competitive advantage for you.

Forget about upgrading your PC, upgrade your teams creative brainpower.

Success Examples

Improve engine efficiency by 35% (Honda result)
 
Double sales turnover while halving product range (NEC result)

Reduce production parts by 80% (DuPont result)

Why Be Creative?

It’s easier to succeed in business if you have a USP (Unique Selling Point). In problem solving and design, a winning solution usually has a fundamental difference from the competition.

Today most companies operate the same way: they use analysis and logic to produce results. These results are easy to justify to colleagues. Typically they are supported by data, and based on experience. A proposal is made, and accepted as the most logical solution. In most cases you’ve met your goal, but if the goal was to be original and unique you are in for a shock! Let’s say a competitor follows the same reasoning, they reach the same conclusion. Why? Simply because the same logic must produce the same result. Suddenly your new ideas are the same as everyone’s new ideas. Instead of unique, you are merely average.

So how can you generate something truly unique and worthwhile? First limit the use of logic, it is a great tool, but forget it for a while during idea generation. Logic is a convergent thinking method: it narrows down possibilities to one single solution. To produce a unique, and original solution you need a divergent method such as lateral thinking, or brainstorming.

At a simplistic level, if both you and a competitor use divergent techniques to produce 100 new ideas each, and then choose one at random, there is only a 1 in 100 chance of a match. So you have a high chance of being unique. In reality the aim of the divergent technique is that all 100 ideas would be unique.

To be innovative you should make use of divergent thinking. Substitute your logical thinking for some lateral thinking.