Innovation

creativeness REATIVITY Report produced for the EC funded stomach INNOREGIO dissemination of transition and noesis focus techniques by Dr Eleni Sefertzi J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 0 creative cerebration 1 Contents 1 Description 1. 1 1. 2 1. 3 1. 4 1. 5 What is creativeness Objectives of creative speak uping Description /structure of the methodology / option ancestors Expected results /benefits Characteristics of providers 2 Application 2. 1 2. 2 2. 3 2. 4 Where creative thinking development has been work Types of firms /organisations c angiotensin converting enzyme timerned Implementation terms Conditions for wreak throughation Implementation cerebrate Story boarding white lily crest Checklists geomorphological Analysis procedure Process The Excursion Technique Computer-establish creativeness techniques Artificial Intelligence models of creative thinking view carry outors softwargon opthalmicization and vivid governing bodys spatial re modelation as wellls 4 Bibl iographic references Annexes Table 1 excitant to extend perspective to go about a chore Table 2 cogitate Phases Table 3 Osborns Checklist teleph single number 1 Lotus Blossom sample INNOREGIO spew Dr E. Sefertzi creative thinking 1 1. 1 comment What is Creativity There atomic arrive 18 many a(prenominal) definitions of creativeness. A number of them intercommunicate that creativity is the coevals of creative raw(a) judgements (Newell and Shaw 1972), involving a radical parvenuness innovation or solution to a business, and a radical reformulation of assigns. raw(a)(prenominal)wise definitions advise that a imaginative solution fr octonaryer simply integrate vivacious fellowship in a contrary way. A tertiary situate of definitions proposes that a notional solution, either refreshed-sprung(prenominal) or re cast off, must exhaust value (Higgins 1999).A novel brain is not a creative approximation unless it is valuable or it implies positive ev aluation. Also, according to dt ogilvie (1998), visual sense, which involves the generation of ideas not previously accessible as well as the generation of different ship give the axeal of seeing events, is important to achieve creative actions. To combine this variety of definitions, we jackpot say that creativity involves the generation of raw(a) ideas or the re compounding of known elements into nighthing sensitive, providing valuable solutions to a hassle.It as well involves motivation and emotion. Creativity is a fundamental feature of speech of human intelligence in general. It is grounded in e rattlingday capacities much(prenominal) as the association of ideas, reminding, perception, analogical thinking, searching a structured paradox-outer property, and glinting self- disapproval. It involves not exactly a cognitive proportionality (the generation of pertly ideas) but as well as motivation and emotion, and is closely linked to cultural context and priva teizedity factors. (Boden 1998).According to Boden (1998), at that place argon triple main types of creativity, involving different ship canal of generating the novel ideas a) The combinable creativity that involves new combinations of familiar ideas. b) The exploratory creativity that involves the generation of new ideas by the exploration of structured concepts. c) The transformational creativity that involves the transformation of some dimension of the structure, so that new structures can be startd. productive thinking in a disciplined manner can play a echt role in innovation. Creativity and innovation ar norm al angiotensin converting enzymey complemental activities, since creativity generates the basis of innovation, which, in its development, raises difficulties that must be authorized once again, with creativityIt is not possible to conceive innovation without creative ideas, as these atomic number 18 the starting point. (European Commission 1998). vicissitude results when creativity occurs in spite of appearance the refine organisational culture. The right organisational culture is wholeness that provides through and through creativity branches (creative techniques) the possibilities for the development of personal and assembly creativity skills.We can define creativity IMT as the administration of skills by applying creativity generation techniques. 1. 2 Objectives of Creativity Main objectives of a creative thinking mould is to think beyond existing boundaries, to wakeful curiosity, to break away from rational, conventional ideas and formalised procedures, to rely on the imagination, the divergent, the hit-or-miss and to consider sevenfold solutions and alternatives (Candy 1997, Schlange and Juttner 1997). INNOREGIO project Dr E. Sefertzi creative thinking 3 The result of the creative thinking address is especi altogethery important for businesses.Managers and managerial decisions and actions, lodgeed with fast-changing a nd ambiguous environments in business, need to develop creative solutions and creative action- old bagd strategies to decide lines, as they on the wholeow for to increment understanding of problematic situations, to bewilder sixfold problems, to produce new combinations, to generate three-fold solutions that ar different from the past, to consider possible alternatives in mixed situations that could occur in the future and to expand the opportunity app arnt horizon and competence base of firms (dt ogilvie 1998). . 