creativity

Storytelling

Posted on January 25th, 2016 by John Bessant

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Pixar case study

Posted on April 19th, 2015 by John Bessant

Pixar is one of the most successful animation studios in the world.  Recently bought by Disney it has a long track record of innovation and this case explores some of the underlying management approaches which it has learned and embedded.

Stephen Johnson – Where good ideas come from

Posted on March 19th, 2015 by John Bessant

In this TED talk Stephen Johnson explains how ideas emerge and connect to enable innovation.

Activity – Improving a service process

Posted on March 17th, 2015 by John Bessant

    Think about a service process which you have been involved in recently – a visit to the bank, shopping, waiting in a restaurant, booking tickets online, etc. Now try using some of the tools below – or others you can think of – to explore ways in which this process could be improved.

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Mind-Mapping

Posted on March 17th, 2015 by John Bessant

Mind-mapping is a powerful tool to help explore problems and assist search for patterns and connections. You can find a brief explanation here   And more details here.

Activity – Blocks to creativity

Posted on March 17th, 2015 by John Bessant

Activity – Blocks to creativity

Deep dive: Frugal innovation

Posted on February 12th, 2015 by John Bessant

Frugal innovation is a term increasingly used to describe an approach to innovation which is simple and sustainable. It grew out of experiences in locations where shortages of key resources required ingenious solutions to problems and where the simplicity of such innovations permits their widespread diffusion.

5 whys

Posted on February 12th, 2015 by John Bessant

5 whys This simple but powerful tool can help strip away the apparent problem to get through to the root problem which is the one we need to solve.

How to statements

Posted on February 11th, 2015 by John Bessant

     How to statements     A useful tool in creative problem solving is the ‘how to’ statement which provides a powerful way of reframing the problem. For example, consider the problem of a city council concerned with the amount of graffiti being scrawled on bridges, walls, trains and other surfaces. It regularly receives

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Metaphor

Posted on February 9th, 2015 by John Bessant

Metaphor is a powerful tool for generating fresh insights in creative problem-solving.  It helps us ‘get out of the box’ in our thinking and offers new perspectives on problems we are trying to solve. See also analogy, brainstorming