UNR1102 - Creativity and innovation

Dr. Mohamed H. Zaky

Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport (AASTMT)

Fall 2023 Semester

AASTMT - Alexandria
Creativity approaches and
influential factors
What is motivation?

It's common to feel tired and unwilling to repeat the same

cycle without making progress.

Motivation can be intrinsic (internal) or extrinsic (external).

External motivation is any external element that drives you
Internal motivation refers to personally meaningful tasks.
to do something.

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Intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation
Intrinsic
• Intrinsic motivation drives
creativity.
• People are most creative
when they’re motivated
primarily by the interest,
satisfaction, and personal
challenge of the work itself.
© Dr. Mohamed H. Zaky 2023
Extrinsic
• Extrinsic motivators and
constraints of many different
kinds undermine creativity.
• Because they undermine the
intrinsic motivation to create
for its own sake, for the love
of it.
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What motivates us to be creative?
Valence
It is how much people appreciate results and
external rewards (such as money, praise, etc.).

Expectation
It is people's judgement of their own skills and
the confidence and hope that follows.

Instrumentality
It is the perceived likelihood of actually being
satisfied by the reward after obtaining it.

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Six aspects of social environments that can kill creativity
Knowing that a “judge” of some kind will be assessing your work once completed.

Being watched while you’re working.

Doing something with a promise of getting paid or rewarded for your creation.

Being told you need to create in a certain way.

Competition with peers.

Focusing on extrinsic motivators (e.g., power, money, and fame).

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Are rewards always bad for creativity?

Rewards can—under some conditions—enhance our intrinsic

motivation and creativity.

Unexpected bonuses and rewards may improve creativity, especially if

they support our intrinsic motivation.

However, rewards that are the reason for doing a task can hurt our
creativity.

Extrinsic motivators that make people feel controlled or driven only

by that motivator drain intrinsic motivation and stifle creativity.

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How does your work environment influence
your creativity?
High-creativity projects tended to have sufficient resources,
greater independence, and encouragement of inventive
thinking, rather than harsh criticism of new ideas.
They also included work groups that were supportive, trusting,
and receptive to new ideas, but also willing to constructively
challenge each other’s ideas.
The most creative projects were done under supervisors who
fostered clear, honest communication, valued individual
contributions to team projects, and set clear goals.
Organizational supports, such as a free flow of ideas within the
organization and mechanisms for developing new ideas, were
also important for high creativity.

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Factors affecting creativity at the level of organization

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Factors affecting creativity at the level of organization
Aspects of a person relate to skills, background, experience, personality, knowledge, and
motivation.

Process refers to the stage of thinking of people, when they work alone or with others and
head to creative preparation or to exploit opportunities for creativity at work.

Place refers to psychological (cultural influences, mission, and strategy of the organization) as
well as physical (resources availability) conditions in which the person works.

The interplay of these aspects leads to tangible or intangible product (that is problem-
solving, expressing new ideas, bringing new offers, invention, etc.).

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 The four
determinants
of climate in
the workplace
The four determinants of climate in the workplace
Clearly defined and shared vision that focuses and directs the energy of the group
members.

Each group member can participate in decision-making processes.

The working environment is perceived as safe - that is, each group member may, without
fear of criticism, present new views and ideas.

Spoken and given support for new and improved ways of working from management and
colleagues.

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What are creativity approaches?

Negative Gallery
Brainstorming
Brainstorming Method

Mind Ideal Final

Roleplaying
Mapping Result

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 The purpose is to generate as many ideas as
possible within time.

It's important to be open-minded and

nonjudgmental when employing this technique
so all participants feel comfortable sharing.
Brainstorming
Groups usually appoint a facilitator to manage
brainstorming and keep order.

Before deciding which ideas to pursue, they

should weight all choices.

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Negative brainstorming
Negative brainstorming involves listing "poor" answers to a problem.

This technique helps organizations find creative solutions by identifying and

reversing obstacles.
"Bad" ideas can make the product more expensive or less useful.

Set a timer and write as many ideas as possible, like brainstorming.

They can then debate how to transform negative ideas into positive ones.

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Gallery method

The gallery method uses personal whiteboards or flip chart material.

Each participant has a station where they write problem-related thoughts.

After a few minutes, participants go around to examine and note other stations.

Then return to their original station and continue developing their ideas with group input.

This technique can encourage alternate problem-solving approaches and strengthen ideas.

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Roleplaying
Participants create character personalities to imagine issues and solutions.

A product development team might assume a consumer persona.

Thinking about the product from the customer's perspective might lead to creative ideas and solutions.

Participants can roleplay as first-time users or seasoned users, depending on the situation.

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Mind mapping Mind mapping involves writing a problem statement on a
whiteboard or paper.

Next, they place similar concepts or solutions around the

problem statement and make connections.

Participants can add another layer of language describing

how they aim to achieve the offered concepts or solutions.

This brainstorming tool depicts a network of ideas and their

connections, allowing users to visualize their ideas' linkages.

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Ideal final result

Participants identify a problem statement and its

perfect solution.

Participants shouldn't consider deadlines or finances

when debating the ideal result.

This strategy helps individuals visualize the optimal

solution to address an issue without restrictions.

After generating ideas, they can consider suitable

solutions.

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Learning brainstorming

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The 13 rules of effective brainstorming
Pre-session
Have the right number Don’t fill the room with Set the scene (Product Set the creative
No pop quizzes Value time
of brainstormers the same person vs Campaign) environment

Mid-session
Warming up with an Encourage to risk and Reframe the problem to
No place for criticism Document your own ideas
unrelated creativity exercise explore through play initiate a new perspective

Post-session
Capture residual ideas Recognize the effort of the participants

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Brainstorming tactics
Input exercise This method simply asks you to start your session with an input exercise so that you have something to build from
when you start your output exercise.

Idea webs Start by taking the central theme of your problem and writing it in the center of a whiteboard or large piece of paper.
Circle the word and draw lines coming out of the circle. At the end of each line, write a word that has something to do
with the word in the center.

Perspective When a problem is presented and ideas are forming, they're typically forming from one point of view. As that point of
view begins to exhaust itself, and the ideas start to wane, try changing the point of view.
changes
Small-group There comes times in any group ideation session where some participants just aren't interacting. Try to break the
group down into smaller groups and assigned problem-solving tasks that will contribute to the overall conversation.
breakdown
Story structure Story is the most powerful communication vehicle known to man. Since the structure of story is universally
understood, it's possible to use that structure to inspire ideas from participants in a brainstorm session.

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HOW
CREATIVE ARE
YOU?
STRETCH YOUR MIND
IN A GROUP
Exercise one - Bad
Idea Brainstorm
• What better way to start a section on creative
brainstorming than with a creativity exercise that turns
the process on its head?
• With Bad Idea Brainstorm, start by writing the
problem you are trying to solve on a post-it or inside a
virtual whiteboard.
• Then, invite the group to come up with the worst
possible ways to handle the problem.
• Afterwards, share and reflect before trying to remix
or reverse some of the bad ideas into good ones.
• By approaching the challenge in this way, you can
fire-up a group’s creative muscles and generate some
laughter too!

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“Creativity can solve almost any
problem. The creative act, the
defeat of habit by originality,
overcomes everything.” George
Lois, 1931, Art Director and
Author