Business Innovation - the Value of Role Play

Creativity can be defined as problem identificationIn a study in the British Journal of Psychology,
and idea generation whilst innovation can be definedbusinessmen scored low on creativity when they
as idea selection, development and commercialisation.were asked to be themselves, but scored much
There are other useful definitions in this field, forhigher when asked to pretend they were
example, creativity can be defined as consisting of ahappy-go-lucky hippies.
number of ideas, a number of diverse ideas and aMasks remove the evaluation apprehension that is
number of novel ideas.associated with block. Wearing masks allows
There are distinct processes that enhance problemindividuals to generate otherwise unoriginal or
identification and idea generation and, similarly, distinctunintelligent ideas because "it is not them" that is
processes that enhance idea selection, developmentdoing it.
and commercialisation. Whilst there is no sure fireRole play - pretending how a mentor, sailor, guru or
route to commercial success, these processesother would answer a question - allows the individual
improve the probability that good ideas will beto tap into a rich source of subconscious tacit
generated and selected and that investment inknowledge.
developing and commercialising those ideas will not beThese and other topics are covered in depth in the
wasted.the value of Role PlayMBA dissertation on Managing Creativity &
One of the useful concepts in Creativity ManagementInnovation, which can be purchased (along with a
is the use of role play. The basis of this is anCreativity and Innovation DIY Audit, Good Idea
awareness of archetypes - stereotypical charactersGenerator Software and Power Point Presentation)
such as Mentor, Goddess, Hippy and the Guru etc.from
Jung argues that archetypes are universal and comeYou can also receive a regular, free newsletter by
through most strongly in our dreams. Mask andentering your email address at this site.
Trance studies show that when we put on a mask,You are free to reproduce this article as long as no
we take on the characteristics of what we perceivechanges are made and the author's name and site
that mask (or associated individual) to represent.URL are retained.