Innovation Management - Raw brainpower versus experience

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.

There are other useful definitions in this field, for example, creativity can be defined as consisting of a number of ideas, a number of diverse ideas and a number of novel ideas.

There are distinct processes that enhance problem identification and idea generation and, similarly, distinct processes that enhance idea selection, development and commercialisation. Whilst there is no sure fire route to commercial success, these processes improve the probability that good ideas will be generated and selected and that investment in developing and commercialising those ideas will not be wasted.

Raw brainpower versus experience

The best problem identification, idea generation and idea selection requires a intellectual cross pollination. That means, at least:

a) A large number of people.

b) Large diversity of people.

c) Large novelty of people.

There are of course other classifications, and one of the most interesting is:

a) Those with raw brainpower. A team of hot shot Ivy League MBA's is great, especially for the raw number crunching and analysis that needs to take place to arrive at good decisions.

b) Those with experience. Can fresh faced Ivy League MBA's compete with the non-graduate with twenty years experience? Probably not. In those twenty years an incredible amount of tacit knowledge has been built up.

But the answer is not one or the other. The answer is that teams of both will produce better results. The key is collaboration and intellectual cross-pollination, not competition.

These and other topics are covered in depth in the MBA dissertation on Managing Creativity & Innovation, which can be purchased (along with a Creativity and Innovation DIY Audit, Good Idea Generator Software and Power Point Presentation) from http://www.managing-creativity.com/

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Kal Bishop, MBA

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Kal Bishop is a management consultant based in London, UK. He has consulted in the visual media and software industries and for clients such as Toshiba and Transport for London. He has led Improv, creativity and innovation workshops, exhibited artwork in San Francisco, Los Angeles and London and written a number of screenplays. He is a passionate traveller. He can be reached on http://www.managing-creativity.com/