Creativity Self Test - Business Improvement Strategies - Essay Example

Business Improvement Strategies Creativity Self Test: Business Improvement Strategies The creativity aspect is a salient feature in my talent pool. I strongly concur that it is a consistent part of how I undertake my daily duties and responsibilities. I have since mastered a set of creativity skills since I was in middle school which I apply constantly. This has been made possible through learning and implementing advanced creativity techniques with time. With creativity, I have gained in-depth knowledge on areas of my work that demands creativity. I am receptive to team creativity and challenges influencing my way of thinking and equal sharing of rewards. I also like seeing my creative idea from conception to application stage and being aware of my creative uniqueness I apply on constant basis. However, I am not sure whether time constraints impede creativity at my workplace. My position and role in the organization influences my participation and implementation of these ideas since our functional structure limits inception of ideas by middle level staff. According to the rating in the appendix section, the score is 85 which mean that I am very creative. It is true that highly creative in response to the challenges I encounter, as opposed to it being a skill naturally used in every part of my life. I work at a stock exchange requiring creativity and flexibility in harnessing gains from stocks. I have employed creative skills in my previous assignments like developing a pork breakfast gadget that tells the owner that it is time to wake up. Waking up is a challenge to many people especially in a chilly morning or after a strenuous day. The solution to that problem was developing a gadget that is less costly, reliable and beneficial to many people. The idea was initially a thought but on brainstorming with colleagues became a broad concept worth trying. Since I have developed many ideas before but failed to take to implementation level, I grew restless in ensuring this excellent idea succeeds. The skills have been part of me and this has made it possible to persuade financiers to fund the project. Brainstorming as an idea creation technique has also assisted in determining whether the given idea was new and feasible. I believe in coming up with incremental and radical concepts. For instance, two years ago, while on an assignment to reduce losses as the stocks department, came up with speculation software that detects levels of risk and turbulence of shares and stocks. Being a junior employee in the company, I was constrained from ensuring the idea materialized. I was able to convince the section head to consider this idea as it would reduce administration costs and increase profits. My mastery of creativity was not a hindered by time limitations as I took about six months to convince the manager on the importance of integrating creative works to innovativeness in business. I think I am naturally creative and responsive. I admire innovative ideas that have been developed and implemented. I always communicate my ideas effectively by letting others know the wider need and solutions to common problem. I am open to diverse and new dimensions. In the case of Stocks Speculation software, I incorporated my team and was happy to learn of their positive feedback. I am keen in demonstrating inventiveness and originality by not copying or aping the works of others. I understand the real global limits to new idea adoption. I view failure as a chance to learn and that it is a cyclical and a long-term process with frequent mistakes and small successes. I ensured to have acted on the idea to make it tangible and fundamental contribution to the business field especially at the stock exchange. I was also a principal figure in submission of projects in soft copy format while at the undergraduate level in the university. Most departments were still using the print copy which was edited several times before final copy submission. The students were feeling the cost of reproducing drafts at editing stages. The concept of using soft copies delivered to lecturers e-mails replaced the copies of completed projects at the pigeon holes. I was delighted that the idea sailed though all the class members felt it was a collective idea. I was not envious of having originated the concept only to be glorified to the whole team. The team recognized that I am unique by thinking and acting creatively. This has not made me proud since I feel that creativity and innovativeness is a constant factor with greater successes. Creativity is a regular part of how I perform my job (or responsibilities) I have mastered a set of creativity skills that I use on a regular basis. I am receptive to ideas that challenge my way of thinking. Creative and innovative Skills require thinking. I believe that businesses require compression, constancy, and complacency as elements for problem definition and creation of creative climate. A creative solution in the stock exchange and other business functions should be new, useful and feasible in this world constrained by time and money. Creativity has guided Business Model Innovation in the way business is undertaken with regard to capturing value such as Dell, HP, Spoke and Hub airlines. Some other innovations have helped Southwest airlines and McDonalds to introduce new good food into their menu at the counter and in-flight services. My creativity takes in new or substantial improvement. I am currently obsessed