In previous articles we have commented that one of the tools and at the same time the main characteristic of new entrepreneurs is their creative capacity.
In the following paragraphs we will work on this idea from a more conceptual point of view and focusing mainly on business creativity, which is the type of talent that interests us.
Put yourself for a moment in the situation of developing your business idea, this process is very important since it is the portal of entry to the business life that you have chosen. That work is supported by two human faculties: creativity and innovation.
While in our daily conversations we are used to using these two words as synonyms, it turns out that in entrepreneurial slang they are not.
Creativity has been a concept discussed since ancient times, but even today there is no single definition, nor is there an agreement on how to measure it, how it develops or its relationship with human intelligence.
Despite the various interpretations that experts have provided, everyone agrees that this is a quality of all human beings. We are all creative without exception, but some more than others and with different styles, which further nuances the spectrum.
Entrepreneurial creativity should not be treated as artistic; When we speak of a company, we speak of something that is projected abroad, that produces, that is responsible and real. From here arise the four main characteristics of the concept.
1. Entrepreneurial creativity involves society, so you can only call that a creation that represents value for the market, if it only has value for whoever created it, it does not serve us.
2. Creatives must look through two lenses: originality and creativity. Both must be present otherwise it will fall into a fallacy and the product will be scorned by the market and this will be detrimental to the company.
3. Contrary to popular belief, creativity is not a mental exercise. The creative process necessarily involves action. An idea in the air cannot be considered a creation. Creativity is an application-oriented and practice-oriented concept.
4. Creativity is not made of assumptions. Its result or creation must be possible to carry out and for that it must be known if it is viable (productive potential) and if it contains originality, that is to say that the creative must determine that the idea is really creative.
Do not forget as principles:
Create, invent, innovate
Now, with these elements we can already give a more understandable definition of what creativity is and we will differentiate it from invention and innovation.
Creativity: It is the human capacity to generate a useful and original idea and then bring it to reality and evaluate it.
Invention: This activity is more related to the construction or manufacture of a prototype. In other words, it is the action of bringing to reality a creative idea that is considered universally original.
Innovation is the other basis of the business idea, this concept is very interesting since it depends a lot on entrepreneurship.
Innovation: It is the fact of turning a creative idea into part of the market, to be offered to potential customers as a product for which they will pay a price; that is to say, that starting from the creative idea turns the invention into a business.
The relationship of these three concepts is quite useful. If we start with creativity, we find that it arises when new solutions to problems are sought, and therefore variety and multiplicity are common in it.
Creativity is part of invention and innovation, that is, they are based on creativity to exist.
While the invention is highly creative it is very impractical on its own, of course, compared to creativity it is much more concrete, since it tries to materialize the idea in a proposal.
Finally there is innovation, which is shaped by creativity and practicability. The innovation apart from the characteristics of multiplicity and concreteness contains a unique element. This element is what gives companies life and brings to the market products that cover effective demand. It is knowledge and business orientation.
From here various types of individuals arise according to the combination of their creative capacities and their practical posture.
- The bureaucrat: In it there is a low creativity and at the same time a low practical or action power. This individual wastes his potential in a sedentary life without even striving to change something or to achieve more than his salary. The administrator: From this point of view the administrator is not in a position to implement creative proposals and rather strives hard in the operational objectives, that is to say that it is a being that manages the existing perfectly, but that does not have his highly developed creative spirit. The inventor: A great aptitude for creativity, but a low practical performance from the business point of view. The inventor takes refuge in his laboratory to invent prototypes and new formulas regardless of commercial purposes but looking for the solution to a problem through a proposal,whether it is profitable or not. The entrepreneur: The highest level of development of entrepreneurial creativity. This individual combines high levels of practicability with equal levels of creativity. He is the innovator, the one who enhances his talents through action and useful imagination; It is who is in the future but plans from the present to provide new solutions to the market.
