Laverty Littel, Chapt 4, Pp. 149-179

4
Creativity, Innovation, and Invention
Figure 4.1 Creativity comes in many forms. It can be messy, but creativity is an essential element of
innovation and inventiveness, both of which can drive entrepreneurship. (credit: modification of “On
creativity” by Linus Bohman/Flickr, CC BY 2.0)
Chapter Outline
4.1 Tools for Creativity and Innovation
4.2 Creativity, Innovation, and Invention: How They Differ
4.3 Developing Ideas, Innovations, and Inventions
Introduction
We enter the world as curious beings. However, as we grow up, we are told to color inside the lines and that
real animals can’t talk—direction that can squelch creativity. Many successful entrepreneurs work to unlearn
some of those messages in order to tap into creative thinking. What do you do when you are given a task that
requires you to be creative? Do you get out your art supplies and start drawing? Do you pull out your phone or
get on your computer and head straight for a search engine? Steve Jobs, the Apple founder and well-known
innovator, had a preference when it came to creative contemplation, and it had nothing to do with art supplies
or smartphones. Jobs did some of his best creative thinking when he went on a walk, or a walking chat.
Why did Jobs prefer walking as a way to develop new ideas? A Stanford University study found that walking
[1]
improves creative thinking. When you launch an entrepreneurial journey and set out to innovate and create,
or when you hit a sticking point that requires a creative solution, it may be time to take a walk. Better yet, if
you can find a friend, walk and talk. It might energize your creativity and lead to innovation and, possibly, to
invention.
1 Marily Oppezzo and Daniel Schwartz. “Give Your Ideas Some Legs: The Positive Effect of Walking on Creative Thinking.” Journal of
Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 40, no. 4 (2014): 1142–1152.
150 Chapter 4 Creativity, Innovation, and Invention

Learning Objectives
By the end of this section, you will be able to:
• Describe popular, well-supported, creative problem-solving methods

• Understand which innovation or problem-solving methods apply best in different settings
• Know where to look for emerging innovation practices, research, and tools
Creativity, innovation, and invention are key concepts for your entrepreneurial journey. Fostering creativity
and innovation will add essential tools to your entrepreneurial toolkit. In this chapter, first you’ll learn about a
few practical tools that can assist you in your efforts to create and innovate. Then, we’ll define and distinguish
creativity, innovation, and invention, and note the differences between pioneering and incremental innovation.
Finally, we’ll cover models and processes for developing creativity, innovation, and inventiveness. The science,
study, and practice of creativity and design thinking are constantly evolving. Staying on top of well-
documented, successful approaches can give you a competitive advantage and may remind you that
entrepreneurship can be fun, exciting, and refreshing, as long as you keep your creative spirit alive and in
constant motion.
Creative Problem-Solving Methods

Creative thinking can take various forms (Figure 4.2). This section focuses on a few creative thinking exercises
that have proven useful for entrepreneurs. After discussing ideation practices that you can try, we conclude
with a discussion of an in-depth innovation exercise that can help you develop a habit of turning creative ideas
into innovative products and services. In this section, outcomes are vital.
Figure 4.2 When your process hits a sticking point, a walk—or a walk and talk—can help boost your
creativity in thinking through solutions. (credit: “beard business city colleague” by “rawpixel”/Pixabay, CC0)
Three ideation practices are discussed here. Several others are offered in links at the end of this section. The
[2]
first ideation practice comes from Stanford’s Design School. The objective is to generate as many ideas as
possible and start to develop some of those ideas. This practice is the quintessential design thinking
practice,
This OpenStax book is available for free at https://cnx.org/content/col29104/1.9

Chapter 4 Creativity, Innovation, and Invention 151
or human-centric design thinking exercise, and it consists of five parts: accessing and expressing empathy,
defining the problem, ideating solutions (brainstorming), prototyping, and testing (Figure 4.3). Empathy is the
human ability to feel what other humans are feeling, which in the context of creativity, innovation, and
invention is essential to beginning a process of human-centric design. Practicing empathy enables us to relate
to people and see the problem through the eyes and feelings of those who experience it. By expressing
empathy, you can begin to understand many facets of a problem and start to think about all of the forces you
will need to bring to bear on it. From empathy comes the ability to proceed to the second step, defining the
problem. Defining the problem must be based on honest, rational, and emotional observation for human-
centric design to work. Third in the process is brainstorming solutions. The other two ideation exercises or
practices in this section delve more deeply into brainstorming (also discussed in Problem Solving and Need
Recognition Techniques), what it means, and how you can brainstorm creatively beyond the basic whiteboard
scribbling in almost every organization. Designing for other people means building a prototype—the fourth
step—and to test it. Once you apply this process to developing a product or service, you need to return to the
empathetic mindset to examine whether you have reached a viable solution and, thus, an opportunity.
Figure 4.3 The empathetic design cycle is human-centric. (attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax,
under CC BY 4.0 license)
2 Stanford d.school. https://dschool.stanford.edu/

LINK TO LEARNING
Watch this video on human-centered design (https://openstax.org/l/52HumnCntDesign) for more

information, including an explanation of the phases involved.
To delve more deeply into ideation as a practice, we introduce here the Six Thinking Hats method
[3]
(Figure 4.4). There are different versions of this ideation game, but all of them are quite useful for
encouraging thought by limiting the mindset of those involved in the game. Being encouraged to embody one
mode of thinking frees you from considering other aspects of a problem that can limit creativity when you are
looking for a solution. The six hats are:
• White Hat: acts as information gatherer by conducting research and bringing quantitative analysis to the
discussion; sticks to the facts
• Red Hat: brings raw emotion to the mix and offers sensibilities without having to justify them
• Black Hat: employs logic and caution; warns participants about institutional limitations; also known as the
“devil’s advocate”
• Yellow Hat: brings the “logical positive” of optimism to the group; encourages solving small and large
problems
• Green Hat: thinks creatively; introduces change and provokes other members when needed; new ideas
are the purview of the Green Hat
• Blue Hat: maintains the broader structure of the discussion and may set the terms by which progress will
be judged; makes sure the other hats play by the rules, or stay in their respective lanes, so to speak
Figure 4.4 The Six Thinking Hats exercise is designed to have each participant focus on a particular
approach to the problem or discussion. (attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax, under CC BY 4.0
license)
You can apply the Six Thinking Hats exercise to force structure on a discussion where, without it, several
members of the group might try to wear several hats each. This game is not always easy to implement. If
members cannot follow the rules, the process breaks down. When it works best, the Blue Hat maintains
control and keeps the practice moving quickly. What you and your group should experience is a peculiar
3 “10 Creative Techniques for You and Your Team.” MiroBlog. n.d. https://miro.com/blog/creative-techniques/

freedom arising from the imposition of limitations. By being responsible for only one mode of thinking, each
participant can fully advocate for that point of view and can think deeply about that particular aspect of the
solution. Thus, the group can be deeply creative, deeply logical, deeply optimistic, and deeply critical. This
practice is meant to move entire groups past surface-level solutions. If you practice this exercise well, the
challenges of implementing it are well worth the effort. It gives you the opportunity to vet ideas thoroughly
while keeping many personality clashes at bay. If the participants stay in character, they can be accused only
of acting in the best interests of their hat.
Your instructor may have your group members try different hats in different ideation exercises so you all can
[4]
more fully develop each mindset. This exercise forces you out of your most comfortable modes of thinking.
You and your classmates can recognize in each other skills that you may not have realized you possess.
The third ideation practice is quite simple. If stagnant thinking has begun to dominate an ongoing discussion,
[5]
it can be helpful to inject an ideation framework. This is the “statement starters” method. Ask, “How might
we ________?” or “What if we ________?” in order to open up new possibilities when you seem to have reached
the limits of creativity. This method is more than simply asking “Why not?” because it seeks to uncover how a
problem might be solved. For entrepreneurs, the simplest form of framing a problem in the form of a question
can be eye opening. It assumes open possibilities, invites participation, and demands focus. Statement starters
assume that, at least, there might be a solution to every problem. Ideation is about starting down new paths.
This mode of thought applies to social problems as well as consumer pain points (discussed later). Creating a
list of statement starters can help entrepreneurs examine different possibilities by simply adopting different
points of view when asking questions. For example, the question, “How might we keep rivers clean?” is similar
to the question, “How might we prevent animal waste runoff from entering our city’s waterways?” but the
implications of each question are different for different stakeholders. Recall that stakeholders are individuals
who have a vital interest in the business or organization. Statement starters almost always lead to a discussion
of stakeholders and how they might be involved in finding solutions, offering support, and perhaps one day
purchasing or contributing to dynamic, disruptive inventions or changes in social practice.
LINK TO LEARNING
Are you curious about ways to improve your ability to think creatively? Consider trying out some of the
creative thinking exercises (https://openstax.org/l/52CreateThinkEx) provided at this site.
Matching Innovation Methods to Circumstances

