Creativity and Inspiration for New Ideas

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Discussion 1

Creativity and Inspiration for New Ideas

Everyone has the ability to be creative, even the self-professed “non-creative” types. This does not always mean they are consistently coming up with cutting-edge ideas or drawing rough sketches on napkins. Professionals frequently use the skills required of their job in creative ways without realizing it. For example, counselors spend years learning about theoretical frameworks and practicing therapy techniques, all of which add to the tools they have at their disposal. However, instead of simply applying these tools in a prescriptive fashion, effective counselors use them to create customized solutions to better help their clients on an individual level. In the same way, managers and leaders can combine the tools they have with new ideas and approaches to develop more effective solutions.

In this Discussion, you will examine your approach to creativity and consider how you can strengthen your proficiency to generate new ideas.

To prepare for this Discussion:

Consider what the term “creativity” means and whether, or how, your definition of the term has changed after reviewing this week’s Learning Resources.

Reflect on the role that creativity has played in your life—from your personal hobbies and interests, to how you choose to express yourself, to how you relate to others and accomplish tasks.

Identify some examples of creativity in your own life and work, as well as what inspires you to be creative.

By Day 3

Post an analysis of the role of creativity in generating new ideas. Specifically:

Explain, in your own words, what it means to be creative and to think creatively. Include in your explanation whether, or how, your definition of the term has changed after reviewing the Learning Resources for this week.

Examine the influence of creativity on your life, including how creativity has enabled you to come up with new ideas. To support your response, provide two examples, one from your personal interests and one from your professional pursuits, and explain what inspired you in each case.

Identify one or more ways in which you can boost your own creativity to support ideation.

Discussion 2

In 1977, Shigeru Miyamoto started working for a toy and playing card company in Kyoto, Japan. He was fresh out of design school and the company was looking to get into the video game space. That company, Nintendo, and its popular franchises (such as Super Mario Brothers) would soon become a household name and continue to remain that way for over 35 years and counting. One of the key factors to the company’s success is its drive to continually innovate, much of which can be contributed to Miyamoto’s creations, leadership, and vision. Without his contributions, it is quite possible the multi-billion-dollar industry of video games could have evolved much differently.

In this Discussion, you will explore how a business could benefit from an innovative solution, as well as develop that solution and consider the challenges it might bring.

To prepare for this Discussion:

Identify a problematic business process or practice that could benefit from an innovative solution. Try to think of something that is often inefficient, poorly managed, creates confusion, and so on.

Consider how you might implement innovative solutions to address this need.

By Day 3

Post a synthesis of the problematic business process or practice and your proposed innovative solution(s). Specifically:

Briefly describe the business process or practice you selected and explain why you think it might benefit from an innovative solution.

Using an innovative mindset, devise one or more possible solutions to the problem. For each solution, identify any potential challenges or benefits related to implementation.

Refer to the Week 2 Discussion Rubric for specific grading elements and criteria. Your instructor will use this grading rubric to assess your work.

Discussion 3

When companies implement innovative strategies, it can lead them to develop distinguishing features and functions for their products. Doing so can help the companies grow and outpace their competitors. For example, consider dishwasher and laundry detergent. These products came in liquid or powder form for decades, which most consumers were satisfied with. This satisfaction might indicate that there was little need for innovation; however, certain brands took action on opportunities for innovation and introduced detergent pods. These pods provided a small yet significant increase in convenience, which also increased customer loyalty to those brands.

In this Discussion, you will examine how innovation plays a role within an organization, including the impact of that innovation on the organization’s growth or competitive advantage.

To prepare for this Discussion:

Consider organizations where you have worked or notable companies that would serve as a strong example of a company that incorporated innovation or failed to do so. Try to think of examples in which the innovation either led to growth opportunities/created competitive advantages or resulted in decreased growth/loss of competitive advantage. (Note: The loss of growth or competitive advantage may also have been a result of the organization NOT implementing the innovation effectively, or at all.)

Choose an organization to focus on for this Discussion.

Note: When using specific examples from your professional experience, be sure to disguise the names of any individuals or organizations. For larger organizations, disguising names is unnecessary, but be sure not to share any proprietary information.

By Day 3

Post an analysis of the impact of innovation on the growth and competitive advantage of an organization. In your analysis, do the following:

Describe the organization you chose and explain how innovation played a role within it.

Explain in what ways the innovation either led to growth/created a competitive advantage for the organization or resulted in decreased growth and/or a loss of competitive advantage. (Remember that the loss of growth or competitive advantage may have been a result of either poor implementation of the innovation or complete lack of implementation.)