Corporate Creativity [Hardcover]

Alan G Robinson (Author), Sam Stern (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1997

Corporate Creativity consistently connects creative outcomes to the actions that really made a difference to them. Through detailed real-life examples from organizations around the world - including British Airways, Du Pont, Fujitsu, General Motors, Hallmark, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Japan Railways East, Kodak, Universal Studios, the United States Forest Service, and enterprises in the USSR - the authors show how improvements and breakthroughs actually happen in organizations.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Alan G. Robinson and Sam Stern, university professors who have served as advisors on creativity to organizations around the world, believe that the proper combination of imagination and originality is what really pumps life into a company. In Corporate Creativity: How Innovation and Improvement Actually Happen, they cite numerous examples of its place in celebrated corporate success stories and suggest various ways that other firms can harness it. Focusing on six elements they see as essential to the process, the authors show how virtually any institution can work to encourage creativity within its ranks.

Review

I thought I understood creativity and its processes, but Corporate Creativity gave me a whole new insight. I recommend it for pleasure as well as for serious reading. -- Philip Crosby, author of Quality is Free and The Absolutes of Leadership

More than just fascinating reading, this book is a pathway toward the secret ingredient of corporate success: the nourishment of useful ideas. Chock full of anecdotes that compellingly demystify the creative processes, Corporate Creativity should be a 'must read' for executives. -- Lt. General Walter F. Ulmer, Former Commandant of Cadets at West Point, and Former President, The Center for Creative Leadership

Superb! A truly practical guide to promoting creativity in companies. Its many practical examples from past and present, East and West, and manufacturing and service make it highly entertaining and informative. Any manager will benefit from this book. -- Masaaki Imai, author of Kaizen: The Key to Japan's Competitive Success

World class companies maintain their edge by stimulating the creativity of all employees. Corporate Creativity identifies six essential elements that provide an environment to unleash creativity at every level of the organization. -- John F. Smith, Jr., Chairman, CEO, and President, General Motors

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 300 pages
• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers; First Edition edition (January 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1576750094
• ISBN-13: 978-1576750094
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #513,900 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "The Power of the Unexpected", September 5, 2001

By 

Turgay BUGDACIGIL (Istanbul, Turkey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Corporate Creativity (Audio Cassette)

"Most companies are aware that their creative 'potential' greatly exceeds their creative 'performance.' The problem is that they don't know what to do about it. We believe that this potential cannot be realized until people recognize where it actually lies. Consider this. Most creative acts, as they now occur in companies, are not planned for and come from where they are least expected. It is impossible to predict 'what' they will be, 'who' will be involved in them, and 'when' and 'how' they will happen. This is the true nature of corporate creativity, and it is here that a company's creative potential really lies. For corporate creativity, the real power is in the unexpected" (from the Introduction).

In this context, in describing the corporate creativity, Alan G. Robinson and Sam Stern write that a company is creative when its employees do something new and potentially useful without being directly shown and taught. And they argue that in every unexpected creative act the following six essential elements are key to promoting consistent corporate creativity:

1. 'Alignment' is the degree to which the interests and actions of every employee support the organization's key goals. Strong alignment requires three things: *clarity about what the key goals of the organization are, *commitment to initiatives that promote the key goals, *accountability for actions that affect the key goals.

2. 'Self-initiated activity.' The majority of creative acts in companies are self-initiated, which explains why they are unanticipated by management. To promote it, companies only have to unleash what is already present. The key is an effective system for responding to employee ideas, which must have five characteristics. The system must: *reach everyone, *be easy to use, *have strong follow-through, *document ideas, *be based on intrinsic motivation.

3. 'Unofficial activity,' work done without direct official support, is what makes it possible for a company to go where it never expected to. Every unexpected creative act begins with a period of unofficial activity, which might be a matter of minutes or years.

4. 'Serendipity' combines a fortunate accident with sagacity. Fortunate accidents can be promoted through strategies that provoke and exploit accidents. Sagacity can be promoted by expanding the company's human potential beyond its immediate needs.

5. 'Diverse stimuli.' A stimulus can either push someone in a completely new direction or give that person fresh insight into what her or she has already set out to do. There are four strategies companies can use to promote diverse stimuli: *identify stimuli and provide them to employees, *rotate employees into every job they are capable of doing, *arrange for employees to interact with those outside the company who are likely to be the source of stimuli, *create opportunities for employees to bring into thr organization stimuli they get on their own.

6. 'Within-company communication.' Every company tries to ensure effective communication between employees who depend on each other to do their work. However, most organizations overlook the importance of unanticipated communication between employees who do not normally work together. And these exchanges of information often lead to unexpected creative acts. There are three ways a company can promote within-company communication: *provide opportunities for employees who do not normally interact with each other to meet, *ensure that every employee has a sufficient understanding of the organization's activities to be able to tap its resources and expertise, *create a new organizational priority: all employees should know the importance of being responsive to requests for information or help from other employees.

Finally, Robinson and Stern write that "If the six elements are implemented in your organization, its overall level of creativity will certainly rise. Use them yourself and you may very well find yourself in the middle of a creative act...Our journey led us to 'discover' the power of the unexpected. Your journey will lead you to 'realize' it."

Highly recommended.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pleasant read, Useful insights, Not too Practical., July 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Corporate Creativity: How Innovation & Improvement Actually Happen (Paperback)

A well written book with lots (maybe even too many) examples of unexpected creativity.

Boils down to 6 areas which you need to boost to increase creativity: corporate alignment, self-initiated activity, unofficial activity, serendipity, diverse stimuli, and within-company communication

The chapter on serendipity is not really convincing.

The book is rather short on practical advice. Provides a list of questions to help you 'start unleashing corporate creativity'. This is where the book is a bit of a let down.

Overall a pleasant read with useful insights.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well written with interesting examples, January 14, 2001

By 

Tom Williams "Marketing Maven" (Albany, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Corporate Creativity: How Innovation & Improvement Actually Happen (Paperback)

Corporate Creativity is not an oxymoron. Robinson and Stern have written a good book that explores the key concepts that based on their work differentiate a creative organization from those that are not. The key steps the book expands on are that corporate creativity stems from: 1-Allignment 2-Self initiated activity 3-Unofficial activity 4-Serendipity 5-Deverse Stimuli 6-Within-company communication

While the book does a great job at exploring these concepts and gives excellent examples, what I found lacking was the "how-to" compontent.

As the author of Aha! - 10 Ways To Free Your Creative Spirit and Find Your Great Ideas, I am always looking for good books on the topic I am most passionate about. As far as creativity books, this one takes a unique perspective, the corporate rather than the individual. I applaud their work in this regard. Their examples are well-researched, and from a variety of industries.

If you are looking to dig deep into the field of organizational creativity, this is an excellent addition to your library.