When it comes to the practices of creativity and innovation within organisations, some managers are of the opinion that one should throw away the textbook. They say that outside the classroom, in the real-world context, there is no place for theory or ‘textbook concepts’. That the best results are gained from common sense and through experimentation and learning from mistakes.
Common sense, experimentation and learning from mistakes are indeed important resources. In this course, however, we contend that innovators benefit strongly from so-called textbook and classroom learning that involves the application of concepts, models, theories, processes, and tools. They understand that the integration of theory and practice results in better innovation outcomes.
Write an argumentative essay in which you support this latter, more theoretical perspective. In addition to drawing on scholarly and professional literature, provide examples of your learnings from Modules 1 – 4 inclusive of this course. Your examples should include at least two theories and any number of frameworks or concepts that you found particularly useful to support your argument. Your arguments should demonstrate relevance to, and potential impact on, contemporary creativity and innovation practices. Therefore, do not simply reproduce the theories and concepts. In your argument, explain how practitioners stand to benefit from implementing these theories and concepts e.g. what outcomes could they expect to achieve through their implementation? Where possible and appropriate, support your arguments with real-world corporate examples that have benefited from such implementation.