What do creativity managers do?

Replace the word management with the word optimisation.

That's what creativity managers do: they optimise the quality of the idea pool (creativity) and the implementation process (innovation).

There are many methods of optimisation and the creativity leader must be aware of all of them, in other words, he or she must synthesise them for optimal effect.

Areas [within creativity] that need managing include motivation, organisational culture, organisational structure, incremental versus radical effects and processes, knowledge mix, group structures, goals, process and valuation.

Areas [within innovation] that need managing include idea selection, development / prototyping and the art of commercialisation.

It is worth noting that 4000 good ideas result in 4 development programs, which in turn results in 1 winner.

The role of Knowledge

The knowledge mix influences creativity output. There are many ways to look at it.

First, does in-depth knowledge of a field enhance the probability of a breakthrough or is that likely to cause blinkered vision? Another way of looking at it, can an individual with no knowledge in a field make a significant contribution to it?

There is much interesting data, for example, the most valuable creative product appears at around year ten of an individual's engagement in a domain. Also, when peer influence is reduced, novel, diverse and valuable products tend to appear sooner.

Second, how to we maximise the level of tacit knowledge? Tacit knowledge is all that cannot be easily coded (explicit knowledge) and includes experience, intuition and the like. Tacit knowledge makes up a far greater part of the knowledge base. Solutions include utilising frameworks, creating networks, collaborating, bridging and so on.

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