Business in the 21st century demands innovation as change is believed to be the only constant. Every moment, we are being surrounded or even being a part of the innovations. Most of the reading materials that we come across every day contain news of some incremental or evolutionary breakthroughs. Companies are always trying to take the highest risk, merge the farthest gaps and reveal the newest opportunities in order to be competent enough to survive in the innovation loop and hold on to titles of ‘pioneers’ (Ganter & Hecker, 2014). Innovation can be broadly categorized into various types namely Open Innovations, Incremental Innovations, Reverse Innovations, Disruptive Innovations, and Radical Innovations (Laforet, 2013). However, it is always true that innovation walks hand in hand with Creativity (Sarooghi, Libaers & Burkemper, 2015). Creativity is the process of ideation of products, processes, and services which are usually undertaken by an individual or a team working together.
Current business scenarios demand a creative idea to be viable, scalable and implementable. And thus it may be appropriately referred that business or organizational innovation is the proper implementation of creative ideas into business practices. Studies suggest that organizational creativity is mostly brought in by employees who have the orientation of problem-solving. The various component factors for creativity in individuals included persistence, enthusiasm, energy, inquisitiveness, intellectuality, honesty, self-motivation, risk orientation, talent, experience and knowledge about the specific area, social skills pertaining to listening, political skills and most importantly a mind free of prejudices and stereotypes. Further, when working in a team, the synergy of the team is instrumental to creativity. All these factors clubbed into components give rise to a model which covers three major aspects namely Domain Area relevant skills, Creativity centric skills and intrinsic motivation (Runco, 2014) to perform the task.
The skills which circumnavigate acquired knowledge in the field, the technical competencies and any other special talent or experience pertaining to the specific fields. These set of skills can be understood as a network of cognitive pathways useful to accomplish the completion of a certain task. The skill component also includes the factor of familiarity with the task and the level of understanding of the task (Auernhammer & Hall, 2014). These skills form the powerhouse for the individual creativity. For example, a metallurgist trying to spot dislocations on an etched surface of a metal body must be acquainted with the use of electron microscopy.
If the domain area relevant skills are deemed to be the powerhouse for individual creativity, then creativity-centric skills may be deemed as the circuit board through which the current has to flow to light up the bulbs of creativity. It is the set of skills that define the approach of the individual towards performing the task. These skills entail a few general attributes a) Dismantling the perceptual set, b) delaying judgments and decisions, c) innovating new cognitive networks, d) Keeping divergent thinking, and e) memorizing accurately (Lozano, 2014). These skills are practically dependent upon personality characteristics like self-reliance, self-discipline, diligence facing dissatisfaction, the presence of congruity at times. The extent to which an individual is able to apply these skills in the service of creative performances is subject to the organizational culture. Furthermore, the individual is dependent upon the idea generation training exercises he/she has undergone to come up with a flavor of creativity in his/her approach. In the process of generating new productive strategies, one may come across various unproductive strategies which the individual must be able to let go in the process of achieving completion of the task.
The creativity that is to be witnessed at the end of the task is much dependent on the self-motivation of the individual. Studies suggest that self-motivation is responsible by 40% to enhance creativity. It has been experimentally proven that no other domain related or creativity related skill can counterbalance a lack of intrinsic motivation to complete a task. However, a lack of domain area skills or creativity related skills may be counterbalanced by a high degree of self-motivation (Anderson, Poto?nik & Zhou, 2014). It can be safely assumed that domain centric skills and creative skills can be implemented for creative performances only to the extent to which intrinsic task motivation is present in the individual. The task motivation is dependent upon the work environment which includes the basic shared assumptions, shared values and visible artifacts and symbols. The intrinsic task motivation may be further broken down into two components pertaining to the individual’s attitude and the individual’s perceptions towards the task. The attitude part may also explain why some employees are enthusiastic about a certain set of tasks in an organization while another group of employees remains indifferent to them. The perception towards the tasks in organizations helps in determining the methods of motivation (Intrinsic Motivation and Extrinsic Motivation) that are to be implemented to induce creative performances. Task motivation is thus broadly categorized into No Motivation, Intrinsic Motivation and Extrinsic Motivation (Burke, 2013). However, in practical senses, an individual may commit to a task with primarily intrinsic motivation but may shift towards no motivation or extrinsic motivation due to extrinsic hindrances.
The Individual or Group Creativity Model can sufficiently explain the stages involved in the creativity process and can explain the use of task motivation to optimally implement domain related skills and creative thinking skills in delivering creative performances.
