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Innovation & Creativity

Definition of Innovation and Creativity

Creativity is the process of formulating a new idea, technology, perspective, concept or method and conveying an understanding of that creative object to others. Innovation is the process of implementing or transforming that new creative object into some form of value, such as a superior understanding, a more efficient process, or a marketable product.

Assistant: The employee enthusiastically uses computer programs and other technologies which have been developed to assist in the employee’s assigned tasks.

Associate: The employee takes the initiative to seek out and learns to use technologies that might assist in the performance of assigned duties.

Senior Associate: The employee develops “expert level” knowledge of a family of technologies that can assist both himself and other department level employees in assigned tasks. The employee also participates actively in training others in the enterprise regarding the use of selected technologies.

Professional: The employee, now expert in selected technologies, actively evangelizes for the use of the technology across the enterprise and entire industry by training, speaking at conferences and publishing articles in trade journals, etc. They also develop ideas for innovative technologies that assist the enterprise taking an active role in teams created to develop and exploit the technology.

Senior Professional: The employee endorses and influences the enterprise wide use of selected innovative techniques. This influence can include securing funding to develop or exploit the innovation and soliciting its usage across the organization.

Principal: The employee uses his/her influence across the enterprise to develop an environment where innovation is encouraged, funded and rewarded as a core institutional principle.

How to Develop Innovation and Creativity

Training / Other Courses:

  • Encouraging Innovation from your Employees (YTrain)
  • Innovation Certificate Program (Ytrain)

Books / Publications:

  • The Art of Innovation, by Tom Kelley
  • Creativity, Inc., by Ed Catmull
  • The Innovator’s Dilemma, by Clayton Christensen

Experiences:

  • Actively participate in a hobby such as music or art which encourage creative expression
  • Participate on software development team
  • Help design a web site
  • Create a “User’s Manual” for some process using a unique technology, graphics, organization or some other devise that will be unique and effective.
  • Participate on a software development design team
  • Explore a functionality new to you, in an existing software program, such as one of the MS Office products and put it to practical use in your daily work assignment.

How to Demonstrate Innovation and Creativity

DO: Describe what you did in completing / achieving your development plan

ASSESS: Share, if applicable, any assessments that were taken / provided related to your activities

LEARN: Explain what you felt that you were able to learn during your journey / experiences

APPLY: Give specifics examples where you have / plan to make direct application to your work

REFLECT: Review / consider things you would have done differently had you had this experience earlier

Some specific examples for journaling innovation and creativity learning activities might include the following. These examples should be tailored to the specific steps in your individual development plan.

  • Identifying key objectives of formal training courses taken and explain insights received or new skills learned from the course.
  • Provide results of any formal assessments of formal training courses.
  • For books and publications read, identify key concepts, unique insights or especially illustrative examples of the use of innovation and creativity addressed. For example – Clayton Christensen’s concept of disruptive technologies introduced in The Innovator’s Dilemma.
  • Explain how these concepts and insights can be directly applied at BYU or to higher education in general. Also explain any ideas for improvements you may have had directly related to your readings.
  • Explain or provide examples of how a personal creative hobby helps you to organize, practice and execute workplace skills.
  • Explain the challenges faced and lessons learned while participating in a significant system or web site development project. In what way did creativity or innovation contribute to a successful product?
  • Describe a “User’s Manual” or similar documentation that you participated in developing. Reflect on how you balanced the need for a “quick, high level understanding” with the need to provide detailed instructions for complex tasks.
  • Explain in a general way how the steps taken in your development plan increased your awareness of the need for creativity and innovation in the workplace. Also explain how this greater understanding has been evidenced in your job assignments and personal life.