Innovation Management

Establishing terminology and frames of reference helps set the context and build a solid foundation from which we can have an intelligent conversation about this topic.

Creativity and Innovation are very often confused. For example, one popular author recently defined innovation as "...any idea that generates wealth." That's lazy thinking.

A good definition of creativity is that it is problem identification and idea generation whereas innovation is idea selection, development and commercialisation.

Within idea generation, a further definition is valuable: the number of ideas produced, the novelty of the ideas produced, the diversity of ideas produced and the frequency of their production.

Cognitive versus Motor activity

The human body functions on two basic levels: a) cognitive activity and b) motor activity.

First, cognitive activity decides what's going on and what to do about it and then instructions are sent via the central nervous system and implemented via motor activity that controls muscles and general output.

The above has implications for creativity and innovation management.

For example, common characteristics of creative people. Many painters may argue that some people can paint and others can