While creativity and innovation are key characteristics of entrepreneurs and successful businesspeople, they can seem elusive, even mysterious. Where do new ideas come from? Why do some people seem more creative, and others less? One person might have only one truly innovative idea in his entire lifetime, while another might come up with one every time she puts her mind to it. How did someone figure out that a compact disc could improve upon the cassette tape, or that Wal-Mart could be transformed into Super Wal-Mart?

Yet while creativity and innovation may seem to come from nowhere, or seem as though they're available only to those who seem to have a special gift, they're not. Think of it this way: creativity and innovation are not something you have, they're something you do. 

At the root of each word is a verb. Remember your high school grammar? Verbs are action: to create is to bring into existence, or to bring about a new course of action. To innovate is to introduce something new, or to present something in a new way.

You can create, and you can innovate. There's a good chance you already have. Have you come up with a way to improve a process at your job? Have you ever altered a recipe and improved the dish? Have you found a way to fix a problem when at first it seemed it couldn't be done?

You get the idea. So first, understand that your brain has two sides, and that each is suited to different mental tasks. The left side of your brain is more adept at analysis, logic, and reasoning, while your right brain is home to your intuition and artistic sensibilities. You may have heard people referred to as "right brain" or "left brain," but the truth is that everyone uses both sides of their brain. And using both sides of the brain is how creativity and innovation happens.

Take one of the examples above. Let's say you have come up with a way to improve a process at your job. First, your left brain alerted you to something illogical or inefficient in the existing process. So you started analyzing the problem, investigating the "whys" behind the process, exploring causes and effects. You probably talked with some other people who were also invested in the problem and added their perspectives, as well as their analyses, to your own.

Then you gave your left brain a break, and called on your right brain. The process commonly known as "brainstorming" is what you do when you let your creative, intuitive right brain at a problem. You jot down any and every idea, even when your left brain tries to barge in and say "well, that won't work because of this and that and the other thing."  Maybe you didn't come up with your solution on that first bout of brainstorming, so you went back and gathered more information before trying again. Somewhere along the way, you had that "aha!" moment.

But as you can see, the innovation didn't come out of nowhere. You did the work; you used your brain to make it happen. Then you had to put the solution into practice, which may have required more cycles of analysis and brainstorming. You also exhibited some of the common traits of creative people, who are often described as: 

• Bright
• Adaptable
• Confident
• Challenge-oriented
• Idea-oriented
• Inquisitive
• Curious

Innovators also keep their eyes open. Unsatisfied customers, demographic changes in society, new trends, world events, new policies... any and all of these can be the source of new innovations for the right person and the right time.

References:
• Small Business Administration

Featured Benefit International Contracts Access over $300 billion in contract and grant opportunities, and market yourself to thousands of donor officials from over 115 foreign aid agencies. > Learn More

Recommended Books