Why creativity without action is worthless

Creativity and innovation are often used interchangeably in our language, but do they refer to the same thing? Certainly not, though they are closely related to each other. In a nutshell: creativity is coming up with new ideas, innovation is about transferring these creative ideas into value for an organization.

Creativity = generating ideas

The root of the word tells us what creativity is about: creation. Creativity is a matter of conceiving new ideas. We use the power of our brain to come up with something original or unusual. Maybe we need a solution for a difficult problem, or we are looking for new ways to do something.

Flexing your brain

Just like artists, we create new ideas seemingly out of thin air. Creativity is not just for freethinking geniuses. Anyone can be creative. If you haven’t flexed your brain in a while, creativity tools or frameworks can help to get you started.

Creativity is what sets us apart from machines, robots and AI. People make the difference, also in innovation.

Individual or corporate

Not only individuals can be more or less creative. Corporate cultures also range between monotonously operational and new concept incubators. Traditionally, the majority of businesses focused on operational excellence. Change came only incrementally to improve existing processes. However, the changing business landscape and impactful influences on our society like COVID-19 forces companies to adopt a more creative approach.

Innovation = generating value

Innovation is more practical in nature. Innovation is about taking creative concepts and translating them into reality. Innovation is the process of converting idea into action. As such, innovation requires a more strategic approach and operational support in companies. Nobody can build something great on an unstable foundation.

Be a leader – not a follower

In contrast with creativity, innovation is measurable. As such, innovation can be managed. All innovation must find a balance between risk-taking and failure aversion. When you are afraid of taking risks, all you can do is follow the market. But innovative leaders find a path to risk-taking that is manageable, repeatable, and aimed at maximizing the effectiveness of the new idea. For this leads to value creation for the organization.

No action, no innovation

Creativity can exist without innovation. Innovation, however, cannot exist without creativity. Creativity is the starting point for innovation. When you want your company to be really innovative, you will have to couple creativity and innovation.

Thus, company-wide support is crucial for innovation. To get creative ideas into action, you’ll need to pool resources. Because without enthusiasm, money and time, your brilliant ideas will bear no fruit.

Connect to create

Innovation teams need someone to bring everything together. To gather support and get everyone on the same page. A bridging role that is often overlooked in favor of pure creative profiles. This is exactly why we developed INNDUCE.me: an assessment to measure people’s innovation skills and build high-performing innovation teams with creators, champions as well as implementers.

Are you curious how we can identify your innovation profile? Check our free 5-minute demo!

Conclusion

Make sure you have a source of new ideas but also make sure these ideas get supported and implemented into products or services that generate value for your company.

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About INNDUCE.me

INNDUCE.me focuses on the central role of people in innovation. We help you assess innovation talent in a scientifically based online test. With the insights from this test, you are ready to build top-performing innovation dream teams.