Fig. 1. Source: (Anderson, Poto?nik & Zhou, 2014)
As the figure suggests there are various steps and components involved and none of them are invincible for the process of creativity. The first step is the recognition of the task or the problem from an external source or an internal source. Most of the time in organizations, problems are posed externally, where the intrinsic motivation of the individual or the group plays an important role to undertake the task. The second step revolves around better understanding of the problem with the memorization of the prerequisites, gathering pertinent information all of which require the use of the domain skills and the creative thinking skills. The third stage involves the use of creative skills and task motivation to produce ideas. Exploring cognitive networks to find out better solutions is an integral part of this step. The fourth stage is dominated by domain centric skills and it is under this step, that the idea gets stress tested and it undergoes all sorts of quality testing techniques. The idea if a product undergoes the tests of value, appropriateness, suitability, adaptability keeping the user in consideration. Finally, the idea is checked against the benchmark of creativity set in the organization. In the fifth or final stage, if the idea attains its objective or fails totally, the process ends. In case the idea attains partial success or a probable response is being generated, it is best to get back to the first stage and recognize the problem or task once more until the objective is achieved.
The individual creative capacity is linked with the organizational environment.
Fig. 2. Source: (Anderson, Poto?nik & Zhou, 2014)
It may be noted that in the figure the innovation process model has been embedded with the individual or group creativity process model so that the relationship between the innovation and creativity and that between organizational environment and individual creativity can be better explained. It can be prominently seen that the individual creativity as a whole influences the process of generating the target ideas. The motivation that an individual encounters to innovate is the component that deciphers the organizational orientation towards innovation. The Resources in the task domain include all the organizational resources like man, money, material, moments (time), information and intelligence (M4I2) required for completion of the task (Litchfield, Ford & Gentry, 2015). Thus these resources are the elements that make all of it happen. The skills involved in innovation management include the macro and micro organizational skills which include the organizational capability as a whole as well as the various departmental capabilities taken separately.
According to Fig. 2, the innovation process involves the controlling factors such as individual intrinsic motivation, the individual creativity, the resources of the individual and the organization and the skills required in innovation management (Anderson, Poto?nik & Zhou, 2014).
The first stage involves the formation of the mission often the corporate vision and the formation of goals and objectives which are directed towards the mission (Gallego, Rubalcaba & Hipp, 2013). This stage is driven by the motivation to innovate. The second stage involves the goals being more specific and time bound for the organization to achieve. The employee groups are turned into teams for specific tasks and they undergo the various stages of group formation. This stage is dependent on resource availability as well as the skills involved in innovation management as the controlling forces. The third stage is the most crucial stage concerning the idea generation part and is controlled by all the factors including individual creativity, domain-centric skills, creativity-centric skills and intrinsic motivation and even organizational environment. The components of attitude and perception of intrinsic motivation play the most significant role in this stage. The fourth stage includes the stress testing, pilot testing of implemented ideas and finally commercialization of ideas to generate revenue. It is to be noted that these stages have been hypothetically tested but often it is found that the idea generation phase occurs at the beginning of the innovation process (Hogan & Coote, 2014). These ideas may not conform with the tasks and organizational objectives, so care is to be taken in the idea screening process. Resources mostly linked to information and intelligence and the skills involved in innovation management drive this stage. The fifth stage which is the final stage in the innovation process evaluates the results of the implemented idea(s) and if it is found to be successful, the process ends and probably similar projects will be taken up in the future. If the evaluated results indicate a complete negative direction of expected outcome, then the process ends. However, if the results indicate a little bit of progress in the innovation cycle without any major success, it is quite likely that the innovation cycle will be repeated from the second stage and the goals will be redefined with probable new teams taking up the task. The various measurements used in the final stage include ROI, EPS, Market Capitalization, Market Share (Siemens, 2014) and so on.
Creativity and Innovation are not possible without the perfect blend of Resources, Techniques, and Motivation (Hatch & Cunliffe, 2013). Considering the individual, the Resources may be referred to as the domain-centric skills which include knowledge, expertise, and talent. While from the organizational end, resources refer to M4I2. The techniques for the individual include the creativity-centric skills like divergent thinking, delayed judgments, drawing analogies and so on and that for the organization includes the skills involved in innovation management required to conceptualize, develop and implement creative ideas (Ganter & Hecker, 2014). Motivation in this model is the most important component as it covers the intrinsic motivation from the individual’s end and the motivation to innovate from the organizational perspective.
Fig.3. Source: (Anderson, Poto?nik & Zhou, 2014)
The figure represents the Creativity – Innovation Intersection and the section of overlap of the components of Organizational and Individual Resources, Individual creative techniques and Organizational Innovation management techniques and the Individual Intrinsic motivation and the organizational motivation to innovate, creates the ground for highest individual and group creativity leading to successful organizational innovations (Chaudoir, Dugan & Barr, 2013). The greater the areas of overlap of the three major components the higher the creativity and innovation.
