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.

Idea Valuation

Idea valuation is the first step of innovation (idea selection, development and commercialisation).

There are a number of valuation approaches:

What types of ideas have previously been most successful? For example, solution spotting has a higher success rate and a lower failure rate than need spotting.

What is the fit with the firm? Does the firm have the strategic, technical and other competencies to fully bring the idea to the market?

What is the position relative to practical impediments? What is the likelihood of the idea pushing past all development obstacles?

How do we make the go or kill decision to decide between projects? Investing in one good idea robs another of the opportunity of proving itself. Resources are never limitless.

Who is the consumer and how will s/he benefit? Market research has a role to play.

What are the benefits of failure? Failure today may help build the competencies that lead to a winning solution next time. Ridley Scott created a commercial failure with Blade Runner but went on to a commercial success with Gladiator.

Learn more