Searching for innovation methods will often reveal many of the same, or similar, creativity exercises as we’ve
just discussed. To go beyond ideation exercises, we will conclude with a foundation of thinking that can help
when you are tackling all sorts of innovation problems. Simply put, open innovation involves searching for
and finding solutions outside of the organizational structure. Open innovation is somewhat difficult to pin
down. The educator and author Henry Chesbrough was one of the first to define it: “Open innovation is ‘the
4 “Six Thinking Hats.” The de Bono Group. n.d. http://www.debonogroup.com/six_thinking_hats.php

5 Michelle Ferrier. “Ideation.” Media Innovation and Entrepreneurship. n.d. https://press.rebus.community/media-innovation-and-
entrepreneurship/chapter/ideation-2/
use of purposive inflows and outflows of knowledge to accelerate internal innovation, and expand the markets
[6]
for external use of innovation, respectively.’” In other words, firms built on a structure of open innovation
look beyond their own research and development capabilities to solve problems. This outlook can guide all
sorts of product and service development processes. Open innovation models also allow innovations to be
shared widely so that they can seed other innovations outside the original firm or institution.
Open innovation takes an optimistic view of sharing information and ideas across a society connected by
instantaneous communication networks. It is also a shift from the classic research and development model. In
a sense, you allow others to solve problems in your business, startup, or social entrepreneurship project. In
this reciprocal world, you are open to the reality that information is difficult to keep under wraps. You may
seek patents for your intellectual property, particularly in fixed product or service practice form, but you
should expect, or even encourage, the widespread circulation of key elements of your solutions. This makes
sense: If, as an entrepreneur or an innovative corporation, you are going to look beyond your own ideation,
research, and development capabilities for solutions, you must expect that others will look to your solutions
for ideas to borrow.
The open innovation model is far easier to describe in idealistic terms than it is to put into practice without
ethical consequences. Unfortunately, industrial and corporate espionage, theft of intellectual property, and
lawsuits are commonplace. Nevertheless, inspiration in innovation can come from myriad sources when
constant streams of information are available to anyone with a high-speed data connection. Open innovation
is a simple but essential framework for future innovation and for managing, even possibly guiding, disruption
in an industry as discussed previously (i.e., disruptive innovation). Table 4.1 provides some examples of
companies using disruptive technology.
Examples of Disruptive Technology
Company Disruptive technology
Amazon Speed based delivery

Multiple delivery processes from drones to strategically located fulfillment centers
Disruptive technology including processing the customer order before the customer has
even finished the purchase, so that the product is already moving toward delivery
Uber and Lyft Ride sharing versus taxi driving

Apps and Beacon and Amp-color coded alert communication system disrupted the taxi
system
Bitcoin Digital currency not connected to a specific country or monetary standard

Value based on market forces
Toyota E- Remote controlled driverless electric shuttle that brings the service to the customer
Palette rather than the customer going to the service
Table 4.1
Another element of the open innovation model is the connection between academic research and practical
6 Henry Chesbrough. “Everything You Need to Know about Open Innovation.” Forbes. March 21, 2011. https://www.forbes.com/sites/
henrychesbrough/2011/03/21/everything-you-need-to-know-about-open-innovation/#1861dd5275f4

solutions. Reciprocal influence between academia, which often moves slowly, and leading corporate and
entrepreneurial forces, which often focus too narrowly on short-term gains, could offer the balance this rapidly
changing world needs. If you can manage to plug into the exchange of ideas between longstanding
institutions and disruptive technological innovators, you may be positioned to effect positive change on
society and to develop products that are received as useful and elegant, wildly new and creative, and essential
to the human experience at the same time.
Staying on Top of Emerging Practices

Consider searching for ideation and innovation practice links using a web browser and comparing those
results to what you can find in the academic literature via Google Scholar or other academic databases. To
adopt a truly open innovation mindset, it is essential to leave yourself open to all sorts of influences, even if it
demands time and much cognitive energy. The financial, social, and personal rewards may be great.

Learning Objectives
• Distinguish between creativity, innovation, and invention

• Explain the difference between pioneering and incremental innovation, and which processes are best
suited to each
One of the key requirements for entrepreneurial success is your ability to develop and offer something unique
to the marketplace. Over time, entrepreneurship has become associated with creativity, the ability to develop
something original, particularly an idea or a representation of an idea. Innovation requires creativity, but
innovation is more specifically the application of creativity. Innovation is the manifestation of creativity into a
usable product or service. In the entrepreneurial context, innovation is any new idea, process, or product, or a
change to an existing product or process that adds value to that existing product or service.
How is an invention different from an innovation? All inventions contain innovations, but not every innovation
rises to the level of a unique invention. For our purposes, an invention is a truly novel product, service, or
process. It will be based on previous ideas and products, but it is such a leap that it is not considered an
addition to or a variant of an existing product but something unique. Table 4.2 highlights the differences
between these three concepts.
Concept Description
Creativity ability to develop something original, particularly an idea or a representation of an idea, with
an element of aesthetic flair
Innovation change that adds value to an existing product or service
Table 4.2
Concept Description
Invention truly novel product, service, or process that, though based on ideas and products that have
come before, represents a leap, a creation truly novel and different
Table 4.2
One way we can consider these three concepts is to relate them to design thinking. Design thinking is a
method to focus the design and development decisions of a product on the needs of the customer, typically
involving an empathy-driven process to define complex problems and create solutions that address those
problems. Complexity is key to design thinking. Straightforward problems that can be solved with enough
money and force do not require much design thinking. Creative design thinking and planning are about
finding new solutions for problems with several tricky variables in play. Designing products for human beings,
who are complex and sometimes unpredictable, requires design thinking.
Airbnb has become a widely used service all over the world. That has not always been the case, however. In
2009, the company was near failure. The founders were struggling to find a reason for the lack of interest in
their properties until they realized that their listings needed professional, high-quality photographs rather
than simple cell-phone photos. Using a design thinking approach, the founders traveled to the properties with
a rented camera to take some new photographs. As a result of this experiment, weekly revenue doubled. This
approach could not be sustainable in the long term, but it generated the outcome the founders needed to
better understand the problem. This creative approach to solving a complex problem proved to be a major
[7]
turning point for the company.
People who are adept at design thinking are creative, innovative, and inventive as they strive to tackle different
types of problems. Consider Divya Nag, a millennial biotech and medical device innovation leader, who
launched a business after she discovered a creative way to prolong the life of human cells in Petri dishes.
Nag’s stem-cell research background and her entrepreneurial experience with her medical investment firm
made her a popular choice when Apple hired her to run two programs dedicated to developing health-related
[8]
apps, a position she reached before turning twenty-four years old.
Creativity, innovation, inventiveness, and entrepreneurship can be tightly linked. It is possible for one person
to model all these traits to some degree. Additionally, you can develop your creativity skills, sense of
innovation, and inventiveness in a variety of ways. In this section, we’ll discuss each of the key terms and how
they relate to the entrepreneurial spirit.
Creativity
Entrepreneurial creativity and artistic creativity are not so different. You can find inspiration in your favorite
books, songs, and paintings, and you also can take inspiration from existing products and services. You can
find creative inspiration in nature, in conversations with other creative minds, and through formal ideation
exercises, for example, brainstorming. Ideation is the purposeful process of opening up your mind to new
trains of thought that branch out in all directions from a stated purpose or problem. Brainstorming, the
7 “How Design Thinking Transformed Airbnb from Failing Startup to Billion Dollar Business.” First Round Review. n.d. https://firstround.com/
review/How-design-thinking-transformed-Airbnb-from-failing-startup-to-billion-dollar-business/
8 “Divya Nag, 26.” Fortune. n.d. http://fortune.com/40-under-40/2017/divya-nag-27/