Patagonia Inc. established in 1973 by Yvon Chouinard is a clothing company headquartered in California, U.S (Chouinard & Stanley, 2013). The company generates an annual revenue of USD 209 Million and has approximately a thousand employees. The company has successfully driven its innovative processes through a slew of creative projects and techniques.
Yvon Chouinard had taken the biggest leap forward to be an entrepreneur when he founded Chouinard Equipment, Ltd. To manufacture steel pitons which were to be used in the Yosemite Valley. An ace sportsman, Yvon Chouinard knew the requirements of a professional rock climber and he went on to forge more advanced tools with Tim Frost and went on to found Black Diamond Equipment. With his expertise in the clothing line used in various sports including rock climbing, skiing, surfing and the fortune he made from Black Diamond Equipment, he went on to found Patagonia, Inc. Sourcing his first stock from England, he couldn’t keep a check on orders and ordered from New Zealand, Austria, and Argentina (Petrie, 2016). The kind of research the company went into to reinvent various new fabrics, supply chains and distribution networks is phenomenal. Thus Yvon Chouinard’s domain skills and the organizational resources make it possible for Patagonia to keep up the innovation cycle (De Vries, Bekkers & Tummers, 2015).
Yvon Chouinard didn’t stick to the status quo of manufacturing climbing gears where he was making enough profits. Rather he decided to get a few steps back, get a clearer picture of the future and saw a vision that would engulf the American sports enthusiasts. He went on to use his expertise in designing a new clothing line made of unique fabric combinations sourced from 16 countries in the world, used in climbing, surfing, skiing and other adventurous sports (Chouinard, 2016). Furthermore, Patagonia as an organization has been efficient in dealing with changes pertaining to Research and Development, Production and Manufacturing and Logistics. The continuous support from the close-knit family of employees in various departments of Patagonia Inc has made it possible for the company to be listed in the Fortune 500 Companies of the World. Initiatives such as Fair Labour Association to ensure proper wages to workers, slashing the number of suppliers from 108 to 45, The Footprint Chronicles have kept the company on the track of creativity and innovation.
Yvon Chouinard’s intrinsic motivation to provide better experiences to the American adventurous sports enthusiasts is indomitable. His intrinsic motivation to solve problems pertaining to rock climbing is evident from the foundation of Chouinard Equipment. His eye for the environment had driven him to innovate tools with aluminum composition and later on his broad vision to cater to other sports needs led him to the foundation of Patagonia, a clothing line company (Gopaldas, 2015). Patagonia Inc. is highly responsive to change given its flat organization structure and culture. It has innovated clothing lines made from recyclable biomaterials, clothes made from plant-based dyes and even provided a wonderful customer service experience with the concept of repairing torn outwear at selected stores (Jones & Gettinger, 2016). The motivation has played the major role in the creativity and innovation cycle of Patagonia, Inc.
The intertwined nature of organizational creativity and innovation has been very enlightening. The methods to shape up individual creativity and that too maintaining the same level of creativity while working in groups is another take away from this lesson. The dependence of organizational innovation on individual creativity factors as well as the organizational environment are very important revelations. The importance of the individual intrinsic motivation and the motivation to innovate from the organizational end are important understandings in this lesson. The way the motivation drives the domain and creativity-centric skills in an individual is fascinating to understand. The creativity and innovation intersection has been successful in outlining the defining parameters of Motivation, Techniques, and Resources. Considering Yvon Chouinard and his Patagonia Inc., the creativity and innovation involved are sky high. The research and development involved in creating new kinds of fabric and discovering the most optimum supply chains to get these fabrics commercialized are mammoth tasks performed with a sense of creativity and innovation. Coming up with green initiatives keeping an eye on the environment, doing away with unethical suppliers, introducing new labor laws, Yvon Chouinard has set the stage for his 40 years old organization to take on the driver’s seat in adventure sports clothing line in America. Yvon Chouinard’s motivation to cater to adventure sports enthusiasts combined with his organizational motivation to innovate continuously has put Patagonia Inc on the forefront of innovation and in the list of Fortune 500 companies of the world.
References
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Auernhammer, J., & Hall, H. (2014). Organizational culture in knowledge creation, creativity and innovation: Towards the Freiraum model. Journal of Information Science, 40(2), 154-166.
Burke, W. W. (2013). Organization change: Theory and practice. Sage Publications.
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Chouinard, Y. (2016). Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman–Including 10 More Years of Business Unusual. Penguin.
Chouinard, Y., & Stanley, V. (2013). The Responsible Company: What We’ve Learned from Patagonia’s First 40 Years. Patagonia.
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Petrie, K. (2016). Patagonia Inc.’s Sustainable Supply Chain Initiatives and Their Contribution to Company Brand (Doctoral dissertation).
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