1. Creativity

Question 1

a) Define brainstorming and explain how to get the best results from the process.

(2011)

Answer 1

a)

Brainstorming is a creative activity that involves collecting together all the possible ideas for one given brief.

It can be done as an individual or in a group

To get good results, there should be no restrictions to the creativity, no suggestions should be criticised or analysed at this stage.

The group/individual ends with an extensive list of possibilities that can then be narrowed down in a different session.

The more ideas the better

b)

Question 2

Why might large companies be less creative?

Answer 2

Too many levels for ideas to get through in order for them to be implememented

Reluctance to change, focus on keeping shareholders happy

Institutionalised risk aversion

Rules and regulations stifle creativity

Question 3

Describe Lateral Thinking

Answer 3

• Lateral thinking is based on the theory that our brains are not wired to think creatively
• Our brain wants to follow logical patterns which does not lead to creative ideas
• Lateral thinking is a method to increase creativity through ‘thinking out of the box’
• There are methods to increase lateral thinking and hence creativity

for example the Provocation Idea Generating Tool is the use any of the provocation techniques—wishful thinking, exaggeration, reversal, escape, distortion to move thinking to new ideas

The focus is on generating many ‘less obvious’ ideas and then filtering them in a different session

Question 4

How can large organisations increase their creativity?

Answer 4

Skunkworks

• a project with autonomy and unhampered by bureaucracy
• originated in the company Lockheed Martin, an aerospace and security company

Aping the organisational structure of start-ups

• e.g. googlettes

Increase culture of tolerating failure

Flat organisational structure - encourages communication between levels

Question 5

Why are small organisations more creative?

Answer 5

More freedom

Often lead by obsessive entrepreneurs - entrepreneurial spirit

Less structure

Less risk

Little bureacracy

Closer to customer

Question 6

Give three ways to elicit group creativity

Answer 6

Need/problem identification

• However this is based on need of consumer and not creativity
• e.g. there was not a ‘need’ for a tablet computer, yet iPad is massive success

Brainstorming

Lateral Thinking

• Provocation techniques

Encourage changing status quo

• e.g. QWERTY keyboard was first used with typewriters so weaker fingers were over the keys that jammed - never been changed

Question 7

b) Do you consider brainstorming or lateral thinking to be a more fruitful way of coming up with a new business idea. Why?

Answer 7

**Brainstorming **

+ Good way to pool ideas

• Ideas get criticised
• ‘Blocking’ can occur - ideas supressed as only one person can speak at a time
• ‘free riding’ - individuals may feel that their ideas are less valuable and keep them to themselves
• Clear rules needed

**Lateral Thinking **

+ Effective at creating ‘out of the box’ solutions

• Difficult mindframe to get into - goes against nature

Question 8

Edward de Bono on Lateral Thinking

Answer 8

‘The need to be right all the time is the biggest bar to new ideas.’

“It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all”

“Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way.”