Creativity and innovation

Successful businesses don’t copy what others do, regardless of which industry they are in. Innovative ideas and inspiration from others might be used, but progressive organisations use their own creativity to elevate themselves or their product/service. That's why we are inspired to come up with unique applications for technology and meld it with creativity to deliver memorable experiences and events.

The new Ignite Fitness gym installation is a great example of creativity and innovation in lighting as well as the gym concept.

In other words, successful businesses leverage their creativity and their innovative capabilities to attain long-term success (did I mention we’ve just celebrated 35 years in the event industry?)

Any organisation can be creative and innovative. You simply have to apply a different mindset and bring creativity and innovation to every aspect of your business, and when you do this, you can stay ahead of a rapidly changing marketplace, and the competition.

What is creativity?

Creativity is a function of knowledge, curiosity, imagination, and evaluation. The greater your knowledge base and curiosity, the more ideas, patterns, and combinations you can achieve. You have to think without a box and shake things up. Repeat until embryonic ideas can develop into something usable. In other words, there is a process to creativity.

A great quote that demonstrates this is: “2+2=4 but so does 3+1.” We constantly need to challenge our thinking to ensure we look at more than one ‘right’ idea. When you push yourself further than the obvious, you challenge yourself.

To master that process, you need to understand the three levels of creativity:

Discovery:

This is when you become aware of or stumble upon something. For example, the hoards of rocks in a unique shape or a piece of wood with an interesting pattern that have cropped up in interior shops. Someone, somewhere, a while ago saw art in nature and thought ‘I can sell this’. This is ‘discovered art’, and it’s a trend. Discovery leads to invention – point two.

Invention:

Thomas Edison invented the light bulb. But, would the light bulb have been invented without Edison? The answer is yes; the science was there. It might have taken longer, but it would have happened. So while invention is a step on from discovery, it’s something that is going to happen. If you don’t do it, someone else will.

Creation:

Elizabethan theatre would have carried on without Shakespeare, but no one else would have written Romeo and Juliet. Similarly, there are things that only you can create. You need to find out what those things are.

Creativity is generating novel ideas. Innovation is the application of an idea. So in other words, innovation is applied creativity. And that’s what our team lives and breathes – and what makes us just that little bit different.

Increasing creativity and innovation

Here are some thought starters to help boost your company’s ability to create and innovate:

1. Innovation is based on knowledge. Continually expand your knowledge base
2. Perceptions limit reasoning. Be careful how you perceive things
3. Practice guided imagery to see an idea come to life
4. Incubate ideas. For example, when working on a big project, one of the best things you can do is take a break from it. It shifts your brain into another place and helps to be more innovative and creative
5. Experience as much as you can. Exposure puts more ideas into your subconscious
6. Look where others aren’t, to see what they aren’t seeing

Create your success

The more creative and innovative you and your team are, the more sustainable your success. So don’t chase the next big thing, bring creativity and innovation to what you’re doing now. When you do, you’ll be regarded as an innovator.

Caption: The new Ignite Fitness gym installation is a great example of creativity and innovation in lighting as well as the gym concept.