The following report will be a reflection upon a previous creative experience during my third year at university. The experience has led to the emergence of my own small company, in which I displayed creativity throughout the process of it coming to light.
In the report, I will analyse my experience with reference to different theories and models such as Amabile’s creative process, componential model of creativity and and Wallas’ creative process (1926). The theories and models will be used to reflect back on my past creative experience effectively and also come up with an evaluation on the experience to see how I can enhance creativity in the future, which will come in the format of a conclusion including recommendations. …show more content…
From my past experience, I believe that creativity is the discovery of something new and thinking outside the box in order to make way for new innovations. I Rickards’ (1985) definition of creativity advocates the same idea. He defines creativity as ‘the personal discovery process… that leads to new and relevant insights’. He also supports a view that portrays creativity to be the discovery of new and meaningful perspectives, or as an ‘escape from mental stuckness’. In this sense, Rickards also supports the belief that creativity is an inherently individual act (Von Stamm, 2008). Furthermore, my experience exposed the nature of creativity that stems from the beliefs of Haefele (1962). He argues that every one of us must be creative because we have to discover solutions to new problems. Whilst analyzing my experience using Amabile’s creative process as a framework, I will also look to reflect on each stage of the experience using Gibb’s reflective cycle (1988) (Appendix …show more content…
I have learnt that if a company is to sustain their competitive advantage, the need to create and innovate is vital due to the rapidly changing economic environment and the new challenges that it brings. Therefore, creativity and innovation set companies apart from each other in a modern day context. This was the case with my own experience. After identifying a problem in the student market in Nottingham, I was creative in the way that I was able to find a solution or something new to bring to the market, which led me to innovating a premium brand, something that had never been done before. Furthermore, I have learnt that in order for creativity and innovation to sustain an organisations competitive advantage, the environment needs to be right to ensure that their employees are working at their maximum when trying to solve a problem or create something new. There is a huge difference between an employee who is intrinsically motivated, and therefore has a desire to do something and an employee who is extrinsically motivated, for example someone who receives a