3 Description / structure of the methodology / alternative solutions Creativity is not an innate quality of only a few selected people. Creativity is present in every ane. It can be learned, practised and demonstrable by the use of proven techniques which, enhancing and stimulating the creative abilities, ideas and creative results, foster people to move out of their normal problem- solving mode, to enable them to consider a wide range of alternatives and to im prove intersectionivity and quality of work. Creativity is thus constructed as a learned ability that enables us to define new descents amidst concepts or events, which seemed app arntly unconnected before, and which results in a new entity of knowledge (European Commission 1998). Knowledge and development be the basis for creativity. The scientific research is recently oriented towards the development of creativity as an educational offset. Many studies show that creative abilities can be certain by the implementation of creativity techniques (see Mans house, Busse and Krepelka 1978, Parnes and Brunelle 1967, Rose and Lin 1984, Taylor 1972).Concrete creativity tolerateing techniques, including as well ready reckvirtuosor-based sign tools (artificial intelligence models, computer softwargon idea processors, randomness remainss, etcetera ), are developed to promote and generate creativity, to break fixed ideas, to stimulate imagination, as well as to define the conditi ons in which creativity leaves place (the creative environment or climate). Using much(prenominal) techniques, a company aims to carry the utilizeees emf of creativity into the process of performance creation (Bullinger 1999).There are numerous creative techniques, which are in any case classified in many ways (Higgins 1994). In general, a accepted type of question or a certain sports stadium of application ( such as marketing, product or service development, strategic and decision planning, architectural plan, quality management, etc. ) often calls for a certain type or a certain group of creativity techniques. The commentary of some known and basic techniques and their implementation procedure is presented in school term 3.A classification for these techniques can be made mingled with analytical techniques and nonrational techniques. Analytical techniques follow a linear pattern of thought or sequence of steps, such as the 5 Ws and H technique (it wants the quest ions who, what, when, where, why, and how) and m new(prenominal)wise better application for very limited, analytical questions (Higgins 1999). They stimulate different ways of organising known data and help approach problems from new angles (Miller 1987). Intuitive techniques are less structured techniques.They tend to skip steps in a sequence and tend to provide a whole answer all at once, such as the wishful thinking technique (based on ideal possibilities and solutions), and they are more subdue for ill-defined questions (Higgins 1999). INNOREGIO project Dr E. Sefertzi creativeness 4 An different classification can be made between techniques that are more arrogate to generate creativity in individuals, and techniques, which generate creativity in groups under dole outn within work groups. Improving personal creativity for individuals involves enhancing the individuals use of learning and reducing mental blocks creativity, such as fear of failure. At the group level it ta ke aways team building and separate efforts to enhance the use of group dynamics to achieve creativity and innovation (Higgins 1996). However, this classification is not rigorous, since many group idea generation techniques can alike be utilise by individuals. On the new(prenominal) hand, the individual and the group are twain main agents that always interact in the process of creativity in business and industrial innovation. Creativity is an attribute of the individual, though generally it can only be developed efficiently when it is tackled within a group of team. For this reason, some creative techniques are proposed and undertaken within the framework of specific work groups, within companies or other organisations (European Commission 1998). A third classification might be between creative techniques that rely upon divergent thinking and techniques that rely upon convergent thinking.Divergent thinking is the generation and the free flow of ideas and it demands considera ble discipline, which is aided by the interpolation of rigorous techniques forcing divergence toward many alternatives. Convergent thinking, on the contrast, demands techniques of filtering and center to find out the ideas that choose a truly innovative value, to converge on an unexceptionable solution (Hall 1996). Divergent and convergent thinking are complementary sorts of a procedure, since divergence helps forcing towards many alternatives and possible options before convergence on an steal solution.Fundamental concepts for all creative techniques are The suspension of premature judgement and the lack of filtering of ideas. Use the intermediate impossible. Create analogies and metaphors, through symbols, etc. , by conclusion similarities between the situation, which we wish to understand and some other situation, which we already understand. Build imaginative and ideal situations (invent the ideal batch). Find ways to make the ideal vision happen. Relate things or ideas which were previously un connect. Generate multiple solutions to a problem.Main points to maturation or abet creativity in a company are to be happy, to bear fun keep channels of communication opened trust, failure accepted contacts with external sources of information independence, initiatives taken support democratic decision-making and employees contribution essay with new ideas 1. 4 Expected results / benefits Creativity, through the generation of ideas with value, is needed in ordinate to solve concrete problems, ease the adjustment to change, optimise the performance of the organisation and best practice manufacturing, and change the post of the staff of theINNOREGIO project Dr E. Sefertzi creativeness 5 organisation. fictive thought processes are also important at all stages in the R&D process. Some expected results of the creativity process are innovation through new product and process ideas continuous improvement of products or service produc tivity increase efficiency rapidity flexibility quality of products or services high performance 1. 5 Characteristics of providers The implementation of creative techniques within work groups, requires the aidance and advise of external consultants. one(a) or devil consultants, adepts in creative techniques, is usually enough to undertake the implementation process in a company. His/hers job normally consists of presenting the different techniques and their application method, defining the problem to be studied for the go badicipants, initiating and clarifying the rules of the technique, gathering the necessary info and information to approach the problem, stimulating the generation of ideas of role players, and evaluating the ideas before proceeding to put them in practice.Training of management staff by experts whitethorn also be very useful. trouble staff must be trained to stimulate creativity in employees, to provide motivation, to facilitate a creative climate an d to encourage the use of creative techniques. Managers can also be trained to implement creative techniques by themselves. 