Examples of Creativity & Innovation in Business
IBM’s survey of more than 1,500 CEOs from 60 countries and 33 industries worldwide, found that CEOs believe that, “more than rigor, management discipline, integrity, or even vision, successfully navigating an increasing complex world requires creativity.”
This short video illustrates how truly important (and rare) creativity and innovation are in business.
Creative products and solutions that have propelled businesses to new levels of success are all around you. A few of the most recognizable are:
- Apple’s computer mouse. Originally created at Stanford University, the mouse was known as an “X-Y Position Indicator for a Display System” until Steve Jobs reintroduced it with the Apple Lisa computer.
- Facebook began in 2004 when Mark Zuckerberg distributed sheets of paper to Harvard freshmen, profiling students and staff.
- WD-40 stands for Water Displacement Formula #40. It was the 40th attempt at a water displacing and penetrating oil for NASA.
- Cheerios almost never made it to market because General Mills employee Lester Borchardt was told to quit screwing around and come up with something they could sell instead of blasting little dough balls out of an air cannon.
Over time, these products become icons, but in the beginning, many of these ideas seemed off-the-wall. That’s one of the key challenges to new insight… They haven’t yet been imagined!