OBJECTIVES OF THE COURSE

  • Knowing the concepts and relationship between Eco innovation, Creativity and Creative thinking.
  • Knowing them as useful tools for green entrepreneurship.
  • Giving a guideline of self working and investigation.

CONTENTS

  • Eco-innovation concept and role.
  • Creativity concept and boosting.
  • Creative Thinking concept, techniques and main personal and business benefits.
  • More information in…

INTRODUCTION

  • Young entrepreneurship in green business has an important role in the future of the global economy. So they must have the necessary tools to undertake successfully.
  • The link eco-innovation + creativity + creative thinking it’s a key and can create novel and sustainable business and management practices.
  • Creative thinking has become an important tool driving in green innovation within organizations and plays a critical role in enhancing sustainability performance.
  • This module is a guide to know the fundamentals of these three concepts and planning a further training and practice on them.

1.    ECO-INNOVATION CONCEPT

According to the European Commission

  • “Eco-innovation refers to all forms of innovation – technological and
    non-technological – that create business opportunities and benefit the environment by preventing or reducing their impact, or by optimizing the use of resources”.
  • “Eco-innovation is closely linked to the way we use our natural resources, to how we produce and consume and also to the concepts of eco-efficiency and eco-industries”.
  • It encourages a shift among manufacturing firms from ‘end-of-pipe’ (reducing pollution closer as possible to 0 emissions, nowadays it is not enough) solutions to ‘closed-loop’ (approaches that minimize material and energy flows by changing products and production methods – bringing a competitive advantage across many businesses and sectors.

Example:

2.    ECO-INNOVATION ROLE

  • Innovation is part of the success of an entrepreneurship action along with the satisfaction of non-satisfied needs.
  • Innovation is a necessary requirement for competitive advantage, not an option.
  • Think and Go green, identify relevant environmental problems, generate innovative solutions and you will be into an Eco-innovation business.
  • Eco-innovation and sustainability walk together and they are a must for any kind of business practises.

3.    CREATIVITY CONCEPT

  • Creativity is a discipline; you have to work on it, and essential for innovation.
  • Your creativity won’t show up if you are nervous or stressed, busy or surrounded by hustle and bustle. It requires a suitable environment.
  • If you have ideas but don’t act on them, you are imaginative but not creative.
  • There is no innovation without creativity.
  • Creativity and innovation bring value creation to any kind of project.


Creativity boosting

Clayton M. Christensen discover that the ability to generate innovative ideas is not merely a function of the mind, but also a function of five key working tasks:

  • Associating: drawing connections between questions, problems, or ideas from unrelated fields.
  • Questioning: posing queries that challenge common wisdom.
  • Observing: scrutinizing the behavior of stakeholders: customers, suppliers, and competitors to identify new ways of doing things.
  • Networking: meeting people with different ideas and perspectives.
  • Experimenting: constructing interactive experiences and provoking unorthodox responses to see what insights emerge.

4.    CREATIVE THINKING CONCEPT

  • Realizing creative thinking skills require constant training.
  • It’s a long and hard way. You need to train every day to become a ‘professional athlete’.
  • If you want to come up with new ideas training it is your first step.
  • Every person can improve their creative thinking skills. By doing so, it will help you create, interpret and come with solutions to challenges in your daily life routines at school, university, organization or simply at home.


Creative Thinking techniques

Methods to help you come up with new ideas, test them under new environments, and count on other people’s input to make them even more innovative:

1. Brainstorming: “Brainstorming is the process of free-thinking and generating ideas without being bound by restraints such as «is this a good or bad idea?» (Slater and Cory, 2003).

2. Lateral thinking: Sometimes, the answer to a problem is not in front of it, but besides it: go where you would not usually choose to go. That is the general idea of lateral thinking, which is a great way to exercise your creative soft skills and come up with innovative plans.

Here you have the link to the video ‘6 Thinking Hats’ – Creative Thinking by De Bono Lateral Thinking is a phrase invented by Edward de Bono that means thinking about a problem in a different way than what is usually used.