generation of ideas in an environment free of judgment or dissension with the goal of creating solutions, is
[9]
just one of dozens of methods for coming up with new ideas.
You can benefit from setting aside time for ideation. Reserving time to let your mind roam freely as you think
about an issue or problem from multiple directions is a necessary component of the process. Ideation takes
time and a deliberate effort to move beyond your habitual thought patterns. If you consciously set aside time
[10]
for creativity, you will broaden your mental horizons and allow yourself to change and grow.
Entrepreneurs work with two types of thinking. Linear thinking—sometimes called vertical thinking—involves
a logical, step-by-step process. In contrast, creative thinking is more often lateral thinking, free and open
thinking in which established patterns of logical thought are purposefully ignored or even challenged. You can
ignore logic; anything becomes possible. Linear thinking is crucial in turning your idea into a business. Lateral
thinking will allow you to use your creativity to solve problems that arise. Figure 4.5 summarizes linear and
lateral thinking.
Figure 4.5 Entrepreneurs can be most effective if they use both linear and lateral thinking. (attribution:
Copyright Rice University, OpenStax, under CC BY 4.0 license)
It is certainly possible for you to be an entrepreneur and focus on linear thinking. Many viable business
ventures flow logically and directly from existing products and services. However, for various reasons,
creativity and lateral thinking are emphasized in many contemporary contexts in the study of
entrepreneurship. Some reasons for this are increased global competition, the speed of technological change,
[11]
and the complexity of trade and communication systems. These factors help explain not just why creativity
is emphasized in entrepreneurial circles but also why creativity should be emphasized. Product developers of
9 Rikke Dam and Teo Siang. “Introduction to the Essential Ideation Techniques Which Are the Heart of Design Thinking.” Interaction Design
Foundation. April 2019. https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/introduction-to-the-essential-ideation-techniques-which-are-the-
heart-of-design-thinking
10 Dawn Kelly and Terry L. Amburgey. “Organizational Inertia and Momentum: A Dynamic Model of Strategic Change.” Academy of
Management Journal 34, no. 3 (1991): 591–612.
11 Ian Fillis and Ruth Rentschler. “The Role of Creativity in Entrepreneurship.” Journal of Enterprising Culture 18, no. 1 (2010): 49–81.
the twenty-first century are expected to do more than simply push products and innovations a step further
down a planned path. Newer generations of entrepreneurs are expected to be path breakers in new products,
services, and processes.
Examples of creativity are all around us. They come in the forms of fine art and writing, or in graffiti and viral
videos, or in new products, services, ideas, and processes. In practice, creativity is incredibly broad. It is all
around us whenever or wherever people strive to solve a problem, large or small, practical or impractical.
Innovation
We previously defined innovation as a change that adds value to an existing product or service. According to
the management thinker and author Peter Drucker, the key point about innovation is that it is a response to
both changes within markets and changes from outside markets. For Drucker, classical entrepreneurship
[12]
psychology highlights the purposeful nature of innovation. Business firms and other organizations can plan
to innovate by applying either lateral or linear thinking methods, or both. In other words, not all innovation is
purely creative. If a firm wishes to innovate a current product, what will likely matter more to that firm is the
success of the innovation rather than the level of creativity involved. Drucker summarized the sources of
innovation into seven categories, as outlined in Table 4.3. Firms and individuals can innovate by seeking out
and developing changes within markets or by focusing on and cultivating creativity. Firms and individuals
[13]
should be on the lookout for opportunities to innovate.
[14]
Drucker’s Seven Sources of Innovation
Source Description
The unexpected Looking for new opportunities in the market; unexpected product performance;
unexpected new products as examples
The incongruity Discrepancies between what you think should be and what is reality
Process need Weaknesses in the organization, product, or service
Changes in New regulations; new technologies

industry/market
Demographics Understanding needs and wants of target markets
Changes in Changes in perceptions of life events and values

perceptions
New knowledge New technologies; advancements in thinking; new research
Table 4.3
One innovation that demonstrates several of Drucker’s sources is the use of cashier kiosks in fast-food
12 P. F. Drucker. Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Practices and Principles. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1986.
13 P. F. Drucker. Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Practices and Principles. (New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1986), 35.
14 P. F. Drucker. Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Practices and Principles. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1986.

restaurants. McDonald’s was one of the first to launch these self-serve kiosks. Historically, the company has
focused on operational efficiencies (doing more/better with less). In response to changes in the market,
changes in demographics, and process need, McDonald’s incorporated self-serve cashier stations into their
stores. These kiosks address the need of younger generations to interact more with technology and gives
[15]
customers faster service in most cases.
Another leading expert on innovation, Tony Ulwick, focuses on understanding how the customer will judge or
evaluate the quality and value of the product. The product development process should be based on the
metrics that customers use to judge products, so that innovation can address those metrics and develop the
best product for meeting customers’ needs when it hits the market. This process is very similar to Drucker’s
contention that innovation comes as a response to changes within and outside of the market. Ulwick insists
[16]
that focusing on the customer should begin early in the development process.
Disruptive innovation is a process that significantly affects the market by making a product or service more
affordable and/or accessible, so that it will be available to a much larger audience. Clay Christensen of Harvard
University coined this term in the 1990s to emphasize the process nature of innovation. For Christensen, the
innovative component is not the actual product or service, but the process that makes that product more
available to a larger population of users. He has since published a good deal on the topic of disruptive
innovation, focusing on small players in a market. Christensen theorizes that a disruptive innovation from a
smaller company can threaten an existing larger business by offering the market new and improved solutions.
The smaller company causes the disruption when it captures some of the market share from the larger
[17] [18]
organization. , One example of a disruptive innovation is Uber and its impact on the taxicab industry.
Uber’s innovative service, which targets customers who might otherwise take a cab, has shaped the industry
as whole by offering an alternative that some deem superior to the typical cab ride.
One key to innovation within a given market space is to look for pain points, particularly in existing products
that fail to work as well as users expect them to. A pain point is a problem that people have with a product or
[19]
service that might be addressed by creating a modified version that solves the problem more efficiently. For
example, you might be interested in whether a local retail store carries a specific item without actually going
there to check. Most retailers now have a feature on their websites that allows you to determine whether the
product (and often how many units) is available at a specific store. This eliminates the need to go to the
location only to find that they are out of your favorite product. Once a pain point is identified in a firm’s own
product or in a competitor’s product, the firm can bring creativity to bear in finding and testing solutions that
sidestep or eliminate the pain, making the innovation marketable. This is one example of an incremental
[20]
innovation, an innovation that modifies an existing product or service.
In contrast, a pioneering innovation is one based on a new technology, a new advancement in the field, and/
[21]
or an advancement in a related field that leads to the development of a new product. Firms offering similar
15 Blake Morgan. “5 Fresh Examples of Customer Service Innovation.” Forbes. July 17, 2017. https://www.forbes.com/sites/blakemorgan/
2017/07/17/5-fresh-examples-of-customer-experience-innovation/#3ae5a46e5c18
16 Tony Ulwick. “Reinventing Innovation for 25 Years.” Strategyn. n.d. https://strategyn.com/tony-
ulwick/?network=g&matchtype=p&keyword=tony%20ulwick&creative=268244402567&device=c&devicemodel=&placement=&position=1t1&campaignid=1394486829&ad
BEiPWHKfd6R6mnW4XCHuhXbX_JhUof76IdXh6joIzlWRoCqJAQAvD_BwE
17 Chris Larson. “Disruptive Innovation Theory: What It Is & 4 Key Concepts.” Harvard Business School. November 15, 2016.
https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/4-keys-to-understanding-clayton-christensens-theory-of-disruptive-innovation
18 Rosamond Hutt. “What Is Disruptive Innovation?” World Economic Forum. June 25, 2016. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/06/what-
is-disruptive-innovation/
19 Lloyd Waldo. “What’s a Pain Point? A Guide for Startups.” StartupYard Seed Accelerator. December 1, 2016. https://startupyard.com/whats-
pain-point/
20 Abdul Ali, Manohar U. Kalwani, and Dan Kovenock. “Selecting Product Development Projects: Pioneering versus Incremental Innovation
Strategies.” Management Science 39, no. 3 (1993): 255–274.
products and services can undertake pioneering innovations, but pioneering the new product requires
opening up new market space and taking major risks.
ENTREPRENEUR IN ACTION
Pioneering Innovation in the Personal Care Industry