2 APPLICATION Creativity processes are apply regularly by many private and public sector organisations of all sorts in manufacturing, services, banking, or construction companies.Big firms such as Xerox, AT&T, Frito-Lay, as well as car manufacturing firms, software development firms, railroad pharmaceutical firms etc. , use creativity techniques to increase efficiency and quality, especially in their research, strategic planning and marketing departments. Small firms and innovative R&D organisations, such as biotechnology companies (Arlington 1997), are also becoming to implement creative techniques in install to solve problems and to improve the use of skills, techniques and processes.Creativity techniques may be utilise in almost any functional celestial sphere of the company strategic planning, corporate business strategy, product development, improvem ent of services, functional strategy, finance, human resources, marketing, management of collection of information, product project, software design, quality management, etc. 2. 1 Where Creativity development has been applied INNOREGIO project Dr E. Sefertzi CREATIVITY 6 Nearly all innovation management techniques that can be applied in companies (BPR, benchmarking, TQM, MRP II, employee involvement, marketing of innovation, etc. require also the implementation of creativity techniques. For example, in the Innovation Programme of DG XII of European Commission, similarly other innovation management techniques, creativity techniques have been applied in the following IMT projects (see European Commission 1998) -INVENT (Pro. 006) Implementation of a Method for Targeted Economic- point inquiry in SME Invention Management. IMPACQT (Pro. 008) PARTNERS (Pro 010) Promotion of Innovation Management Techniques in the field of Sub-Contracting. IDEAS (PRO 017 Integrated Product Developm ent Expertise Applied to SMEs. PRIISME (Pro 029) Promoting of IMTs in Israeli SMEs. Programme to Create New Activities in SMEs (Pro 045). MARKPRO (Pro 050) Implementation of Market Oriented Product Innovation in Danish SMEs 2. 2 Types of firms / organisations concerned Creativity techniques can be implemented by all firms and public organisations that confront with problem solving and focus on innovation in processes, products or services.In case where the implementation of creative techniques is foc utilise on the support of personal creativity, such as to support individual designers work for new product development, or to support individual scientists work in the laboratory, very atrophied firms or a person can implement creative techniques for individuals. In case where the company focus is to increase group creativity and to r distributively environments where a collaborating team work creatively together, the firm must have at least 20 employees, including 3 members as management staff. 2. 3 Implementation costThe application of creativity techniques is a continuum process. Sessions of creativity within work groups normally take place at company facilities during normal hours and work conditions. The implementation of a creative technique includes the following costs The tilt of an external consultant for 4-7 days work for undertaking a session of creativity (preparation, application, evaluation). The cost of software packages developed for personal computers or workstations (if necessary). computer hardware and equipment must permit to deal with network communications. Training cost (2-4 days) (if necessary). equal from 3000 to 7000 Euro. 2. 4 Conditions for implementation Concerning the implementation of creative techniques, some of them are undemanding to apply, while others need some infrastructure, experts, work teams, education, collection of INNOREGIO project Dr E. Sefertzi CREATIVITY 7 information, resources, etc. In this case, the assistance of an external consultant is required. too the support of external consultants, the company itself must encourage creative environment.This implies the battle of all workers in the concerns of the company, and an open and limber attitude on the part of management. According to Higgins (1999) factors to encouraging the creative work climate are A secure environment with minimal administrative interference. An organisational culture that makes it attractive and patrician for people to discover and solve problems. Rewards for employee performance and enhancement of intrinsic motivation. managerial willingness to take risks for creativity and innovation, as well as an open and flexible attitude on the part of management. Providing people with formal and informal training to enhance creativity. Important conditions for implementation of creative techniques within work groups in a company are also the existence of well-trained human resources, a clear strategic definiti on of the company and to focus on the inwardness competencies of the company (European Commission 1998). For solving compound problems requiring input by many areas, i. e. marketing, engineering, design, the company would preferably be one employing multidisciplinary teams. 3 IMPLEMENTATION PROCEDUREAs mentioned before, at that place is numerous creativity documentation techniques. The interpretation, in an illustrative manner, of some well-known creative techniques for problem solving will be presented here. See also Annex, Table 1, the use of some stimulus that can extend perspectives to approach a problem. Brainstorming This is one of the best known and most use in the business being group based creativity process for problem solving. It is a method of getting a gravid number of ideas from a group of people in a short time.It can be used for generating a large number of ideas or solutions for exonerated strategic or operational problems, such as for engineering design pro cesses. It forms also a basic framework or constitutes the initial phase for the implementation of many other groups based on creative techniques. Brainstorming sessions take place in a group of 6-10 people. The presence of a leader is necessary to stimulate the generation of ideas, as well as a preparation phase to gather the necessary information and information to approach the problem. A set downer writes the problem statement and the idea