with improving technical abilities, functional characteristics, ease of use of Stocks Speculation Software. It is beneficial to stockbrokers. I dispute the myth of not believing in the experts. I am certain that technology provides blocks and blockbusters to creativity. I have fine tuned my life to a risk-taking culture from over-reliance on logic but exercise my imagination and intuition. My experience in job has taught me the proper methods of doing things, through having a specialized and creative knowledge, and clear expectation of appropriate actions. I have ensured that as an individual, I do not lose the ability to improvise, experiment, and take mental detours. My creative nature starts with vertical thinking where I employ one thinking language. I will guide the business function through problem definition while considering alternative views. I am a lateral thinker since I generate alternative ways of seeing a problem and provide multiple definitions. I use the language of words to assess and define assess the problem while regarding other language such as symbolism or nonverbal, feelings and emotions, visual imagery. I will ask questions and sometimes solve problems resulting from a reticence to obtain information, ask questions, do a data search. I am inclined to do mental work. I engage all the three components of creativity such as expertise motivation, skills creativity and creative thinking. I am motivated by technical, intellectual and procedural knowledge since all motivation is created equal. I have an innate passion of problem solving at hand leads hence my solutions become more creative than do sharing of rewards or money. I regard myself as smarter and very creative though creativity is not reserved for a few and flamboyant risk takers. I can manage creativity by defining problems and use of questions in some order to guide in sequencing thoughts towards full answers. In business sphere, I ask where the problem is? Frequency of occurrences? When? Why? Subduing the problems? I think about who is needed to get involved? when I will know if the problem has been solved. I use the Kipling Method where I start by solving a marketing problem. I begin by start by discussing the overall situation and context that demands creative marketing or sales activity. I would then write down at least one draft of the problem statement. I then listen and write down my teams opinion regarding the problem. This helps me to locate the points of agreement and further discuss the points of divergence. When I state how to launch a tooth paste product that has freshness and curative of fluoride colorations, my creative efforts prosper because the problem is clear or focused in the right place. This point has the problem and solution at a moot point. My skills probes on what each attribute gives by seeking each attribute’s real value. I ensure to modify the attributes so as to create new value, increase value, and decrease negative value. I have constantly employed brainstorming as a creative tool. I like team work since in groups, although it has rules, has an independent facilitator managing the process. The group easily focuses on creative tasks in about 30 minutes to one hour. In brainstorming I am able to freewheel, qualify than quantify, combine and improve. The business idea I generate triggers my own thinking. It makes me to be highly associative and independent thinkers. I have a business vision through motivating view of the future. I create a pull and provide direction. I conjure an innovative and brilliant future by thinking about on what I try to achieve. This has made me to go out into the future by seeing what is there through looking around. I will encourage organizations to embody characteristics that support innovative risk taking and creativity acceptable to members of the management. The company should be receptive to new ideas and new ways of doing things by having free flow of information and employees need to have access to knowledge sources. It is known that excellent ideas are supported by executive patrons while innovators receive the rewards. Reference list Aho, E 2006, Creating an innovative Europe. Report of the Independent Expert Group on R&D and Innovation appointed following the Hampton Court Summit and chaired by Mr. Esko Aho. Akçomak, I S & Ter W B 2006, Social Capital, Innovation and Growth: Evidence from Europe”, UNU-MERIT, Working Paper Series, NO 2006-040. Allinson, R 2006, Shell Step Innovation Program, Exploring the absorptive capacities of host SMEs, Cyprus International Journal of Management, Volume 11, Number 1, autumn. Boden, M 2000, The Creative Mind: Myths and Mechanisms. New York: Basic Books. Cameron, G 2006, Innovation and Economic Growth, LSE Centre for Economic Performance, Discussion Paper No. 277. Etzkowitz, H 2003, Innovation in Innovation: The Triple Helix of University-Industry Government Relations, Social Science Information Journal, 42: 293-337. European Commission 2006, Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament: Putting knowledge into practice: A broad-based innovation strategy for the EU-COM(2006) 502. Florida, R 2004, The rise of the creative class: and how it's transforming work, leisure, community and everyday life. Perseus Books Group. Hargreaves, A 2003, Teaching in the Knowledge Society, Teachers College Press; Koedinger, K R 2001,Cognitive tutors as modeling tools and instructional models in Forbus, Kenneth D. and Feltovich, Paul J 2001,Smart machines in education Cambridge, MIT Press. Read More