Thinking creatively means coming up with an idea for a business, good or service that is unique and did not exist before.
A lot of businesses are not based on creative thinking. Their business idea is a ‘me-too approach’ which is simply just copying someone else’s idea. Can you think of examples of products which have copied their more successful competitors’ products?
The benefit of thinking creatively – Competitive advantage
Developing a unique idea can give a new business a competitive advantage. Having a competitive advantage means that it is not easy for a competitor to copy an idea, or imitate a product or a method of working. Examples of competitive advantage include:
- Having a better product than other businesses.
- Having a better way of producing what it makes (lower costs and better quality).
- Giving its customers better service.
- Being better than its rivals at selling products to customers.
- Using some technology or technique that makes its product unique.
Many people argue that the iPod is the best music player available. What is it about the iPod that makes it so successful?
ACTIVITY 1: Read the case below and explain how Jack’s of London gives better service than mainstream barbers to its customers. Are you a man? And if so, are you too intimidated to go into a unisex hair salon? Well, if you are, you're not alone. When Sue Whitehead found she could count the number of male customers coming into her salon on one hand, she knew she'd found a gap in the market. It is a modern barber's shop where men can hang out with other men, watch football and get a beer with their salon-style haircut. Other features include plasma screens and internet access as well as a webcam so customers can click onto the salon's website and find out if there's a queue. Another hit with the punters is that they can get their hair cut in the morning before they go to work or well into the evening. And Sue's well thought out selling points have brought in a steady stream of regular clients – among them premiership footballers and film stars.
Deliberate creativity
People think creatively all the time. They come up with new ways of doing things. They respond to new situations. However, most of this type of creative thinking happens accidentally. There is often no method behind how the ideas are generated. The ideas that come out are often not followed up or used in an organized way.
Deliberate creativity uses a range of techniques to stimulate thinking and the production of new ideas. It involves the use of different methods of thinking. By going through different thought processes, new ideas emerge.
ACTIVITY 4: Read the case below and explain why the Dyson Air Multiplier is unique. Chop, chop. The blades on conventional electric fans literally chop the air, which means the airflow is uneven, causing unpleasant buffeting. The Dyson Air Multiplier™ fan has no blades. Instead it uses Air Multiplier™ technology to amplify air 15 times, expelling 405 liters of cool, smooth and uninterrupted air every second. The Dyson Air Multiplier™ fan is powered by an efficient brushless motor and air speed can be precisely adjusted with dimmer-switch control. Fans with blades are only wired to run at just two or three settings. No blades means there is no need for a grille, so it is simple to and safe to clean. And because its motor is at its base, the Dyson Air Multiplier™ fan can be tilted with a touch, unlike a conventional top-heavy fan, which needs to be positioned with two hands and can topple easily. ‘I have always been disappointed by fans. Their spinning blades chop up the airflow, causing annoying buffeting. They are hard to clean. And children always want to poke their fingers through the grille. So we have developed a new type of fan that does not use blades.’
Lateral thinking
Have you ever come up with creative ideas by accident? If not, in what kinds of situations can you see this happening? In most situations, people mainly use one way of thinking. So like, thinking logically. Precisely, they think things through step by step (…). How terribly boring?
Well, you can base most of your decisions on emotions and feelings. Or, you can forget logic and emotion and think that the best way to get creative ideas is trust your gut reaction. Your gut can be big enough for you to trust!
This might be correct, but all these ways will only bring up fairly predictable ideas.
There must be another way. There is!
Lateral thinking is about producing ideas that people would not come up with during their normal day-to-day lives.
Lateral thinking is solving of problems by an indirect and creative approach, typically through viewing the problem in a new and unusual light. It is about creating new and unexpected ideas. Sometimes it is described as ’thinking outside the box’.
So, shall we see if you can think laterally?
