Unlike technology, design seldom follows a neat curve. When it comes to questions of style, it’s hard to chart steady improvements. At the moment, however, design does seem likely to become an even more powerful business driver—provided it isn’t undone by its own popularity. In a number of sectors, executives are becoming more and more aware that smart design can be a shortcut to competitive advantage. The growth of Starbucks and the rise of Apple are two stories about the power of good design, but a number of industries have been similarly transformed by an idea that was less technically novel than packaged in a more appealing way.
The Importance of Creativity in Business
NYU-Stern professor Kim Corfman on the importance of creativity in business and the role of culture in spurring or constraining creativity. Creativity is important for organizations. Period. It’s a simple correlation: higher creativity leads to greater innovation within the organization and thus, greater success over the long run. Having said that, creativity is also becoming […]
Diffusion of Innovation: What Sticks, What Doesn’t and Why
Why do some products and technologies take off while others don’t? Why did iPhones become such a rage overnight, while some much hyped (and technologically sound) releases, such as Sony’s Blu-Ray discs, bombed in the market? The diffusion of innovation, or the likelihood and speed at which innovations and technologies spread, is a tricky science. There […]
How The Environment Impacts Creative Thinking
CKGSB Professor Juliet Zhu explains how environmental factors such as color, lighting and noise impact our creative thinking processes and productivity. Not all of it is intuitive. Getting stuck while coming up with the punch line of your carefully orchestrated marketing plan? Try this: change the desktop image of your laptop to the blue sky and […]
Giving Credit Where it is Due: A Key Innovation Incentive
John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote almost 180 songs together between 1962 and 1969, most of them recorded by the Beatles. One of them, ‘Yesterday’, has been recorded by more artists than any other song according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Imagine if Lennon was given full credit for all of those songs […]
‘Creating’ Creativity
A recent global IBM CEO survey says that the majority of CEOs who participated believe the key to navigating today’s uncertain economic climes is creativity. Creating an innovative workplace is an essential part of business today, but implementing practices that actually nurture creativity is much more difficult than supporting it in theory. Many in the […]
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