In a constantly changing business world, creativity is a crucial factor for success. Companies that can develop innovative solutions and continuously adapt to new challenges have a clear competitive advantage. But how does creativity arise and how can it be fostered?
We addressed these questions in the VDI Network Systems Engineering, organized by MEDtech Ingenieur GmbH, in a very exciting and interesting presentation by Dr. Tobias Eismann Dr. Tobias Eismann is a creativity researcher and innovator. After completing his doctorate at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, he has been working at the Siemens Creativity Lab since 2022. There, he supports teams in unlocking their creative potential and developing innovative solutions.
In this blog post, I'd like to summarize the insights and learnings I gained from the talk. Please consider this merely a summary from an interested participant who hasn't researched creativity themselves. I won't cover all aspects of the talk here.
What is creativity and what is it not?
Equating creativity with colorful Post-its or drawing funny pictures is far too simplistic. Often, we limit ourselves to creative methods that are absolutely useful, but only part of the whole. Creativity is the ability to create something new or original, something useful or valuable. If you want to create something new, perhaps even disruptive, then creative approaches are necessary. The key word: thinking outside the box. This goes far beyond the methods themselves. It ranges from the question of how our brain works, to the creativity of individuals, to social aspects in organizations.
Divergent and convergent thinking: The path to innovative solutions
Creativity requires a combination of divergent and convergent thought processes. Divergent thinking is the creative, open-ended approach that generates many different ideas and solutions. It's about thinking outside the box and finding unusual, innovative approaches. This process is playful and experimental, which creates space for new and unconventional ideas.
In contrast, convergent thinking aims to select and refine the best solution from the many generated ideas. It is an analytical and systematic process that helps identify the most feasible and effective solutions. Both mindsets are complementary and necessary for the successful implementation of creative projects.
Far too often, the time for divergent thinking is kept too short. This results in the potential for finding innovative solutions being lost. Moreover, most of us find the time spent thinking divergently stressful and tedious, while we feel good during convergent phases.
Keeping an eye not only on the customer but also on the creative
In product development, the customer is always the focus. We concentrate entirely on the customer's needs and desires. After all, the customer is the one who buys the product or service. That's certainly good and right. But it's also worth looking at the people who develop the product. What makes these people tick? How can you optimize their work and how can you efficiently utilize the brains of these creative minds and thus unleash their creativity? This aspect is often neglected in companies. And this wastes potential.
The triad of success: creativity, expertise and motivation
Creativity alone isn't enough to achieve groundbreaking results. Expertise and motivation are also needed to turn creative ideas into reality. Expertise provides the necessary knowledge and skills to develop and refine creative concepts. Without sound specialist knowledge, many creative ideas remain immature and difficult to implement.
Motivation is the driving force that keeps creative processes going and overcomes challenges. It ensures that you don't give up, even in the face of setbacks and difficulties. Intrinsic motivation, that is, inner interest and enjoyment in the task, is particularly important for staying committed and productive in the long term.
The triad of creativity, expertise, and motivation forms the foundation for sustainable success. Creativity generates fresh ideas, expertise transforms these ideas into feasible projects, and motivation drives the entire process forward. Only when all three elements work together can truly innovative and successful solutions emerge.
Neuronal plasticity and experience
Neural plasticity, the brain's ability to change through experience and learning, is present at all ages, but manifests itself to varying degrees at different stages of life. Plasticity is highest in early childhood. The brain develops rapidly and constantly adapts to new experiences and environments. This period is crucial for the development of basic skills such as language and motor skills.
With age, brain plasticity decreases but remains. In adulthood, the brain is less malleable but still capable of adapting through targeted activities such as learning and training. Studies have shown that even older adults can experience structural changes in the brain through learning new skills, such as juggling.
With age, the brain's ability to reorganize itself further slows. Nevertheless, plasticity remains a lifelong process. Older people can support neural health and slow cognitive decline through mentally stimulating activities, social interactions, and physical exercise. It is important to emphasize that individual variability is high, and factors such as genetic predisposition, lifestyle, and environmental conditions play a significant role.
People's experience generally increases with age, reaching an optimum age around 42. This is the age at which people most often found successful startups.
Activating the subconscious: Key to creativity
To foster employee creativity, it is crucial to activate the subconscious mind. This can only be achieved by regularly addressing the problem. Constantly reminding yourself of the problem stimulates the subconscious to find creative solutions. Often, the best ideas come in moments of relaxation, such as waking up, taking a shower, or jogging.
When employees are regularly reminded of the problem, it stays in the back of their minds. The subconscious continues to work on it, even when they are consciously attending to other tasks. This unconscious processing can lead to sudden flashes of inspiration, often occurring at unexpected times. For example, many people report that they have their best ideas when they wake up in the morning, in the shower, or while jogging.
Companies can use various strategies to support this process. Regular meetings or brief reminders via email can help keep the issue top of mind for employees. Creative breaks and time for informal discussions can also help keep the subconscious mind active and generate new ideas.
By helping employees keep the problem in mind, you create the conditions for innovative ideas and breakthroughs. This continuous engagement with the problem is the key to fully harnessing the creative potential of the subconscious.
How was the event received?
The feedback from the participants was consistently positive, and they stayed for a long time to discuss the new findings. Many thanks to Dr. Tobias Eismann for his fascinating insights into the topic of creativity.
Best regards,
Goran Madzar