Mobilising Creativity and Innovation: Opportunities and Challenges

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Assignment on
Mobilising Creativity and Innovation

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Creative Problem Solving................................................................................................................3
Opportunities in promoting organisational creativity and innovation.............................................4
Challenges in promoting organisational creativity and innovation.................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
Recommendations............................................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................8

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Introduction
It is without a doubt that, the business environment globally has faced a massive shift as
compared to how it was earlier. This is due to; changes in technology, realignment of business
functions, and customers’ perception among other dynamics. Due to all these changes,
organizations might find that efficiency alone is not sufficient; therefore, the emphasis of
creativity and innovation within the organizational setup has started being explored as a strategic
management tool of enhancing organizational performance. (O’Neal, Paek and Runco, 2015)
The processes of creativity and innovation was first studied at the individual employee level then
later shifted to the organizational level. It was apparent that creativity and innovation are
processes that emanate from individuals as they branch off affecting the whole organization in
the process. (Rozman and Kovač, 2015)
Creative Problem Solving
Creative problem solving is beyond brainstorming; according to (Xanthakou and Kaïla, 2011)
creative problem solving is a process made up of elements that broaden the normal mindset to
uncover a wide range of ideas, after which a critical evaluation of the ideas is done in order to
find a set of possible solutions.
There are various theories and models of problem solving with one of the most known and
elaborate being Osborn-Parnes Creative Problem Solving process. According to Osborn-Parnes
model, the process of problem solving has several steps which can be broken down into four
major steps which include;
1. Clarify
 Exploration of challenge
In this stage all problems and relevant sub problems are identified in order to come up
with innovative solutions which are unusual and original. It is important to take time
during this stage so as to properly evaluate all dimensions of the problem which will in
turn affect the diversity of possible solutions
 Fact finding
In this step, consideration of all gathered data is key; data deemed both relevant and
irrelevant should be given priority on equal measure to give a clear picture of the