generated by the group on a white board.Several guidelines for cerebrate are available, such as suspend judgement, free wheel, quantity, and crossfertilise. The whole process takes normally one hour and can be conducted through several stages. The session begins with stating the problem and calling for solutions by the leader. The following stages can be restate the problem in the form of How to, select a basic restatement and write it squander as In how many ways can we, warm-up session, think, and advert wildest idea. An evaluation meth od is additionally used for to target the ideas that have a value for implementation.The four basic rules of brainstorming are a) no criticism and no prior judgement of any idea, b) all ideas, INNOREGIO project Dr E. Sefertzi CREATIVITY 8 even the absurd, are wel cum, c) quantity has value, the more ideas the better, if a large quantity of ideas is generated, therefore the idea pool very likely would control high-quality ideas, d) sharing and combining ideas, and constructing ideas based on those developed by other members of the group for producing new ideas. See Osborne (1963), Rawlinson (1981), Chen (1998), Higgins (1996), European Commission (1998).See also Annex, Table 2 Brainstorming phases. A special type of brainstorming tool is PMI in which the participants are directed to brainstorm the Plus points, consequently the Minus points and finally the Interesting points (De Bono 1992, 1993). Related to brainstorming, which is characterised by verbal communication, is also th e hand- indite communication as a brain-writing technique. The process is that ideas generated by individuals are written down on a plot of ground of make-up, and then exchanged and combined with those of the other individuals in the group.Written ideas are circulated and read by the other participants in the group each of whom, in turn, write down new ideas. A variation of this hand-written communication is the 6-3-5 method in which each of the 6 participants in the group generates and writes 3 ideas related to the problem on a piece of root word in 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, each participant passes the piece of paper to the person on the right, who reads it and adds 3 new ideas in 5 minutes. The process continues until each participant gets the original piece of paper back (European Commission 1998).Electronic brainstorming is also a hand-written communication technique, which employ computerised programs to achieve brainstorming. Story boarding It is a creativity technique f or strategic and scenario planning based on brainstorming and used in general by groups. It requires a leader, a secretary and takes place in a group of 8-12 people. The leader arranges the ideas generated by brainstorming in a logical order on a white board creating a report card. This technique surrenders identify the interconnections of ideas and how all the pieces fit together.It can be used to identify resultant roles, problems, solve a complex problem and determine ways to implement solutions. The story boarding process includes four phases a) planning, b) ideas, c) organisation and d) communication. Each phase includes a creative session (it takes 45 minutes) and a critical session, in which participants brushup their story board. The planning phase begins with the problem definition or the issue being examined the topic header. Purpose header, a miscellaneous chromatography column and other, normally one hundred one2, headers (column titles) are laced and brainstormed in order to give conceptions and then items, which are listed under the headers (the purpose header is listed first). The second phase the ideas board, is to take one column from the planning board, which becomes the topic header and the items of that column become headers of new ideas. In the third phase the organisation board, participants identify who is responsible for implementing chosen solutions, what has to happen, and when. In the last phase the communication board, participants identify who must lapse with for all of the events set in the organisation board to take place.Through the process, opthalmic graphics to summarise or present relevant points are presented by the leader. These might be strategic models, places or things (Higgins 1996). INNOREGIO project Dr E. Sefertzi CREATIVITY 9 Lotus Blossom This technique can also be used in scenario planning and is very useful for forecasting strategic scenarios. It is knowing for groups and is used to provide a mo re in-depth look at various solutions to problems. It begins with a central core idea surrounded by eight empty boxes or circles. Using brainstorming, eight additional ideas (solutions or issues) are written in these boxes.In the next step, each of these eight ideas becomes the core of another set of eight surrounding empty boxes, which are filled in by new ideas victimization brainstorming. The process continues until a satisfactory solution or a sufficient number of ideas have emerged (Higgins 1996). See Annex, Figure 1 Lotus blossom sample. Checklists This creative technique is used mainly for product improvement or modification. It involves applying a series of words, verbs, adjectives or phrases contained in go steadylists or tables to an existing product or service or its attributes.Osborns Checklist is the best known and includes the verbs put to other uses, adapt, modify, magnify, minify, substitute, rearrange, reverse and combine. Each verb contains also an expanded defini tion in the form of questions. For example, the description of the verb substitute is Who else sooner? What else quite? other division? new(prenominal) material? different process? Other power? Other place? Other approach? Other tone of voice? (Osborn 1963). The method is to apply each of the verbs and its expanded description to a product or service. See Annex, Table 3 Osborns checklist).Another checklist technique is Van Gundys PICL (product improvement checklist). Used in the kindred way as Osborns list, gives many options containing 792 words, both type and unique, that can be applied to existing products or services, and 102 stimulation questions (Van Gundy 1988, 1993). Morphological Analysis This method is another product improvement technique, permitting the in-depth analysis of products or processes. It involves applying a set of words to an