8 Ways to Engage Innovation

Is innovation the same as creativity? The terms are used interchangeably, so there may be some confusion as to how we can apply both of it at professionally and personally.

Creativity is involved in how you solve problems. The more solutions you propose for a problem, the more creative you are. However, innovation is about how you apply your creativity to actually solving these problems.

Corporations try to mandate innovation. You cannot make innovation a rule, as it can be a process that can be diluted by rules, regulations and demand. You cannot force a natural process, for you will probably get synthetic outcomes. Everyone has their process for teasing out their creative process.

How would you engage your innovation? There are ways to approach innovative practices.

1)    Ask yourself WHICH ways you can attend to the problem.

2)    Daydream. Visualise. Ask ‘what if?’.

3)    Create and recreate an environment which best engages your creative process.

4)    Seek inspiration from a variety of sources (film, commercials, print advertisements, poetry, music, performances, speeches).

5)    Move around, animate your thinking, and express it visually, audibly and physically (i.e. mind map, discuss, create a prototype/model).

6)    Ask: how can I make it better? What else can I do? What else more?

7)    Read biographies of successful businesspeople, inventors, performers and leaders.

8)    Surround yourself with creative, energetic and helpful people. They are wellsprings of encouragement, resourcefulness and purpose.

9)    Experiment. Test. Apply. Discover. Learn.