Business Innovation - Confidence through Competence

Creativity can be defined as problem identificationideas come to them - the words-on-paper-first-draft
and idea generation whilst innovation can be definedat least.
as idea selection, development and commercialisation.Competency (and therefore idea flow and
There are other useful definitions in this field, forconfidence) is increased by:a) Engaging in the task
example, creativity can be defined as consisting of aand thereby refining knowledge, methodology and
number of ideas, a number of diverse ideas and aprocess.b) Incrementally setting goals and achieving
number of novel ideas.small successes regularly. Graham Green, the famous
There are distinct processes that enhance problemauthor, regularly wrote 500 words a day.c)
identification and idea generation and, similarly, distinctCompleting the task.d) Refining the task.e)
processes that enhance idea selection, developmentSuccessfully commercialising the task.f) Engaging in
and commercialisation. Whilst there is no sure fireanother similar task.g) Having a set of successful
route to commercial success, these processesexperiences.
improve the probability that good ideas will beThe above process is inherent in the expression, "you
generated and selected and that investment inhave to write a million words before you write
developing and commercialising those ideas will not beanything good." It gradually strips away the
wasted.subconscious inhibitors that prevent productivity.
Confidence through CompetenceThese and other topics are covered in depth in the
Blocks can be categorised into two generalMBA dissertation on Managing Creativity &
categories: First, evaluation apprehension and second,Innovation, which can be purchased (along with a
structural impediments - such as lack of finance orCreativity and Innovation DIY Audit, Good Idea
access to decision makers.Generator Software and Power Point Presentation)
Of the first set, lack of confidence is often relatedfrom
to task incompetence. It follows then that taskYou can also receive a regular, free newsletter by
competence increases confidence. A good example isentering your email address at this site.
screenwriting - initially screenwriters take inordinateYou are free to reproduce this article as long as no
amounts of time to complete a screenplay, but,changes are made and the author's name and site
following a few completions and even successfulURL are retained.
sales, they are able to trot them out as quickly as