In his ninth-grade biology class, Benjamin Stern came up with an idea to change the personal care
industry. He envisioned personal cleaning products (soap, shampoo, etc.) that would contain no harsh
chemicals or sulfates, and would also produce no plastic waste from empty bottles. He developed Nohbo
Drops, single-use personal cleansing products with water-soluble packaging. Stern was able to borrow
money from family and friends, and use some of his college fund to hire a chemist to develop the
product. He then appeared on Shark Tank with his innovation in 2016 and secured the backing of investor
Mark Cuban. Stern assembled a research team to perfect the product and obtained a patent (Figure 4.6).
The products are now available via the company website.
Figure 4.6 This is part of the patent application for Nohbo drops. (credit: modification of “US Patent
US20170014313A1” by Nohbo LLC/Google Patents, Public Domain)
Is a pioneering innovation an invention? A firm makes a pioneering innovation when it creates a product or
service arising from what it has done before. Pokémon GO is a great example of pioneering innovation.
Nintendo was struggling to keep pace with other gaming-related companies. The company, in keeping with its
core business of video games, came up with a new direction for the gaming industry. Pokémon GO is known
[22]
worldwide and is one of the most successful mobile games launched. It takes creativity to explore a new
direction, but not every pioneering innovation creates a distinctly new product or capability for consumers and
21 Abdul Ali. “Pioneering versus Incremental Innovation: Review and Research Propositions.” Journal of Product Innovation Management 11,
no. 1 (1994): 46–61.

clients.
Entrepreneurs in the process of developing an innovation usually examine the current products and services
their firm offers, investigate new technologies and techniques being introduced in the marketplace or in
related marketplaces, watch research and development in universities and in other companies, and pursue
new developments that are likely to fit one of two conditions: an innovation that likely fits an existing market
better than other products or services being offered; or an innovation that fits a market that so far has been
underserved.
An example of an incremental innovation is the trash receptacle you find at fast-food restaurants. For many
years, trash cans in fast-food locations were placed in boxes behind swinging doors. The trash cans did one
job well: They hid the garbage from sight. But they created other problems: Often, the swinging doors would
get ketchup and other waste on them, surely a pain point. Newer trash receptacles in fast-food restaurants
have open fronts or open tops that enable people to dispose of their trash more neatly. The downside for
restaurants is that users can see and possibly smell the food waste, but if the restaurants change the trash
bags frequently, as is a good practice anyway, this innovation works relatively well. You might not think twice
about this everyday example of an innovation when you eat at a fast-food restaurant, but even small
improvements can matter a lot, particularly if the market they serve is vast.
Invention
An invention is a leap in capability beyond innovation. Some inventions combine several innovations into
something new. Invention certainly requires creativity, but it goes beyond coming up with new ideas,
combinations of thought, or variations on a theme. Inventors build. Developing something users and
customers view as an invention could be important to some entrepreneurs, because when a new product or
service is viewed as unique, it can create new markets. True inventiveness is often recognized in the
marketplace, and it can help build a valuable reputation and help establish market position if the company can
[23]
build a future-oriented corporate narrative around the invention.
Besides establishing a new market position, a true invention can have a social and cultural impact. At the social
level, a new invention can influence the ways institutions work. For example, the invention of desktop
computing put accounting and word processing into the hands of nearly every office worker. The ripple effects
spread to the school systems that educate and train the corporate workforce. Not long after the spread of
desktop computing, workers were expected to draft reports, run financial projections, and make appealing
presentations. Specializations or aspects of specialized jobs—such as typist, bookkeeper, corporate
copywriter—became necessary for almost everyone headed for corporate work. Colleges and eventually high
schools saw software training as essential for students of almost all skill levels. These additional capabilities
added profitability and efficiencies, but they also have increased job requirements for the average
professional.
Some of the most successful inventions contain a mix of familiarity and innovation that is difficult to achieve.
With this mix, the rate of adoption can be accelerated because of the familiarity with the concept or certain
aspects of the product or service. As an example, the “videophone” was a concept that began to be explored
as early as the late 1800s. AT&T began extensive work on videophones during the 1920s. However, the
invention was not adopted because of a lack of familiarity with the idea of seeing someone on a screen and
22 JV Chamary. “Why ‘Pokémon GO’ Is the World’s Most Important Game.” Forbes. February 10, 2018. https://www.forbes.com/sites/
jvchamary/2018/02/10/pokemon-go-science-health-benefits/#2b6f07fd3ab0
23 Morten Thanning Vendelø. “Narrating Corporate Reputation: Becoming Legitimate through Storytelling.” International Studies of
Management & Organization 28, no. 3 (1998): 120–137.
communicating back and forth. Other factors included societal norms, size of the machine, and cost. It wasn’t
[24]
until the early 2000s that the invention started to take hold in the marketplace. The concept of a black box is
that activities are performed in a somewhat mysterious and ambiguous manner, with a serendipitous set of
actions connecting that result in a surprisingly beneficial manner. An example is Febreeze, a chemical
combination that binds molecules to eliminate odors. From a black box perspective, the chemical engineers
did not intend to create this product, but as they were working on creating another product, someone noticed
that the product they were working on removed odors, thus inadvertently creating a successful new product
marketed as Febreeze.
W H AT C A N Y O U D O ?
Did Henry Ford Invent the Assembly Line?

Very few products or procedures are actually brand-new ideas. Most new products are alterations or new
applications of existing products, with some type of twist in design, function, portability, or use. Henry
Ford is usually credited with inventing the moving assembly line Figure 4.7(a) in 1913. However, some
800 years before Henry Ford, wooden ships were mass produced in the northern Italian city of Venice in a
system that anticipated the modern assembly line.
Various components (ropes, sails, and so on) were prefabricated in different parts of the Venetian
Arsenal, a huge, complex construction site along one of Venice’s canals. The parts were then delivered to
specific assembly points Figure 4.7(b). After each stage of construction, the ships were floated down the
canal to the next assembly area, where the next sets of workers and parts were waiting. Moving the ships
down the waterway and assembling them in stages increased speed and efficiency to the point that long
before the Industrial Revolution, the Arsenal could produce one fully functional and completely equipped
ship per day. The system was so successful that it was used from the thirteenth century to about 1800.
Henry Ford did not invent anything new—he only applied the 800-year-old process of building wooden
ships by hand along a moving waterway to making metal cars by hand on a moving conveyor
(Figure 4.7).
24 Thomas J. Fitzgerald. “For the Deaf: Communication without the Wait.” The New York Times. December 18, 2003. https://www.nytimes.com/
2003/12/18/technology/for-the-deaf-communication-without-the-wait.html

Figure 4.7 (a) Workers assemble car parts on an early Ford factory assembly line. (b) The Venetian
Arsenal was an early “assembly line” where workers could build a complete ship in a single day. (credit
(a): modification of “Ford assembly line – 1913” by “Hohum”/Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain; credit
(b): modification of “venice-arsenal-italy” by “irenetriches1”/Pixabay, CC0)
Opportunities to bring new products and processes to market are in front of us every day. The key is
having the ability to recognize them and implement them. Likewise, the people you need to help you be
successful may be right in front of you on a regular basis. The key is having the ability to recognize who
they are and making connections to them. Just as those ships and cars moved down an assembly line
until they were ready to be put into service, start thinking about moving down the “who I know” line so
that you will eventually have a successful business in place.
The process of invention is difficult to codify because not all inventions or inventors follow the same path.
Often the path can take multiple directions, involve many people besides the inventor, and encompass many
restarts. Inventors and their teams develop their own processes along with their own products, and the field in
which an inventor works will greatly influence the modes and pace of invention. Elon Musk is famous for
founding four different billion-dollar companies. The development processes for PayPal, Solar City, SpaceX,
and Tesla differed widely; however, Musk does outline a six-step decision-making process (Figure 4.8):
1. Ask a question.
2. Gather as much evidence as possible about it.
3. Develop axioms based on the evidence and try to assign a probability of truth to each one.
4. Draw a conclusion in order to determine: Are these axioms correct, are they relevant, do they necessarily
lead to this conclusion, and with what probability?
5. Attempt to disprove the conclusion. Seek refutation from others to further help break your conclusion.
6. If nobody can invalidate your conclusion, then you’re probably right, but you’re not certainly right.
[25]
In other words, the constant underlying Musk’s decision process is the scientific method. The scientific
method, most often associated with the natural sciences, outlines the process of discovering an answer to a
question or a problem. “The scientific method is a logical organization of steps that scientists use to make
[26]
deductions about the world around us.” The steps in the scientific method line up quite nicely with Musk’s
25 Abby Jackson. “Elon Musk Uses This 6-Step Process to Make Decisions.” Business Insider. November 16, 2017. https://www.inc.com/
business-insider/how-elon-musk-makes-decisions-rolling-stone.html
decision-making process. Applying the scientific method to invention and innovation makes sense. The
scientific method involves becoming aware of a problem, collecting data about it by observing and
experimenting, and coming up with suggestions on how to solve it.
Figure 4.8 Elon Musk’s six-step decision making process follows a sequence of steps similar to the scientific
method. (attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax, under CC BY 4.0 license)
Economists argue that processes of invention can be explained by economic forces. But this hasn’t always
been the case. Prior to 1940, economic theory focused very little on inventions. After World War II, much of the
global economy in the developed world needed to be rebuilt. New technologies were developing rapidly, and
research and development investment increased. Inventors and economists alike became aware of consumer
[27]
demand and realized that demand can influence which inventions take off at a given time. However,
[28]
inventors are always up against an adoption curve.
The Rogers Adoption Curve was popularized through the research and publications of the author and scientist
26 Joan Whetzel. “Formula for Using the Scientific Method.” Owlcation. February 11, 2017. https://owlcation.com/academia/
FormulaForUsingScientificMethod
27 N. Rosenberg. “Science, Invention and Economic Growth.” The Economic Journal 84, no. 333 (1974): 90–108.
28 Everett M. Rogers. Diffusion of Innovations, 5th ed. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2010.

