CREATIVITY Part 3: Creativity and INNOVATION

Sheri Kennedy • May 28, 2021

The Art of Applied Visual Thinking

The official newsletter of Applied Visual Thinking SUPERHEROES. Vol. 2 No. 11 May 28, 2021

Here at Applied Visual Thinking, we believe that everyone is creative, that creativity is essential for innovation, and that visuals make both creativity and innovation easy and fun.

How do I know you are creative? I know you are creative, because you're human. It's what helps us survive and thrive (see Part 1: Creativity, Resilience and My Phoenix Moment). If you solve problems, you are creative. If you figure out how to fit groceries into a bag, you are creative. If you grow plants, cook, parent, organize furniture or make spreadsheets, you are creative. See what I mean?

Creativity in a work context could be described as the prolific generation of ideas. It also has a lot to do with keeping an open, curious, non-judgmental mindset. You may or may not think of yourself as an "idea person," but in fact, your perspective is essential to the success and growth of your organization, group or volunteer work. Only you see the world through your particular lens (see Part 2: Creativity and Perspective). Using visuals can make the expression of ideas more readily understood by a broader audience. This saves time and avoids misunderstanding in the long run.

How does creativity connect to INNOVATION?

Innovation is the real-world application of creativity, and the world is clambering for people with these skills. McKinsey & Company says, "Companies that harness creativity and data in tandem have growth rates twice as high as companies that don’t."

To my mind, if creativity is a way of being, innovation is a way of doing. It takes a creative orientation to generate ideas, but it is a whole other matter to put an idea into action. Add to that the challenges of failure, change and unexpected surprises and you have innovation! The good news is, there are tools and methods for practicing innovation, and a lot of these lend themselves nicely to visual thinking.

If the mere idea of coming up with ideas gets you jazzed and you want to up your game to be a more effective and visual innovator, we have great news for you! We are so pleased to announce the launch of our latest course, Applied Visual Thinking for INNOVATION.

AVT for INNOVATION
is live!

In this course you will learn to generate, capture and organize a large volume of ideas visually with the purpose of addressing a clearly stated need. Equipped with these skills, you will design a new or revised product, service or system you can quickly, clearly and confidently share with others, articulating in a visual way how your idea will make the world a better place.

Take me to the AVT for INNOVATION course!

Pizza Creativity

Here's a fun way to whet your appetite for creativity and innovation done visually.

Let's say I am invited to dream up a new pizza offering at my favorite local pizza place. I know I want pepperoni and mushrooms, but I want to push my idea further.

SKETCH it. First I make a simple drawing or icon of my pizza so I can visualize what it might look like.
DIAGRAM it. Next I make a labeled diagram of the key ingredients. alternatively, I could have diagrammed how to make it.
HAIKU it. Third, I write a haiku about the joy my pizza brings (3 lines of 5-7-5 syllables). Other options here might be to free-write for 2 minutes or make up an ad or jingle.

More ways you might translate, improve upon or add to your idea:

Grab the nearest OBJECT and force a CONNECTION to your idea.
Look at random images (magazines, wall art, or online image search) for a SYMBOL of your idea.
Make your idea out of FOOD.
Make your idea in 3D using recycled materials.
When you think about your idea, does a particular ANIMAL come to mind?
Is there something from NATURE that sparks an idea?

Free INNOVATION mashup template.

Here's another fun way to exercise your creativity and innovation muscles and practice your visual vocabulary and hierarchy at the same time. Download the free template and play along!

Download Your Free Template Now!

Step 1 – Peruse the items in the 3 columns on the template - Quality, Thing and Function. Add more ideas of your own. Push yourself to use a variety of icons and lettering styles.
Step 2 – Choose one of the prompts from each column, add them together, and see what wild ideas you can come up with! See what happens when you choose randomly vs. thinking about your choice in relation to something you are working on.