Simplifying organization-wide creativity: a new mental model

Abstract

<p>Competitive advantage no longer depends on access to labor, capital, processes or technology. The real competitive edge comes from the organization's people, smart people who know, who can learn, who can think, and make new things happen. Putting knowledge to work innovatively from top management down and organization-wide at every level for tangible business results is the key.</p> <p>This paper presents a new theory of organizational creativity which integrates elements from previous models of cognition, knowledge, intelligence and learning and a psychological instrument, the Creative Problem Solving Profile (CPSP) Inventory.</p> <p>We suggest that innovative thinking in organizations involves two distinct cognitive processes. The first, Apprehension, concerns the acquisition of understanding or knowledge. The second, Utilization, concerns the application of understanding or knowledge. Two different modes of Apprehension and two different modes of Utilization give rise to four cognitive functions which together delimit the conceptual space of creative thinking and comprise a dynamic four stage process of organizational creativity. An individual's blend of relative preferences for these four stages defines his/her unique process style and is measured by the CPSP.</p> <p>The authors' real world experience how top corporations involve employees at all levels in putting their knowledge to work by doing innovative thinking that is "on the money" is shared.</p>