Key Takeaways
- Creativity is the spark that opens new perspectives
- The human mind is full of ways to generate insight
- Entrepreneurs use their creative problem-solving to advance their ventures
- The end game is to be innovative
Much of human progress can be traced to creativity. Without this flash of insight, humans would not have innovated or invented, and we would have remained as the other primates. Creativity can be used to get insight into problems, identify opportunities, or create value. It is not just individual creativity that matters, but organisational and societal breakthroughs. How can you use your creative intelligence, and how do you improve on it?
We admire many for their creative abilities—Leonardo Da Vinci, Thomas Edison, Paul McCartney and John Lennon, Vidia Naipaul, and Benjamin Franklin. Others have used their creative skills to start and grow their businesses. Who could doubt that Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne's team founded Apple Inc., which has revolutionized personal computing? Later, Steve Jobs' leadership in pushing the firm into the cell phone and music industries showed his unique talent, which was more powerful than Apple's larger competitors' financial resources. We often think Apple was one man, Jobs, but teams have created unique products and technologies that have disrupted markets. Creativity is the front end of innovation; this latter concept makes companies formidable as they can now do things better and faster.
Creative process
Is there a way to proceed from a problem to a solution? Psychologists have noticed something happening in our brains when we face puzzlement. Only today, neuroscience through fMRI, PET, EEG and other brain scanning technologies has shed more light on what goes on in our minds through the different problem-resolution stages.
Nessa Bryce, who studies neuroscience at Quest University, Canada, describes five stages of the creative process—explore, focus, incubate, insight, and follow-through. These stages are not a straight-line progression; like entrepreneurship, we move from one step, and if it is successful, we continue or return to the previous phase. This act of iteration is the refinement needed to develop the right solution. Remember, creativity is both analytical and intuitive—research and emergence of flashes of insight make the process more valuable.
Explore
Brain scanning technologies show that people who get insight use a different part of their brain from folks who use a more analytical approach. Intuitive persons seem to use visual processing and maybe suppress other areas of their minds that look for logical options. Insightful people are different from straight-line thinkers. It makes sense to prime your brain with diverse activities to reduce obvious thoughts and develop out-of-box thinking. However, moving out of your comfort zone is easier said than done, but entrepreneurs know this well.
The ballpoint pen was a remarkable improvement over ink pens—a small ball-bearing at the tip that dispenses evenly over a paper surface. Someone in the deodorant industry looking for another dispensing solution must have considered finding an answer from another business. Exploring other solutions can also improve processes. Henry Ford saw the meatpacking industry's moving production line and used it to lower an automobile's unit cost significantly.
Focus
One of the best ways to find alternatives is to study and develop expertise. It takes a lot of practice to become an expert as Tiger Woods. In his 2008 bestselling book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell writes that if one uses the "ten-thousand-rule" and practises the numerous steps thousands of times, they will become proficient. However, the scientists behind the research later claimed that Gladwell took their work too far, but the adage that practice makes perfect still holds some truth.
Incubate
The best way to come up with a solution or alternative is to walk away from the problem. Pondering excessively over it might make you myopic, and a relaxed mind might work better—our minds are like icebergs as much of it is under our conscious thoughts.
There is a story of how two engineers at HP developed a low-cost inkjet printer. John Vaught, a self-taught freestyle engineer, and his partner at HP, Dave McDonald, who had a more conventional engineering background, complimented each other on developing one of the great inventions for their company. After a relaxed celebration on Christmas Eve at the lab, Vaught noticed how the coffee percolator heated and disseminated the liquid through the holes. This eureka moment was an inspiration for developing the low-cost inkjet printer and enabled HP to dominate the consumer market, a business they still rule today.
Insight
Usually, when we look at things, we see it for what it was designed for and nothing else. Our house was designed for living in and for comfort. But think back to when we were building our homes. If we were to ask, how can I add flexibility so it (house) can now pay the mortgage? Can that extra room be repurposed into an office so I can function as a part-time entrepreneur? Can my two-car garage be a gallery if I need to reduce the construction cost?
Follow-through
Ideas by themselves may not be worth much. How many times did you say that you had that idea someone had conceived, and you did not implement it? In our brains, we use different parts to develop ideas further. We use the temporopolar cortex and prefrontal cortex to deal with higher-level reasoning—critical thinking and decision-making. It is at this stage that analytical thinking may be needed most. Entrepreneurs developing a new product must plan how to market, test, and create a launch document for success.
Creativity can improve your business success and enhance your life and relationships. But remember, you need to generate lots of ideas to end up with a valuable one. Ideas are like frogs—you must kiss many frogs to get a prince!
Sajjad Hamid is an Entrepreneurship Educator who supports entrepreneurs in scaling their ventures. In his spare time in Trinidad and Tobago, he tries to produce organic tropical fruits and vegetables and practises sustainable farming in his home garden.
He is the author of Build Your Legacy Business: Solopreneur To Family Business Hero.
Sajjad is a Fellow of the Family Firm Institute.
For a complimentary mentorship session, contact him at [email protected] or visit www.entrepreneurtnt.com.
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