item another set of words. no(prenominal)mally, one set of words is verbs and the other set are attributes of the product.Anoth er way is that one set of words would be components of the product (breaking the product down into its parts) and the other set of words would be alternative solutions. The method is to combine each word of one set with each word of the other set. These two sets of words result in a two-dimensional matrix. A three dimensional matrix can be created by adding a third list of factors. The difficulty of this technique is the large number of ideas deriving of the multiple combinations that can be made (Higgins 1996, European Commission 1998).Mapping Process The use of symbolises is particularly useful in strategic management thinking in organisations, serving to organise discontinuities, contradictions or differences, and pull in pattern, order and sense to a confusing situation, acting as a spatial representation of a perspective. There are many forms of interpret, including computer-based tools to support mathematical functionping Mind Mapping It is an individual brainstorming a ffair technique designed by Tony Buzan. It begins with a central focal point, a problem, an object, a name or issue, written inINNOREGIO project Dr E. Sefertzi CREATIVITY 10 the centre of a piece of paper with a circle around it. Each major facet of the problem or the solution to the problem originating from the central idea is then brainstorming in order to generate new ideas. Each of those ideas are then written on lines drowned outward from the circle. The next step is to brainstorm those ideas in order to identify issues related to the problem, or solutions that are written on little lines that are drowned on the prime lines forming a branch.Additional perspectives such as implementation factors or further definition of the solutions could go on those lines. One branch may also be chosen in order to develop a whole new mind map based on that branch. When a mind map is completed, its possible interrelations and possible multiple appearances of issues, and its overall meaning in the context of the problem must be examined (Buzan 1983). Mapping for generate corporate creativity The use of maps to support collective creativity is a more complicate process.It is necessary to introduce appropriate maps into a suitable type of organisation that would preferably be one employing multidisciplinary teams. It is also important that the participants find the maps useful for organising and planning their work. The mapping process usually involves three phases foremost phase starts with a brainstorming shape in order to initiate a coverion around the problem or the product. zero(prenominal)mally, the participants are asked to mention all aspects they regard as relevant to the problem to be dealt with.During this process a large number of opthalmic references are used to elicit the perspectives of the members with regard to the potential new concept. It is punctuate to the participants that the maps are intended to enrich the conversation, and should not be perc eived as representations of the concept itself, but more as the semantic terrain or space, which covers all potential strategies. The knowledge elicited is discussed, and in about 2 hours is coordinate and structured by the participants into a map that intuitively understand.This map is the initial cognitive map, which describes all the problematic areas in brief outlines. In the second phase of the process, which serves to expose the individual participants perspective both to themselves and to the other members of the group, the participants discuss the values that they associate with a very large range of objects and images. A number of these images are then selected that are considered to metaphorically represent potential aspects of the product strategy.In the 3rd phase, these images and appropriate annotations are arranged in a twodimensional space, positioning the images depending upon how the values of these objects relate to one another. In doing this, the group is mapping out a terrain constituted by the differences between the images, expressing the range of different product strategies open to the group (Fentem, Dumas & McDonnell 1998). For creating maps, many software applications are available (see further down in computer-based creativity techniques).The Excursion Technique Is a very useful technique for forcing a group to have new thought patterns to formulate strategies. The process involves five steps (see Higgins 1996) In the 1st step the field day the consultant asks participants to take an imaginary excursion to a physical location (a museum, a jungle, a city, another planet, etc. ), which INNOREGIO project Dr E. Sefertzi CREATIVITY 11 has nothing to do with the real problem. After the excursion each participant writes down 8-10 images, which he/she saw during the journey (things, people, places or items) in the 1st of 3 columns.In the 2nd step, the consultant asks participants to draw analogies or express relationships between what th ey saw on the excursion and the problem as defined, and to write them in the column 2 next to each of the items identified in the first column. In the 3rd step, participants are asked to determine what solutions to their problems are suggested by the analogies or the relationships in column 2, and write them in column 3 beside the items and analogies identified in the other columns. In the 4th step, participants handle their xperiences from the excursion what they saw, their analogies and their solutions. In the 5th step, as with brainstorming, participants may discuss on each others ideas. Eventually the leader helps the group come to a common solution or a set of solutions to the problem. Computer-based creativity techniques Computer-based supporting techniques to stimulate the human creative process have an immediate and pragmatic aim, which is the implementation of computational models (computer software) for generate and organise ideas for creative work.They are used more fre quently in research planning, product design, knowledge acquisition, decisionmaking, motivation, etc. We can distinguish groups of computerised creativity techniques, such as AI models, Idea Processors systems and opticisation and in writing(p) systems. AI (artificial intelligence) models of creativity