How Creativity Has Been Applied to a Business Idea or Problem Essay

To make a business grow and achieve productive and efficient results you need to invoke creativity which has always been an essential business skill. Since long time creativity has been applied to a business world as companies seek to use it in all parts of the organization to make it gain more profits and to be exceptional from others. A business person has to find unique solutions every day and he has to know how to react to situation creatively. Richard Florida (2002) stated human creativity is the ultimate economic resource. The ability to come up with new ideas and better ways of doing things is ultimately what raises productivity and thus living standards. Every individual is creative. Creative person is defined as curious, optimistic, imaginative, hard – working. He enjoys challenges, are able to accept problems easily and see them as new opportunities also he does not give up easily. Each of us see things in different way people are used to see or do, we come up with c reative ideas and solutions which make us to explore our creativity in more depth. Creativity is a process from where creative ideas come from and creativity is personal skill which is essential in this process. Creative thinking skills and attributes explain how people are dealing with various problems or ideas. Skills such as imagination, problem – solving, taking – risks and reasoning help us to identify problems, find right solutions, generate and improve ideas also realize them and apply to business process. Intuition, motivation and flexibility make us to select a proper idea, explore different ways to combine and achieve it, improve attitude towards risk and eliminate boundaries. In order to achieve his purposes person has to be self– confident, determined and persistent. There are many ways how individual can improve or develop these skills. For example, JAV company ‘Sysco’ organized creative education seminars for their employers and results were stunning – every participant sales increased about 25 – 30 % bu t this is just one example how creativity has been developed in companies there are more ways to do that. First of all, we need to evolve ideas and understand that there is more than one problem solution also we have to perceive that each problem can be solved in a better or different way. The second way to improve creativity is called synthesis. Using this method more than to ideas are compared and from them combined into completely new idea. Also, in this report I would like briefly identify some of idea generation techniques which help to realize ideas in a particular business area. Smith (1998) identified 172 idea generating techniques which he allocated to smaller groups which tell us about each technique further. Idea generation technique is essential process of creativity. Brainstorming probably is the most important technique which involves generating a lot of ideas and solutions. Brainstorming was the first technique and it is called ‘the mother of all idea generation techniques’. Also, it can be used for both groups and individuals. Second technique is collaboration when group of people are working together on purpose to achieve a particular result. They share creative ideas between each other and make a final decision in order to improve the whole process. Reflection is third idea generation technique which concentrates on previous work when designers reconsider projects, schemes, plans or documents from where they can find a particular idea and develop it further. A fourth method is called socializing. It is about communicating with others about particular subject totally unrelated to the current work. Sketching similar to documenting reflects on drawing approximate scheme or plan of an idea. â€Å"In order to help individuals in the idea generation process, researchers have identified methods to stimulate creative thought, generate more ideas, and expand on the solution space.† Nowadays more and more organizations are using personality tests to evaluate their employees’ character, to find their motivations and goals, to understand their work techniques and creativity level also to discover their barriers which they need to improve in the future. Companies have started to use personality tests in the past five years so that they can find a potential employee’s strengths and weaknesses. If questions and answers are quite accurate and test is done properly it can help an employer to find more about person’s advantages and disadvantages. It is very important to know because one of the most important points is that most of personality tests help to recognize unqualified candidates. â€Å"Although experts warn that many personality assessments don’t deliver what they promise, legitimate scientifically validated tests are helping employers evaluate job candidates to select those best suited for particular positions. Other tests are designed to measure intelligence, honesty, management aptitude and other qualities.† Napoleon Hill stated ideas are the beginning points of all fortunes. When you have a great business idea it is not enough just have it somewhere in your brain, the second thing to do is to rea lize it in other words it is called idea feasibility. Same as this American author stated by having a successful idea you can open doors to new opportunities and attract fortune. The idea is like a new product which can be applied to a new business. The more successful the product is the better results it will give in the future. In this case creative thinking helps to discover new and useful ideas also it leads to new business opportunities. Realize your business idea is possible in many different ways. For instance, you can start networking with various potential business people from all over the world also you can organize a highly creative team and start working on a particular idea. Opportunities and ways are endless it is belong to you, your creativity level and idea success. The final step after idea feasibility is action planning. Once the idea is considered and discussed you need to think about the way how it will work and how long it will takes to you to achieve your aim. â€Å"Action planning is a process which will help you to focus your ideas and to decide what steps you need to take to achieve particular goals that you may have. It is a statement of what you want to achieve over a given period of time.† As every planning process it involves some of basic steps which I would like to identify in my further research. Before you start setting a plan you need to be self-motivated and innovative because our goals have to motivate us to achieve them, but not to be too difficult and unreal. Also, you have to think about all possible ways which can make you closer to your aim. Do not forget to think about barrier which you may meet during a working period and try to find solutions how to cope with them effectively. When you start working on your plan you need to identify the main objectives. The second step is to prioritize each task, what need to be done first and what after. Once the list is done, you have to start working and use your own initiat ive, some people prefer working individually others may like to work in a team, it is important to choose your preferable work technique then work will be done quicker. Also, one of the most important steps is to finish the work to a deadline. To sum up, effective planning gives us basic steps so that we would be able to reach our objectives and it helps us to realize our ideas. In this report I have considered the main topics of creativity and it process. I explained how creativity has been applied in business process and organizations. Which personal qualities make individuals be more creative and how they can apply these skills to realize business ideas or solve problems creatively. Which part personality tests take in a business companies and what is the main meaning of them, why employers use this technique when they want to select the right participant to take a place in the organization. As well as, I considered the main factors about idea feasibility and explained techniques which are essential to idea generation. I identified the basic steps of action planning also described them in more depth so that it would be more easy to understand and try it in practice. If you consider yourself being creative you have to start setting a plan how to realize your ideas and you may have considerable results in the future. Creativity is a substantial tool which lead people to find right decisions and solve problems using their own initiative or special methods which are unusual for those who are not creative. It helps to set new strategies and products that employers apply to business. â€Å"It is highly likely that your creativity has been diminished by social norms and life experience, but it can be fostered and revived. You may not even think you are creative, but that is not true. â€Å"Creativity is our birth right it is part of what makes us human.† List of References University of Kent (2010) Action Planning [online] available from < http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sk/skillsactionplanning.htm> [26 December 2010] The CBS Interactive Business Network (2002) Personality counts: Psychological tests can help peg the job applicants best suited for certain jobs – Cover Story [online] available from < http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3495/is_2_47/ai_83058907/> [27 December 2010] SCORE Counselors to America’s Small Business (2010) How to Incorporate Creativity into Your Business Practice [online] available from < http://www.score.org/article_how_to_creativity.html> [27 December 2010] The IEEE Computer Society (2008) Idea Generation Techniques among Creative Professionals [online] available from [28 December 2010]