[29]
Everett Rogers. He first used it to describe how agricultural innovations diffused (or failed to) in a society. It
was later applied to all inventions and innovations. This curve illustrates diffusion of an innovation and when
certain people will adopt it. First is the question of who adopts inventions and innovations in society: The main
groups are innovators, early adopters, early and late-majority adopters, and “laggards” (Rogers’s own
[30]
term). The innovators are the ones willing to take a risk on a new product, the consumers who want to try it
first. The early adopters are consumers who will adopt new inventions with little to no information. Majority
adopters will adopt products after being accepted by the majority. And finally, laggards are often not willing to
[31]
readily adopt change and are the hardest to convince to try a new invention.
Rogers’s second way of looking at the concept is from the point of view of the invention itself. A given
population partially or completely adopts an invention or rejects it. If an invention is targeted at the wrong
population or the wrong population segment, this can dramatically inhibit its chances of being adopted widely.
The most critical point of adoption often occurs at the end of the early adoption phase, before the early
majority steps in and truly confirms (or not) the diffusion of an invention. This is called the diffusion chasm
(though this process is usually called the diffusion of innovations, for our purposes, it applies quite well to new
inventions as we define them here).
Figure 4.9 The diffusion curve shows the adoption lifecycle according to the research of Everett Rogers. The
diffusion chasm occurs during early adoption. (attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax, under CC BY
4.0 license)
The diffusion curve depicts a social process in which the value of an invention is perceived (or not) to be worth
the cost (Figure 4.9). Early adopters generally pay more than those who wait, but if the invention gives them a
perceived practical, social, or cultural advantage, members of the population, the popularity of the invention
itself, and marketing can all drive the invention over the diffusion chasm. Once the early majority adopts an
29 John-Pierre Maeli. “The Rogers Adoption Curve & How You Spread New Ideas Throughout Culture.” The Political Informer. May 6, 2016.
https://medium.com/the-political-informer/the-rogers-adoption-curve-how-you-spread-new-ideas-throughout-culture-d848462fcd24
30 Everett M. Rogers. Diffusion of Innovations, 5th ed. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2010.
31 Wayne W. LaMorte. “Diffusion of Innovation Theory.” September 9, 2019. http://sphweb.bumc.bu.edu/otlt/MPH-Modules/SB/
BehavioralChangeTheories/BehavioralChangeTheories4.html
innovation (in very large numbers), we can expect the rest of the majority to adopt it. By the time the late
majority and the laggards adopt an innovation, the novelty has worn off, but the practical benefits of the
innovation can still be felt.
Inventors are constantly trying to cross the diffusion chasm, often with many products at a time. Crossing the
diffusion chasm is a nearly constant concern for business-focused or outcomes-focused inventors. Inventors
put many of their resources into an invention during the innovation and early adoption stages. Inventions may
not turn a profit for investors or the inventors themselves until they are well into the early majority stage of
adoption. Some inventors are pleased to work toward general discovery, but most in today’s social and
cultural context are working to develop products and services for markets.
One shortcoming of the diffusion of innovations model is that it treats inventions and innovations as though
they are finished and complete, though many are not. Not all inventions are finished products ready for
market. Iterative development is more common, particularly in fields with high levels of complexity and in
service-oriented ventures. In the iterative development process, inventors and innovators continuously
engage with potential customers in order to develop their products and their consumer bases at the same
[32]
time. This model of business learning, also known as the science of customer development, is essential.
Business learning involves testing product-market fit and making changes to an innovation or invention many
times over until either investment funding runs out or the product succeeds. Perhaps the most accurate way
to summarize this process is to note that many inventions are hit-or-miss prospects that get only a few
chances to cross the diffusion chasm. When innovators follow the build-measure-learn model (discussed in
detail in Launch for Growth to Success), they try to work their way across the diffusion chasm rather than
making a leap of faith.
WORK IT OUT
Razors
The safety razor was an innovation over the straight razor. Safety razor blades are small enough to fit
inside a capsule, and the location and type of handle was altered to suit the new orientation of handle to
blade (Figure 4.10). Most contemporary razors are themselves innovations on the safety razor, whether
they have two, three, four, or more blades. The method of changing razor blades has evolved with each
innovation on the safety razor, but the designs are functionally similar.
The electric razor is a related invention. It still uses blades to shave hair off the face or body, but the
blades are hidden beneath a foil or foils. Hairs poke through the foils when the razor is pressed against
the skin, and blades moving in various directions cut the hairs. Although electric razors use blades as do
mechanical razors, the new design and the added technology qualified the electric razor as an invention
that offered something new in the shaving industry when Jacob Schick won the patent for a shaving
[33]
machine in 1930. Still other innovations in the shaving genre include gender-specific razors, beard
trimmers, and, more recently, online clubs such as Dollar Shave Club and Harry’s Shave Club.
32 Eric Ries. The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses. Largo, Maryland:
Crown Books, 2011.
33 “Jacob Schick Invents the Electric Razor.” Connecticut History. May 13, 2017. https://connecticuthistory.org/jacob-schick-invents-the-electric-
razor/

Figure 4.10 (a) The straight razor is still in use, but there are newer innovations that are more popular.
(b) The safety razor is an innovation over the straight razor. (c) The electric razor is an innovation related
to the safety razor. (credit (a): modification of “barber-beard-razor-shaving” by “jackmac34”/Pixabay,
CC0; credit (b): modification of “Safety Razor vs Cartridge Razor” by “Tools of Men”/Creative Commons,
CC BY 2.0; credit (c): modification of “Philips 8290 shaver unboxing” by “renaissancechambara”/Creative
Commons, CC BY 2.0)
Think about the conceptual difference between innovation and invention. Is the safety razor a pioneering
innovation or an incremental one? What makes the electric razor an invention, as we define it here? What
makes it stand out as a leap from previous types of razors? Do you think the electric razor is a “sure
thing”? Why or why not? Consider the availability of electricity at the time the first electric razors were
being made. Why do you think the electric razor made it over the diffusion chasm between early
adopters and early majority adopters? Do you think the electric razor was invented iteratively with small
changes to the same product in response to customer preferences? Or did it develop in a series of black
box inventions, with each one either diffusing or not?

