Innovation and creativity: woods, trees and pathways

Abstract

The terms ‘innovation’ and ‘creativity’ are in danger of complete degeneracy into a single blurred catch‐all concept. This paper examines ‘potted thinking', and some of the main sources of confusion in everyday thinking, and then considers four current theories which help resolve aspects of the confusion. Creativity is studied as intrinsically motivated behaviours and as a form of intelligence. Creativity and Innovation are compared within a systems framework, and as examples of complex problem‐solving. The models help distinguish the highly personal nature of the creative process and the essentially social nature of the innovation process.