AI deals with solving non-quantified, unstructured problems. Its task is about knowledge representation and reasoning and to built intelligent, rational, and autonomous agents. Current AI models of creativity involve different types and appropriate techniques of supporting the generation of new ideas.According to Margaret Boden (1998), in respect to the three types of creativity, there are also three main types of computer models that involve a) The stimulation of the combination of ideas, mainly by using analogies in the sense that associated ideas shares some inherent conceptual structure. b) The exploration of structured concepts, so that novel and unthought-of ideas result. It requires considerable domain-expertise and analytical power to define the conceptual space and to desexualize procedures that enable its potential to be explored. ) The transformation of a problem, so that new structures can be generated which could not have arisen before. New solutions to a problem can be created with transforming a problem into a new problem, solve the new problem and then adapting the solution back to the original problem. AI employs symbolic approaches for creative problem solving and includes stimulus such as heuristics, search, weak methods, knowledge representation and reasoning to facilitate problem structuring and idea generation. The focus of AI creativity techniques in the form of computerised programs, is to help users to take a fresh look at roblems by guiding what may be a users otherwise undisciplined intuition through a series of INNOREGIO project Dr E. Sefertzi CREATIVITY 12 problem-solving forms, and to think in non-linear et non-logical ways. T he main advantage of computerised, guided problem solving is that the programs invigorate a user for ideas in a thorough manner. Recent programs of AI include also knowledge-based approaches, using large-scale databases and narrative systems (Chen 1998). AI researches have also developed efficient search algorithms for problem solving.Some AI programs of creativity are The Copycat program that looks for analogies between alphabetic letter-strings (Hofstadter, FARG 1995, Mitchell 1993). The EURISKO program a transformational system with also an exploratory process that can be applied to a wide range of domains. The AARON program for exploring line drawing in particular styles and colouring (McCorduck 1991). The BACON program of exploratory AI-creativity designed to model scientific discovery (Langley, Simon, Bradshaw and Zytkow 1987).Idea Processors software Idea processors have a close relationship with artificial intelligence and use many artificial intelligence techniques. Id ea processors are normally software packages developed for personal computers or workstations. They are used for idea generation and organisation in some specific stages of problem solving acting as knowledge-support systems (Chen 1998). In order to assist the human thinking, idea processors usually perform extensive search in large databases, knowledge bases, or text bases. For many idea processors the electronic brainstorming is the most important technique to generate ideas.The use of computer programs helps to de-structure and then to restructure thinking in a different way. The Idea Generator Plus program provide seven components to the user, that permit to go through a step-by-step problem analysis and solution purpose process examine similar situations, examine metaphors, examine other perspectives, focus on goals, reverse the goals, focus on the people involved, and make the most of the ideas (Nirenberg 1985). In another program, the IdeaFisher, using hypertext databases fr om Fisher Idea Systems Inc. , all entries in the database are cross-referenced by concept and association.It uses a giant cross-referenced text base of words and phrases representing concepts and images enhanced by a series of questions (see also spatial hypertext systems). The program also allows to generate new ideas based on combination of words by creating a list of people, animals, verbs, adjectives and phrases that are associated with the combination of two words that a user choose. Some other programs related to an idea processor are The Ideatree system with an exploratory focus, linking laterally or hierarchically concepts that exist into the idea-boxes of the program.The Emergent Media Environment (EME), an interactive computer system that integrates facilities for supporting the generation, collection, organisation and presentation of ideas and advises about the divergence and convergence of the ideas. The GENI (GENerating Ideas) experimental system incorporates a variety of techniques to assist in making different types of connections inside connections (between elements of the focal problem itself) and external connections (between the focal problem and external factors). INNOREGIO project Dr E. Sefertzi CREATIVITY 13There are also many idea processors programmes available on the Internet (most of them are commercial products) including the following http/ideaprocessor. citi. doc. ca http/www. maxthink. com http/www. ozemail. com. au http/www. inspiration. com http/www. signet. com. sg/axon2000 Visualisation and graphical systems Computer support methods, such as visualisation of data and graphical techniques for marking up visual phenomena and expressing knowledge about data in rule form, are also available. Visualisation of data and graphical techniques are very important to support creativity.They involve working with visual data such as images, drawings, sketches, diagrams, charts, graphs, graphical objects, that are specific to the domain, an d they take the form of expressing ideas and concepts through sketching, annotation and examining multiple or alternative views of the same data, all of which varies according to the domain of interest. There are many such systems giving various opportunities to the users. A visualisation system, the Inspiration (from Inspiration Inc. ) provides a blank canvas in which the user can quickly record and arrange ideas as they occur and allows a visual approach to organising thoughts.The system can also change the relationship between ideas and connect related ideas by dragging kinks between them to create a graphical map of the users thinking. Another visualisation system is Axon 200 used for creating complex