Learning Objectives
• Describe and apply the five stages of creativity

• Discuss innovation as a system for problem solving and much more
• Outline the sequence of steps in developing an invention
The previous section defined creativity, innovation, and invention, and provided examples. You might think of
creativity as raw; innovation as transforming creativity into a functional purpose, often meant to eradicate a
pain point or to fulfill a need; and invention as a creation that leaves a lasting impact. In this section, you will
learn about processes designed to help you apply knowledge from the previous section.
The Creative Process: The Five Stages of Creativity

Raw creativity and an affinity for lateral thinking may be innate, but creative people must refine these skills in
order to become masters in their respective fields. They practice in order to apply their skills readily and
consistently, and to integrate them with other thought processes and emotions. Anyone can improve in
creative efforts with practice. For our purposes, practice is a model for applied creativity that is derived from
[34]
an entrepreneurial approach (Figure 4.11). It requires:
1. Preparation
2. Incubation
3. Insight
4. Evaluation
5. Elaboration
[35]
Figure 4.11 These are the five stages of creativity, according to Graham Wallas in The Art of Thought.
(attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax, under CC BY 4.0 license)
Preparation
Preparation involves investigating a chosen field of interest, opening your mind, and becoming immersed in
materials, mindset, and meaning. If you have ever tried to produce something creative without first absorbing
relevant information and observing skilled practitioners at work, then you understand how difficult it is. This
base of knowledge and experience mixed with an ability to integrate new thoughts and practices can help you
sift through the ideas quicker. However, relying too heavily on prior knowledge can restrict the creative
process. When you immerse yourself in a creative practice, you make use of the products or the materials of
others’ creativity. For example, a video-game designer plays different types of video games on different
consoles, computers, and online in networks. She or he may play alone, with friends in collaboration, or in
competition. Consuming the products in a field gives you a sense of what is possible and indicates boundaries
that you may attempt to push with your own creative work. Preparation broadens your mind and lets you
study the products, practice, and culture in a field. It is also a time for goal setting. Whether your chosen field
is directly related to art and design, such as publishing, or involves human-centric design, which includes all
sorts of software and product design efforts, you need a period of open-minded reception to ideas. Repetitive
practice is also part of the preparation stage, so that you can understand the current field of production and
become aware of best practices, whether or not you are currently capable of matching them. During the
preparation stage, you can begin to see how other creative people put meaning into their products, and you
can establish benchmarks against which to measure your own creative work.
Incubation
Incubation refers to giving yourself, and your subconscious mind in particular, time to incorporate what you
learned and practiced in the preparation stage. Incubation involves the absence of practice. It may look to an
outsider as though you are at rest, but your mind is at work. A change of environment is key to incubating
[36]
ideas. A new environment allows you to receive stimuli other than those directly associated with the creative
problem you are working on. It could be as simple as taking a walk or going to a new coffee shop to allow your
34 Aleza D’Agostino. “5 Stages of the Creative Process with James Taylor.” CreativeLive. December 28, 2015. https://www.creativelive.com/
blog/5-stages-of-the-creative-process-with-james-taylor/
35 Eugene Sadler-Smith. “Wallas’ Four-Stage Model of the Creative Process: More Than Meets the Eye?” Creativity Research Journal 27, no. 4
(2015): 342–352.
(2015): 342–352.

mind to wander and take in the information you gathered in the previous stage. Mozart stated, “When I am, as
it were, completely myself, entirely alone, and of good cheer—say, traveling in a carriage, or walking after a
good meal, or during the night when I cannot sleep; it is on such occasions that my ideas flow best and most
[37]
abundantly.” Incubation allows your mind to integrate your creative problem with your stored memories
and with other thoughts or emotions you might have. This simply is not possible to do when you are
consciously fixated on the creative problem and related tasks and practice.
Incubation can take a short or a long time, and you can perform other activities while allowing this process to
take place. One theory about incubation is that it takes language out of the thought process. If you are not
working to apply words to your creative problems and interests, you can free your mind to make associations
[38]
that go deeper, so to speak, than language. Patiently waiting for incubation to work is quite difficult. Many
creative and innovative people develop hobbies involving physical activity to keep their minds busy while they
allow ideas to incubate.
Insight
Insight or “illumination” is a term for the “aha!” moment—when the solution to a creative problem suddenly
becomes readily accessible to your conscious mind. The “aha!” moment has been observed in literature, in
[39]
history, and in cognitive studies of creativity. Insights may come all at once or in increments. They are not
easily understood because, by their very nature, they are difficult to isolate in research and experimental
settings. For the creative entrepreneur, however, insights are a delight. An insight is the fleeting time when
your preparation, practice, and period of incubation coalesce into a stroke of genius. Whether the illumination
is the solution to a seemingly impossible problem or the creation of a particularly clever melody or turn of
phrase, creative people often consider it a highlight in their lives. For an entrepreneur, an insight holds the
promise of success and the potential to help massive numbers of people overcome a pain point or problem.
Not every insight will have a global impact, but coming up with a solution that your subconscious mind has
been working on for some time is a real joy.
Evaluation
Evaluation is the purposeful examination of ideas. You will want to compare your insights with the products
and ideas you encountered during preparation. You also will want to compare your ideas and product
prototypes to the goals you set out for yourself during the preparation phase. Creative professionals will often
invite others to critique their work at this stage. Because evaluation is specific to the expectations, best
practices, and existing product leaders in each field, evaluation can take on many forms. You are looking for
assurance that your standards for evaluation are appropriate. Judge yourself fairly, even as you apply strict
criteria and the well-developed sense of taste you acquired during the preparation phase. For example, you
might choose to interview a few customers in your target demographics for your product or service. The
primary objective is to understand the customer perspective and the extent to which your idea aligns with
their position.
Elaboration
The last stage in the creative process is elaboration, that is, actual production. Elaboration can involve the
37 Neal Zaslaw, “Mozart As a Working Stiff,” in James M. Morris, ed., On Mozart (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994), 109.
38 Steven M. Smith, Thomas B. Ward, and Ronald A. Finke, eds., The Creative Cognition Approach. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1995.
(2015): 342–352.
release of a minimum viable product (MVP). This version of your invention may not be polished or complete,
but it should function well enough that you can begin to market it while still elaborating on it in an iterative
development process. Elaboration also can involve the development and launch of a prototype, the release of
a software beta, or the production of some piece of artistic work for sale. Many consumer-product companies,
such as Johnson & Johnson or Procter & Gamble, will establish a small test market to garner feedback and
evaluations of new products from actual customers. These insights can give the company valuable information
that can help make the product or service as successful as possible.
At this stage what matters most in the entrepreneurial creative process is that the work becomes available to
the public so that they have a chance to adopt it.
LINK TO LEARNING
Test marketing can reveal much information about the potential users of a product. Visit the Drive
Research site on test markets (https://openstax.org/l/52TestMarkets) for more information.
Innovation as More than Problem Solving

Innovative entrepreneurs are essentially problem solvers, but this level of innovation—identifying a pain point
and working to overcome it—is only one in a series of innovative steps. In the influential business publication
[40]
Forbes, the entrepreneur Larry Myler notes that problem solving is inherently reactive. That is, you have to
wait for a problem to happen in order to recognize the need to solve the problem. Solving problems is an
important part of the practice of innovation, but to elevate the practice and the field, innovators should
anticipate problems and strive to prevent them. In many cases, they create systems for continuous
improvement, which Myler notes may involve “breaking” previous systems that seem to function perfectly
well. Striving for continuous improvement helps innovators stay ahead of market changes. Thus, they have
products ready for emerging markets, rather than developing projects that chase change, which can occur
constantly in some tech-driven fields. One issue with building a system for constant improvement is that you
are in essence creating problems in order to solve them, which goes against established culture in many firms.
Innovators look for organizations that can handle purposeful innovation, or they attempt to start them. Some
innovators even have the goal of innovating far ahead into the future, beyond current capacities. In order to
do this, Myler suggests bringing people of disparate experiential backgrounds with different expertise
together. These relationships are not guarantees of successful innovation, but such groups can generate ideas
independent of institutional inertia. Thus, innovators are problem solvers but also can work with forms of
problem creation and problem imagination. They tackle problems that have yet to exist in order to solve them
ahead of time.
Let’s examine one multilevel approach to innovation (Figure 4.12). The base is problem solving. The next level
up in the pyramid, so to speak, is prevention. The next level is working toward continuous improvement, and
at the top of such efforts is creating the capacity to direct the future of your industry or multiple industries so
40 Larry Myler. “Innovation Is Problem Solving . . . And a Whole Lot More.” Forbes. June 13, 2014. https://www.forbes.com/sites/larrymyler/
2014/06/13/innovation-is-problem-solving-and-a-whole-lot-more/#3f11abe533b9

