Albert Einstein said, “imagination is more important than knowledge”.

Creativity is the ability to transcend previous ideas, systems, ways of doing things to advance, where as innovation is bringing something new into an existing situation. - They are similar in the sense that they both require a dynamic thought process, but nevertheless uniquely different.

Creativity needs original thinking and to be able to look at things in different perspectives.

Innovation is more about problem-based learning.

Both creativity and innovation have their own place and are really important in the workplace.

Creativity helps us to be problem solvers. It helps people to explore the world in different ways to discover new and exciting things, but not everybody can ‘handle’ that dynamic, barrier-breaking way of thinking, to the point that a creative thinker can sometimes go against the culture of an organisation.

Innovation requires complete understanding of the organisation or problem that you are trying to ‘solve’. Companies will often have a mission statement, a vision and an existing recognised culture, but in order to innovate you need to have a deeper understanding of the philosophy of the organisation.
Unlike creativity, innovative thinking is more logical, and is based on knowledge and understanding.

If in a team you can harness both creative thinking and innovation then it will lead to value creation and profit, and requires both management and leadership.

Who are the best creative thinkers, and who demonstrates the best innovation in your team, and more importantly how can you make best use of them? - If you’d like to chat it over then please drop me a line.