The 4 Elements of Creativity That Power Innovation
We often hear people claim in our ideation sessions that they are not creative. But we know that creativity is not simply a magical gift people are born with. It is a skill that can be taught, practiced, and mastered. By focusing on four specific elements of creativity—Quantity, Diversity, Uniqueness, and Building—you can transform your thinking and your ideation sessions into impactful innovation workshops.
Quantity: Volume Drives Quality
The first step toward creativity is generating as many ideas as possible. Ideation is where ideas first take shape, so you shouldn’t expect them to be perfect. If you spend time assessing every idea as it’s generated, it creates an overload of context switching in your brain that impedes innovation. Say the idea, move on, and refine it during convergence if it gets prioritized.
The Key: Generate, generate, generate. Capture ideas immediately to prevent losing them, and share them out loud to keep the momentum of the session high.
The Watchout: Idea hoarding kills quantity. If you wait for the perfect idea before speaking, you stifle your own flow and may eventually forget your initial thought.
Diversity: Ideas in Different Categories
Generating ideas across a diverse range of categories—however you may define those categories—expands thinking beyond a single type of idea. For example, generating the same idea but in red, orange, yellow, green, etc. can be helpful only to a point. Changing the substance of the idea is what matters. True creative rigor requires you to look at the categories your ideas fall into—such as convenience, technology, or emotional impact—and deliberately shift your focus to new and unexplored territories.
The Key: Review your current list of ideas and identify the dominant categories. Then, force your brain to generate ideas in a completely different, under-represented category to expand your scope.
The Watchout: Ideating in one or two categories can provide quantity, but usually lacks variety. If you’re feeling stuck in a rut, take a step back and identify more broad category options (these should be framed as Opportunity Areas or Jobs To Be Done). Framing the challenge differently forces new perspectives and sparks different ideas.
Uniqueness: Break Free from the Expected
Achieving uniqueness is often the most difficult challenge because we are conditioned to self-edit, forcing safe, rational thoughts to emerge. To find unique ideas, you must be willing to stretch your thinking into areas that might initially seem impossible or far out.
The Key: Push into new territories through creative excursions. It is far easier to take a wild, impractical idea and turn it into a feasible solution than it is to make a boring idea exciting.
The Watchout: Playing it safe. Innovation doesn't happen in the comfort zone. If an idea doesn't make you slightly uncomfortable, you likely haven't pushed far enough.
Building: The Power of Collaboration
Building is the engine of co-creation. This element is about using someone else's idea as a spark for your own, whether you modify it slightly or use it to branch out in a completely new direction. There is no plagiarism in ideation! Everyone is working toward the same goal, so take what you like and make it better.
The Key: Listen actively to what your teammates are sharing and use Forness® thinking. When a teammate shares a thought, use it as a stepping stone to launch a new concept or a variation that solves the problem in a different way.
The Watchout: Working in isolation. If you aren't building on others, you aren't maximizing the collective brainpower of the team. Innovation and creative ideas happen when diverse perspectives collide and evolve together.
Creativity acts like a muscle: the more you use these four elements, the stronger your innovation capabilities become.
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