that you can weather disruption in your career or even to create it.
Figure 4.12 The innovation pyramid is one multileveled approach to innovation. (attribution: Copyright Rice
University, OpenStax, under CC BY 4.0 license)
Even if you are not interested in shaping the future of whole industry sectors, developing future-focused
innovation practices still is a good idea. It will help you prepare for disruption. The pace of technological
change is such that workers at all levels need to be prepared to innovate. Innovation leaders, such as the
marketing guru Guy Kawasaki, have built on psychological principles to suggest new ways to approach
innovation. According to Kawasaki, innovative products include five key qualities: deep, indulgent, complete,
[41]
elegant, and emotive—DICEE (Figure 4.13). You can strive to infuse individual innovations with these
qualities in practical ways.
Figure 4.13 Innovative products are deep, indulgent, complete, elegant, and emotive. (attribution: Copyright
Rice University, OpenStax, under CC BY 4.0 license)
Deep
Deep products are based on the logic of innovation that we’ve just established and anticipate users’ needs
before they have them. These types of innovations often have masterful designs that are intuitive for new
41 Guy Kawasaki. “Guy’s Golden Touch.” Guy Kawasaki. January 3, 2006. https://guykawasaki.com/guys_golden_tou/
users while still being capable of completing complex tasks. Adobe is an innovative corporation working in
several fields, such as software, marketing, and artificial intelligence. Adobe often creates software
applications with basic functions that are easily accessible to new users but that also enable experienced users
[42]
to innovate on their own. Creating a platform for innovation is a hallmark of deep, forward-thinking
innovation.
Indulgent
Innovations with lasting power engage users in ways that make them feel special for having purchased the
product or for having found the service. Indulgence refers to a depth of quality that does not come from being
the fastest solution to a problem. Indulgence may even sound like a negative trait. In humans, it certainly can
be, but for someone using an innovative product, feeling indulgent can relate to a richness of experience with
the user interface (UI). The UI of a product, particularly a software product, is what the user sees and
interacts with. A feeling of indulgence imbues your product with a sense of value and durability that reassures
users and encourages them to use your product confidently.
Complete
Kawasaki’s vision of a complete product includes the services wrapped around it and underlying it such that
users understand the product well enough to be comfortable using it. Information about how it works and
how it is meant to work is readily available. Thus, product innovation must include marketing and other
[43]
communication efforts. For Kawasaki, this builds the “total user experience.” If you truly have solved a
problem in the marketplace, users will understand what that problem is and how your product and related
services deliver.
Elegant
Elegance also is part of a product’s UI. It refers to intuitive design that immediately makes sense to consumers.
Elegance conveys more information with fewer words. Elegant design is not afraid of negative space or of the
occasional pause. Elegant innovations solve problems without creating new ones. For Kawasaki, elegance is
the difference between a pragmatic, good innovation and something great.
Emotive
Emotive innovations evoke the intended emotion and demand to be admired and shared. In other words, truly
great innovations create fandoms, not just consumer bases. You can’t force people to love your product, but
you can give them experiences that create a sense of excitement and anticipation of what you might come up
with next.
Developing an Invention
The general process of inventing involves systematic and practical steps that might include linear and
nonlinear thinking. You might think that only people with innate artistic skills are creative and that only
geniuses become innovators and inventors, but much of creativity is driven by being immersed in a practice.
You can build and foster your own creativity. Your idea of an inventor might be someone like Johannes
42 Adobe Communications Team. “Adobe Named One of Fast Company’s ‘Most Innovative Companies’ for AI.” Adobe Blog. February 20, 2018.
https://theblog.adobe.com/adobe-named-one-fast-companys-innovative-companies-ai/
43 Guy Kawasaki. “Guy’s Golden Touch.” Guy Kawasaki. January 3, 2006. https://guykawasaki.com/guys_golden_tou/

Gutenberg, who developed the printing press. The spread of printing ultimately redrew the map of Europe and
resulted in the foundation of new centers of learning. Gutenberg’s supposed spark actually was more of a
slow burn. He was creative and innovative—one of history’s most famous inventors—but his printing press,
like all other inventions, was a synthesis of existing technologies. Gutenberg’s most important innovation was
his use of moveable, interchangeable metal type instead of entire hand-carved wooden blocks of text
[44]
(Figure 4.14). Perfecting his printing process took decades and left him all but broke. The notion of the
inventor’s single stroke of genius is mostly myth. The people that history remembers usually worked very hard
to develop their creativity, to become familiar with the processes and tools that were ripe for innovation in
their time, and ultimately to make something so unique that society recognizes it as an invention.
Figure 4.14 Gutenberg’s invention of movable type was an important innovation in printing. (credit (a):
modification of “Printer in 1568-ce” by “Parhamr”/Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain; credit (b):
modification of “Metal movable type” by Willi Heidelbach/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.5)
The old adage claims that “necessity is the mother of invention,” but an innovator needs experience in a field,
creative effort, and knowledge to be a successful inventor. Entrepreneurship means taking your efforts and
knowledge, and finding a market where your invention can first survive, then thrive.
One model for developing an invention is the first five steps of a plan adapted from Sourcify.com, which
[45]
specializes in connecting product developers with manufacturers. This process is succinct and includes
suggestions for building a team along the way (Figure 4.15).
44 John Man. The Gutenberg Revolution. New York: Random House, 2010.
45 Natalie Peters. “9 Key Steps to Bring Your Invention to Life.” Sourcify. December 11, 2017. https://www.sourcify.com/bring-your-invention-
to-life/
Figure 4.15 These are the five steps for developing an invention, according to Sourcify. (attribution:
Copyright Rice University, OpenStax, under CC BY 4.0 license)
Step 1: Educate Yourself

Before your inventive product can do battle with other inventions, you will need to educate yourself. To
prepare yourself to weather the competition, you need to learn as much as you can about the current
investing climate, current product development opportunities, and current leadership approaches. Even if you
are not deeply interested in leadership dogma, it helps to know what the current trends are in leadership and
product development. To succeed as an inventor in a vast marketplace, you need to understand the rules,
written and unwritten, of the industry and competitive landscape. The product development process can be
quite involved. The process can vary by industry and by availability of resources.
Part of educating yourself is also gaining an understanding of your own strengths and weaknesses, and how
those relate to your leadership style. A leadership style inventory can help you better understand your
approach to leading others. This is just one example of many that exist to give you a starting point. As the
inventor of your product or service, you will manage/lead others as you attempt to make your idea a reality.
Also, the environment can constantly change. For this reason, it is important to understand the basic tenets of
leadership and management in a dynamic work atmosphere. Many sources will give you insights into the
challenges of management.
LINK TO LEARNING
A leadership style inventory (https://openstax.org/l/52LeadStyleQuiz) can help you understand your

leadership style and how to adapt your own style to other situations and people.
Another key step in educating yourself is to find out which kinds of contributors you are going to need to build
a successful entrepreneurial team. Building a team is essential to making your invention a reality. Even those
who invent alone—and they are quite rare—must have a development team, a manufacturing and/or service
team, a marketing team, and other members with specific skill sets such as coders, graphic designers, test
marketers, and more.
Step 2: Stay Organized

Most tip sheets for inventors suggest that you find a method for organizing your creativity so that you don’t
spend time trying to remember previous ideas, plans, and decisions. You must organize information related to
your business idea, your business plan, and your potential teammates in the process.
Contact management software has been popular for decades. Nowadays, you can investigate many other
productivity and team-chat tools. Research ways to organize information about the people you plan to work

with and hope to work for. The team-chat program Slack (www.slack.com) enables you to create specific topics
for team members to discuss and collaborate on. Slack offers several features to help keep employees
connected. Insightly (www.insightly.com) is a customer relationship management tool to stay better
connected to your customers. Ryver and Glip incorporate task management. Flock and Microsoft Teams offer a
host of features, with Microsoft leveraging its corporate position to bring about deployment in more than
200,000 organizations. Select the tool set that works best for you and consider paying for the software that
[46]
offers the precise team communication functionality and utility you need.
Step 3: Conduct Market Research

Market research is an obvious must, but many entrepreneurs fail to go as deeply as they should in researching
their competition. You must be aware of current and future competitors so that you are prepared to compete
in the marketplace when you are actually ready. Being the best on paper now won’t be much use when you
enter the marketplace with an MVP in six to eight months in competition with competitors’ new products and
updates.
What should you consider with regard to team development when you’re looking at the competition? Within
the legal limits of any noncompete clauses, you should be shopping the competition for potential team
members. The best leaders are always seeking talented people. If you sense that someone would be a good fit
for your team, that they have not only the skill set but also the temperament that would help put your
invention in the market, do not be afraid to reach out to them. How you reach out is something you must
research for each industry. In some industries, you will have to be highly secretive. Part of market research is
understanding the market well enough to understand the soft skills you need to find contributors who are
already working in the industry or in an adjacent one
Step 4: Conduct Patent Research