3. Mind mapping: This process helps you to connect ideas you never imagined could be combined. It can be individual or in a group.

It might help you reach appropriate solutions while using creative thinking skills.

A mind map is a chart where you input ideas and connect them, it is essentially an infographic, a piece of documentation understanding for people into and out of the project.

Examples of Creative Thinking Skills

1. Problem Solving: creative thinkers solve problems in an innovative way.

2. Creative Writing: it will help you a great deal in marketing, sales and, obviously, journalism. But it will also come in handy in all other positions that require writing, even if you’re just drafting emails, reports, and presentations.

3. Open-Mindedness: When you’re open-minded, you oppose stereotypes and look for new solutions and methods of doing things, instead of sticking to good old ways which might be no good. You are ready to look for and make something new and even change.

4. Analysis: If you can gather information and data, that’s great but without creative thinking skills, you won’t be able to analyze it properly. Creativity in analytical thinking helps you extract meaning from sets of raw data.

5. Communication: No matter how great your ideas are, if you’re unable to communicate in an engaging and creative way, you’ll never get to implement them.

6. Active Listening: Through creative and active listening you process ideas better so that you can challenge and refine them later during a creative brainstorming session.

7. Sales and Marketing: Both require a great deal of persuasion. But first, you need to put together in a creative message.

8. Graphic Design: Artistic craftsmanship is important in graphic design but without fresh, creative ideas, even your most beautiful sketches and projects will be dull and lifeless.

9. Leadership: Leadership is all about inspiring others. But when you have great leadership skills based on big and creative ideas and visions, you are able to connect teams and motivate them to work together towards the end goal.

From Michael Tomaszewski’s studies in Creative Thinking. Member of the Professional Association of Résumé Writers & Career Coaches.


Main personal benefits of creative thinking

1. Thinking creatively adds value to your life and also to the life of others projecting ‘yourself’ clearly into the world you live in by your work.

2. Creative thinking helps you become independent, self-sufficient because you can think on your own without the help of others. It allows you to develop and express your own personality

3. By thinking creatively You accept yourself as you are, without fear of what people will say. You become true to yourself.

4. Thinking open-mindedly pushes you to explore new ideas and thoughts motivating you every day.

5. Creative thinking can bring out hidden talents that you have not noticed before and this way to find out new ways of managing and new opportunities.

6. Thinking ‘out of the box makes you feel satisfied at all phases of your life. You never feel that you have reached a dead-end instead you are always ready to explore new challenges. You have the ability to see what others can’t see.

7. Being creative helps you express better in all senses, to express and manage your feelings and emotions. Emotional intelligence is an advantageous tool for you and your business.

8. The more experienced you get with thinking creatively, the easier it becomes to master difficult situations you may face in your life.

Main business benefits of creative thinking

Personal benefits feed into business benefits and vice versa. Here you have some of them.

  • Helps companies to create lasting value through innovation.
  •  Encourages new ideas to emerge.
  •  Improves on problem-solving and sees the silver lining in failures.
  •  Allows you to empathize with the customer and discover his real and different needs.
  • Provides added value to your brand. It is recognized by the seal of creativity.
  • Makes it easier to attract top talent.
  • Increases involvement in daily activities and engagement in the staff. Which results in a better work environment. 
  • Boosts the productivity and performance of employees.
  • Creates collaborative  work teams focused on self-improvement, self driving and developing soft skills.
  • Turns your business into a sustainable project.

5.    MORE INFORMATION IN…

  • Collective Green Creativity and Eco-Innovation as Key Drivers of Sustainable Business. Ziska Fields and Sulaiman Olusegun Atiku, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
  • https://ec.europa.eu/environment/index_en.
  • Amr Okasha, New Creative Thinking Model For Individuals (2020).
  • Daniel Pink, A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future (2006).
  • Michael J. Gelb, How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day (1998).
  • Rollo May, The Courage to Create (1994).
  • Hugh MacLeod’s Manifest, How to be Creative.
  • Hugh MacLeod’s, Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity  (2009).
  • https://www.gapingvoid.com/.