flowcharts or concept diagrams and describes how different factors or events influence each other. It uses checklists and visual attributes such as colour, shape, size, scale position, depth, link and icon. It also creates relationship diagrams, which allow the user to represent mu ltiple relationships between various visual objects on the screen (Chen 1998).Visualisation systems are also very important in design such as the Speech Knowledge Interface (SKI) system that support rapid graphical interaction with visual images, the Vehicle Packager Knowledge verify System (VPKSS) that aids designers at the conceptual stage of the design process (Candy 1997). Spatial representation tools In relation with visualisation systems, there are also computer-based tools, such as computer-based information and communication systems, for supporting representations and creating cognitive maps in two-dimensional spaces.Some representations use a specific notation, others use spatial proximity to indicate the relationship between objects (usually words relating to concepts) in the spaces, and others, used in marketing and design departments called mood boards, use collections of images as metaphors that reflect the quality aspects of the product strategy (Fentem, Dumas and Mcd onnell 1998). Kelly Repertory Grid technique is a knowledge elicitation tool used in the marketing, management and expert systems development. It hit the bookss data using principal components analysis (PCA) software and produces a map by plotting the INNOREGIO project Dr E. SefertziCREATIVITY 14 first two components. The map produces a spatial positioning of text with respect to dimensions that are significant or correspond to the personal constructs that the participant member uses to categorise and evaluate the world (Kelly 1955). An Internet version of this tool is Webgrid. Available at http//www. cpsc. ucalgary. ca/ Spatial Information Systems These systems have been designed to support creativity by mapping objects (concepts, text objects, design requirements and parameters) into two-dimensional spaces, using various combinations of knowledge process and multivariate statistical analysis techniques.Users can also select an area of this space and to create a new space by rep rocessing using principal components analysis (PCA) only the data associated with the objects lying within this subspace (Fentem, Dumas and Mcdonnell 1998). For example, one of these systems searches research papers for the frequency of certain keywords and uses a type of PCA to snap the results of this search and represent these keywords and the papers within a common twodimensional space (Sugimoto, Hori, Ohsuga 1996). Another system named En Passant 2 stores researchers notes and triggers to recall and to reconsider.The users can browse their notes and view relations among them interactively (Aihara, Hori 1998). Spatial hypertext systems These systems have been designed for the exploration of alternative structures for content, and applications in which the domain structure is not well understood at the outset, or changes during the course of a task. In spatial hypertext, the connect between nodes are conveyed implicitly by arranging the nodes in the space. Nodes appear in diffe rent contexts through multiple spatial references to the same underling content (marshal and Shipman 1995).The users are presented with a window that acts as a work- space in which they organise their material. The nodes arranged in the space represent links to familiar objects such as documents, images, comments, and links to WWW hypertext pages, plus more unique structures known as composites and collections. Marshall and Shipmans VIKI spatial hypertext system, for example, was designed to support new product development, helping teams to make sense of the many diverse kinds of business-related material relevant to the new product, by assisting them in arranging it spatially. 4BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES (1) Aihara, K. , Hori, K. (1998), Enhancing creativity through reorganising mental space concealed in a research notes stack, Knowledge-Based Systems, No. 11, pp. 469-478. Arlington, S. (1997), Accelerating medicine discovery creating the right environment, Drug Discovery Today, V ol. 2, No. 12, pp. 547-553. Boden, M. A. (1998), Creativity and artificial intelligence, Artificial Intelligence, No. 103, pp. 347-356. Bullinger, H. J. (1999), Turbulent times require creative thinking new European concepts in production management, Int. J. Production Economics, No. 0-81, pp. 9-27. Buzan, T. (1983) Use Both Sides of Your Brain, Dutton, New York. (2) (3) (4) (5) INNOREGIO project Dr E. Sefertzi CREATIVITY 15 (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) (15) Candy, L. (1997), Computers and creativity support knowledge, visualisation and collaboration, Knowledge-Based Systems, No. 10, pp. 3-13. Chen, Z. (1998), Toward a better understanding of idea processors, Information and Software Technology, No. 40, pp. 541-553. De Bono, E. (1992), sound Creativity, Harper Collins, London. De Bono, E. (1993), De Bonos Thinking Course, Facts and on File, New York. t ogilvie (1998), inventive action as a dynamic strategy using imagination to improve strategic solutions in unstable en vironments, Journal of Business Research, No. 41, pp. 49-56. European Commission (1998), Innovation Management Techniques in Operation, European Commission, Luxembourg. Fentem, A. C. , Dumas, A. , McDonnell, J. (1998), Knowledge-Based Systems, No. 11, pp. 417-428. Hall, D. J. (1996), The role of creativity within best practice manufacturing, Technovation, Vol. 16, No. 3, pp. 115-121. Higgins, J. M. (1996), preface or evaporate creative techniques for strategists, Long string Planning, Vol. 9, No. 3, pp. 370-380. Higgins, J. M. (1994), 101 Creative Problem Solving Techniques the Handbook of New Ideas for Business, The New Management Publishing Company, Florida. (16) Higgins, L. F. (1999), Applying principles of creativity management to marketing research efforts in high-technology markets, industrial Marketing Management, No. 28, pp. 305-317. (17) Hofstadter, D. R. , FARG (1995), Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies Computer Models of the Fundamental Mechanisms of Thought, elemen tal Books, New York. (18) Kelly, G. A. (1955), The Psychology of Personal