curve, automisation, learning theories and the experiences of practitioners suggest that it does improve but there are caveats.

Motivation. Motivation is arguably more important than nature / nurture or traits. Someone with natural ability or placed in the right environment may not take advantage of it unless motivated. There is intrinsic motivation, synergistic and non-synergistic extrinsic motivation. How can it be induced and measured? There are many elements: material reward, progress to the ideal self,

Elements of Creativity Theory include:

What are the definitions of and differences between creativity and innovation? There is much confusion, for instance, Franklin (2003) writes that "innovation is anything that somebody thinks is a great idea." At a minimum, creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation. Innovation often means that outside decision makers have to get involved, as complete development and commercialisation commonly requires the competencies and knowledge of a team. Different competencies, structures, processes, resources and time-scales are required.

Common characteristics of creative people. Do creative people have common characteristics that we can identify, so that we can hire the right people? Some firms do not engage in creative activities because of a belief that "special" people are needed. Many theorists and practitioners think that there are common characteristics, such as tolerance to ambiguity and risk taking. However, many others argue that there are none ("For sixteen years I have been trying to find some common denominator which seems to apply to all creative people. There aren't any. If I could find five or six characteristics I might be more successful at hiring them. I could make a list of curiosity, vocabulary, good visual imagery etc and then I could interview hundreds of people and hire the best. But I don't know of any common characteristic. We've got fifty copywriters and I suppose the good ones are judged at the end of the year, when we compare how many successful campaigns they have created").

Learning versus talent. Can creativity be learned and developed or is it a talent / special gift? Why is it that some people just are more creative? Nature nurture arguments are notoriously inconclusive and trait theories assume stability across situations and time. The best way to answer this question is to investigate whether creativity improves with practice. The experience curve, automisation, learning theories and the experiences of practitioners suggest that it does improve but there are caveats.

Motivation. Motivation is arguably more important than nature / nurture or traits. Someone with natural ability or placed in the right environment may not take advantage of it unless motivated. There is intrinsic motivation, synergistic and non-synergistic extrinsic motivation. How can it be induced and measured? There are many elements: material reward, progress to the ideal self,

opment and commercialisation commonly requires the competencies and knowledge of a team. Different competencies, structures, processes, resources and time-scales are required.

Common characteristics of creative people. Do creative people have common characteristics that we can identify, so that we can hire the right people? Some firms do not engage in creative activities because of a belief that "special" people are needed. Many theorists and practitioners think that there are common characteristics, such as tolerance to ambiguity and risk taking. However, many others argue that there are none ("For sixteen years I have been trying to find some common denominator which seems to apply to all creative people. There aren't any. If I could find five or six characteristics I might be more successful at hiring them. I could make a list of curiosity, vocabulary, good visual imagery etc and then I could interview hundreds of people and hire the best. But I don't know of any common characteristic. We've got fifty copywriters and I suppose the good ones are judged at the end of the year, when we compare how many successful campaigns they have created").

Learning versus talent. Can creativity be learned and developed or is it a talent / special gift? Why is it that some people just are more creative? Nature nurture arguments are notoriously inconclusive and trait theories assume stability across situations and time. The best way to answer this question is to investigate whether creativity improves with practice. The experience curve, automisation, learning theories and the experiences of practitioners suggest that it does improve but there are caveats.

Motivation. Motivation is arguably more important than nature / nurture or traits. Someone with natural ability or placed in the right environment may not take advantage of it unless motivated. There is intrinsic motivation, synergistic and non-synergistic extrinsic motivation. How can it be induced and measured? There are many elements: material reward, progress to the ideal self,

s tolerance to ambiguity and risk taking. However, many others argue that there are none ("For sixteen years I have been trying to find some common denominator which seems to apply to all creative people. There aren't any. If I could find five or six characteristics I might be more successful at hiring them. I could make a list of curiosity, vocabulary, good visual imagery etc and then I could interview hundreds of people and hire the best. But I don't know of any common characteristic. We've got fifty copywriters and I suppose the good ones are judged at the end of the year, when we compare how many successful campaigns they have created").

Learning versus talent. Can creativity be learned and developed or is it a talent / special gift? Why is it that some people just are more creative? Nature nurture arguments are notoriously inconclusive and trait theories assume stability across situations and time. The best way to answer this question is to investigate whether creativity improves with practice. The experience curve, automisation, learning theories and the experiences of practitioners suggest that it does improve but there are caveats.

Motivation. Motivation is arguably more important than nature / nurture or traits. Someone with natural ability or placed in the right environment may not take advantage of it unless motivated. There is intrinsic motivation, synergistic and non-synergistic extrinsic motivation. How can it be induced and measured? There are many elements: material reward, progress to the ideal self,

s and I suppose the good ones are judged at the end of the year, when we compare how many successful campaigns they have created").

Learning versus talent. Can creativity be learned and developed or is it a talent / special gift? Why is it that some people just are more creative? Nature nurture arguments are notoriously inconclusive and trait theories assume stability across situations and time. The best way to answer this question is to investigate whether creativity improves with practice. The experience curve, automisation, learning theories and the experiences of practitioners suggest that it does improve but there are caveats.

Motivation. Motivation is arguably more important than nature / nurture or traits. Someone with natural ability or placed in the right environment may not take advantage of it unless motivated. There is intrinsic motivation, synergistic and non-synergistic extrinsic motivation. How can it be induced and measured? There are many elements: material reward, progress to the ideal self,

curve, automisation, learning theories and the experiences of practitioners suggest that it does improve but there are caveats.

Motivation. Motivation is arguably more important than nature / nurture or traits. Someone with natural ability or placed in the right environment may not take advantage of it unless motivated. There is intrinsic motivation, synergistic and non-synergistic extrinsic motivation. How can it be induced and measured? There are many elements: material reward, progress to the ideal self, self-determination, self-evaluation, feedback, enjoyment, competency expansion, recognition and feasibility.

Blocks to creativity and organisational culture. What are the blocks to creativity and how can they be overcome? We can all be more creative, so what is stopping us? There are many blocks such as evaluation apprehension (in its many forms) and lack of adequate finance and resources. Separating creative from critical thinking, incremental productivity, tools that draw out tacit knowledge and using frameworks to trigger flow are some of the effective unblocking techniques. What is psychological safety and freedom? What properties of an organisational culture cultivate productivity?

Organisational structure. What properties of an organisational structure most foster creativity? There are many reasons why an entity has a particular organisational structure: history, logistics, market segmentation, product line, strategy and so forth. It is often unreasonable to ask a firm to change its organisational structure, so how do we get around this problem?

Group structure What is the most effective team structure? Many people who are acknowledged to have made great contributions to society have worked alone, but it is very easy for individuals to go "off track" and feedback is required to some degree, as well as other things. It is also very difficult to separate the idea from its influences. Many others work in pairs or small teams, as this reduces the negative effects of large groups. Successful firms generally start off as very small, creative enterprises. Many people think that brainstorming in large groups enhances creativity, but large groups bring with them politics, status differentials, group think, dilution of ideas and conformity among other things.

The role of knowledge. What type and level of knowledge helps creativity most? Can someone with limited knowledge of a field make a significant contribution to it? Does excess knowledge cause blinkered vision? Intellectual cross-pollination fosters creativity,