Let’s get clear on innovation

Building capacity for creative thinking and innovation is challenging enough without the persistent misunderstandings that muddy the conversation. The one I find most frustrating is the argument that relegates creative thinking as divergent thinking whereas innovation is convergent thinking and where value is added.

That position does a disservice to the ideas produced during creative thinking. It suggests that the ideas have no value unless they are innovative when we know that successful organizations today rely on the strength of their creative problem solving to adjust and evolve to change in many ways. In the same vein, it supposes that the creative thinking process is simply a production of ideas without consideration of the value of the outputs. We all know that creative thinking includes points of reflection throughout the ideation process.

One of the most critical elements to driving a more creative culture is to communicate expectations and for leaders attempting to build a more innovative business, it is important team members understand what innovation means for your company. However, a study by Gallup shows that nearly half of all U.S. employees don't know what's expected of them at work. When it comes to understanding expectations for innovation, the level of confidence is likely even lower. Confusing terminology and vague definitions lead to employees who are not engaged and giving their best ideas.

Let’s start by putting the disagreement on what qualifies as creative thinking versus innovation to rest with a simple clarification:

• Creative thinking is the act of developing a novel solution

• Innovation is the solution’s potential to create change

What this means is that creative thinking is the action (verb), the solution is the product (noun), and innovation becomes the evaluation of the solution (adjective). All innovations were the product of creative thinking but not all creative thinking can be deemed innovative. To learn more about the different kinds of creative thinking that leads to innovation, take a look at the Taxonomy of Creative Thinking.