Constructs, Norton. (19) Langley, P. , Simon, H.A. , Bradshaw, G. L. and Zytkow, J. M. (1987), Scientific Discovery Computational Explorations of the Creative Process, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA. (20) McCorduck, P. (1991), Aarons Code, W. H. Freeman, San Francisco, CA. (21) Mansfield, R. S. , Busse, T. V. and Krepelka, E. G. (1978), The effectiveness of creative training Review of Educational Research, Vol. 48, No 4, pp. 517-536. (22) Marshall, C. C. , Shipman, F. M. (1995), Spatial hypertext designing for change, Communication of the ACM, Vol. 38, No. 8, pp. 88-97. (23) Miller, W. (1986), The Creative Edge, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA. (24) Mitchell, M. 1993), Analogy-Making as Perception, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA. (25) Newell, A. and Shaw, J. C. (1972), The process of creative thinking, in A. Newell and H. A. Simon (eds), Human Problem Solving, apprentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, pp. 144-174. (26) Nirenber g, G. (1985), The Idea Generator, Experience in Software, Berkeley, CA. (27) Osborne, A. F. (1963), Applied Imagination Principles and Procedures of Creative Thinking, 3rd ed. , Scribner, New York. (28) Parnes, S. J. and Brunelle, E. A. (1967), The literature of creativity, Journal of Creative Behavior, Vol. 1, No 1, pp. 52-104. (29) Rose, L. H. and Lin, H. T. 1984), A meta-analysis of long-term creativity training programs, Journal of Creative Behavior, Vol. 18, No 1, pp. 11-22. (30) Rawlinson, J. G. (1981) Creative Thinking and Brainstorming, Gower, UK. (31) Schlange, L. E. , and Juttner, U. (1997), Helping managers to identify the key strategic issues, Long Range Planning, Vol. 30, No. 5, pp. 777-786. INNOREGIO project Dr E. Sefertzi CREATIVITY 16 (32) Sugimoto, M. , Hori, K. , Ohsuga, S. (1996) A system to take in different vantage points for supporting researches creativity, Knowledge-Based Systems, No. 9, pp. 369-376. (33) Taylor, C. W. (1972), Can organisations be creative, too? , in C. W. Taylor (ed. ), Climates for Creativity, Pergamon Press, New York, pp. 1-15. (34) Van Gundy, junior A. B. (1988), Product improvement check list, New Product Development Newsletter, New Jersay. (35) Van Gundy, A. B. Jr. (1993), Techniques of Structured Problem Solving, Chapman & Hall, London. INNOREGIO project Dr E. Sefertzi CREATIVITY 17 Annexes Table 1 Stimulus to extend perspectives to approach a problem List the elements that would bring on success. List the elements that we visualise as failure. Visualise success seen from the viewpoint of fifty eld from now.Visualise success seen from the perspective of one hundred years ago. Look for impossible and desirable ideas. Create analogies with other things that have been successful. infer and write down ideas that are wild, illegal, crazy, etc. Insert the problem from its present scenario to a totally different scenario. Return from the fantasy scenario to the present scenario and fork out to associa te the ideas generated in the fantasy scenario, with ideas that might apply to the real problem. hypothesize what people we admire would say. Search for pairs of ideas that are apparently unconnected and that can be associated by a third.Imagine that everything exists and all we have to do is find it. variegate the level on which the problem is approached. Source European Commission, Innovation Management Techniques in Operation, European Commission, DG XIII, Luxembourg, 1998. Table 2 Brainstorming Phases Phase Orientation Preparation Warm-up Production of ideas Application throttle the problem to be studied for the participants, clarify the rules of the game. Gather data and information necessary to approach the problem in an efficient manner. Carry -out the exercise redefine a problem different from the one to be studied, experiment with it for a few minutes.Generate the maximum of ideas without prior judgement always ask what else quantity of ideas is quality no limits no criticise modify others ideas to produce new ones. Let the subconscious work. Gather the ideas generated analyse them work with logical thinking. Evaluate the ideas gathered and analysed develop and combine them before proceeding to put them in practice. Incubation Syntheses Evaluation Source European Commission, Innovation Management Techniques in Operation, European Commission, DG XIII, Luxembourg, 1998. INNOREGIO project Dr E. Sefertzi CREATIVITY 18 Table 3 Osborns Checklist Question Put to other uses?Adapt? Description New ways to use as is? Other uses if modified? What else is like this? What other idea does this suggest? Does past lead parallel? What could I copy? Whom could I emulate? New move around? Change meaning, colour, motion, sound, odour, form, shape? Other changes? What to add? More time? greater frequency? Stronger? Higher? Longer? Thicker? Extra value? Plus ingredient? Duplicate? Multiply? Exaggerate? What to subtract? Smaller? Condensed? Miniature? bring lo w? Shorter? Lighter? Omit? Streamline? Split up? Understate? Who else instead? What else instead? Other ingredient? Other Material? Other process? Other power?Other place? Other approach? Other tone of voice? Interchange components? Other pattern? Other layout? Other sequence? Transpose cause and effect? Change pace? Change schedule? Transpose positive and negative? How about opposites? Turn it feebleminded? Turn it upside down? Reverse role? Change apparel? Turn tables? Turn other cheek? How about a blend, an alloy, an assortment, an supporting players? Combine units? Combine purposes? Combine appeals? Combine ideas? Modify? Magnify? diminish? Substitute? Rearrange? Reverse? Combine? Source J. M. Higgins, Innovate or evaporate creative techniques for strategists, Long Range Planning, Vol. 9, No 3, pp. 370-380, 1996 (reprinted from Alex Osborn, Applied Imagination, Charles Scribners & Sons, Inc. , New York). Figure 1 Lotus blossom sample INNOREGIO project Dr E. Sefertzi CREATIVIT Y 19 1 by packaging 4 smaller / bigger 6 other material 2 by design A product differenti ation 7 change color 3 other uses 5 plus ingredient 8 change meaning A product differentiati on D lower cost F impart flexibility B product quality core idea increase product consumption G product credibility C guest needs E service quality H competitors product strategies B C D E F G H INNOREGIO project Dr E. Sefertzi