If you expect to apply for a patent, take the time to read up on policies and procedures. Officials in the US
Patent Office, or in similar bureaus in other countries, decide whether an invention is worthy of receiving a
patent. A patentable invention must meet the criteria of being novel, useful, and nonobvious; it must be
[47]
proven to be workable. Those three standards—novel, useful, and nonobvious—are subjective. So is the
concept of invention, but conceptualizing invention this way sets a high bar for entrepreneurs who truly wish
to make a social impact. Developing an invention that is patentable also creates a barrier against competition,
which can make the difference between business success and failure. There are two types of patents. Utility
patents last twenty years, and design patents usually last fourteen years. If a patent is granted, the inventor
has a window of time in which to secure further funding, work to produce the product, and try to gain mass-
[48]
market adoption. After all is said and done, you can apply your creativity to social innovations, product
innovations, or service innovations. If you can combine enough innovations, add your unique creativity, and
create something that survives the diffusion chasm, you can truly invent something new.
[49]
The patent basics page of the US Patent and Trademark Office’s website is roughly forty pages long. The
[50]
utility patent process includes a thirteen-step flow chart that outlines the process. The patent office
46 Aleksey Chepalov. “9 Slack Competitors in 2019: What Team Chat Tools Are Leading the Way?” Chanty. March 18, 2019.
https://www.chanty.com/blog/slack-competitors/
47 “Patent Subject Matter Eligibility.” United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). n.d. https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/
mpep/s2106.html
48 “How Long Does Patent, Trademark, or Copyright Protection Last?” Intellectual Property Rights Information and Assistance. July 7, 2016.
https://www.stopfakes.gov/article?id=How-Long-Does-Patent-Trademark-or-Copyright-Protection-Last
49 “General Information Concerning Patents.” United States Patent and Trademark Office. October 2015. https://www.uspto.gov/patents-
getting-started/general-information-concerning-patents
encourages you to use a registered patent attorney or agent. If you are skilled and diligent enough to secure a
patent, you should expect to pay fees and file paperwork to maintain it for years after it is granted. We’ve
already discussed the keys to securing a patent, but to reiterate, here is how an invention is defined in US
patent law: “In the language of the statute, any person who ‘invents or discovers any new and useful process,
machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a
[51]
patent,’ subject to the conditions and requirements of the law.”
When building a team to make your invention a reality, finding a patent lawyer or agent is key. Even those who
have advocated for hiring patent attorneys in the past now suggest that hiring a patent agent might work.
What’s the difference? Patent attorneys often bill by the hour, but they offer a full suite of legal advice. As the
author Stephen Key indicates, patent agents are narrowly focused on helping you get and defend your
[52]
patent. The other limitation that Key mentions is that patent agents may write a patent application in such a
way that you are less prepared to protect your invention against future legal challenges. Key quotes Gene
Quinn, a leading attorney on intellectual property and patent law: “By the time you realize that you are sitting
on a million-dollar invention it will be too late to do anything about it.…Patent agents as a general rule tend to
be very good at describing what it is that you as an inventor show up with.” What they tend to be much less
good at is describing what your invention could be. They also frequently will use terms that are more concrete
and limiting than would a patent attorney. Attorneys are taught the art of being hyper-specific, which is
[53]
necessary at times, but also the art of being anything but specific.” Patents cannot be vague, but they can
be written with just the right amount of specificity to protect against similar products that may arise and
threaten your market share.
Step 5: Develop a Prototype

Developing a prototype can be the most fun or the most tedious part of inventing. Much of your attitude
toward developing a prototype depends on available resources, technology, and expertise. In this text, we
reference the concept of the lean startup from time to time. In the lean startup model, the prototype is most
often an MVP. As we saw earlier, an MVP is a version of your invention that may not be polished or complete in
terms of how you envisioned it, but it functions well enough and looks good enough that you can begin to
market it with reasonable hopes that it will be adopted. For other inventions, you may need to build a more
advanced prototype. This requires serious investment capital, but the payoff is that users will interact with a
version of the product that looks and functions more like what you had in mind during your ideation phase. As
an inventor, you are responsible for establishing quality control minimums for your product. You may have to
compromise on your vision, but you should not compromise on basic functionality or basic levels of quality in
materials.
You have many options at the prototype development stage. You can build the prototype yourself or with a
small team. You can partner with design/invention firms that specialize in helping inventors create, but you
must be very careful and involve your legal representation when working with such firms to be sure that you
maintain the patents and other rights to your invention. Many inventors have partnered with such firms only
to see their intellectual property stolen. Another option is to get funding for your invention on Kickstarter or
some other crowdfunding site, but again you must beware that establishing such a campaign puts your idea in
50 “Process for Obtaining a Utility Patent.” United States Patent and Trademark Office. n.d. https://www.uspto.gov/patents-getting-started/
patent-basics/types-patent-applications/utility-patent/process-obtaining
51 “What Can Be Patented” in “General Information Concerning Patents.” United States Patent and Trademark Office. October 2015.
https://www.uspto.gov/patents-getting-started/general-information-concerning-patents#heading-4
52 Stephen Key. “Should You Hire a Patent Agent Instead of a Patent Attorney?” Inc. October 26, 2016. https://www.inc.com/stephen-key/
should-you-hire-a-patent-agent-instead-of-a-patent-attorney.html
53 “Gene Quinn.” IP Watchdog. n.d. https://www.ipwatchdog.com/people/gene-quinn-3/

the public sphere. “Copycatters are monitoring crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter and watching for
[54]
trendy products to go viral,” according to Amedeo Ferraro, an intellectual property attorney. Competing
companies, particularly in foreign markets, actively scout Kickstarter and similar platforms for new ideas that
they can manufacture and bring to market before your crowdfunding project has run its course. Perhaps most
chilling is this comment regarding legal protections that do not function, even when inventors take
precautions to protect their intellectual property when working with some Chinese firms: “But even with these
protections, there’s no guarantee that you can stop someone from copycatting your product. [One U.S.
intellectual property lawyer] said that the problem lies not in China’s courts but enforcing rulings. Winning a
case against one factory is relatively easy. But suing every factory and winning is expensive and time
[55]
consuming.” For this reason, some inventors prefer to start small and local, if possible. It can be better for
them to start with a trusted team striving for a small profit and a good market position than to see the market
flooded with copycat products.
54 Jennifer Schlesinger, Andrea Day, Bianca Fortis, Eunice Yoon, and Lilian Wu. “How One Entrepreneur’s American Dream Turned into a
Copycat Nightmare.” CNBC. April 30, 2019. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/30/how-one-entrepreneurs-american-dream-turned-into-a-copycat-
nightmare.html
55 Josh Horwitz. “Your Brilliant Kickstarter Idea Could Be on Sale in China before You’ve Even Finished Funding It.” Quartz. October 17, 2016.
https://qz.com/771727/chinas-factories-in-shenzhen-can-copy-products-at-breakneck-speed-and-its-time-for-the-rest-of-the-world-to-get-over-
it/
Key Terms
brainstorming generation of ideas in an environment free of judgment or dissension with the goal of
creating solutions
creativity development of original ideas
design thinking method to focus the design and development decisions of a product on the needs of the
customer, typically involving an empathy-driven process to define complex problems and create solutions
that address those problems
diffusion chasm most critical point of adoption, which often occurs at the end of the early adoption phase,
before the early majority steps in and truly confirms (or not) the diffusion of an invention
disruptive innovation process that significantly impacts the market by making a product or service more
affordable and/or accessible often by smaller companies in an industry
empathy human ability to feel what other humans are feeling, which in the context of creativity, innovation,
and invention is essential to beginning a process of human-centric design
ideation purposeful process of opening up one’s mind to new trains of thought that branch out in many
directions from a stated purpose or problem
incremental innovation innovation that modifies an existing product or service
innovation new idea, process, or product, or a change to an existing product or process
invention truly novel product, service, or process that, though based on ideas and products that have come
before, represents a leap, a creation truly novel and different
iterative development process in which inventors and innovators continuously engage with potential
customers in order to develop their products and their consumer bases at the same time
lateral thinking free and open thinking in which established patterns of logical thought are purposefully
ignored or even challenged
linear thinking logical, step-by-step process
minimum viable product (MVP) early version or prototype of a product that may not be polished or
complete but that functions well enough that you can begin to market it or test it with potential users
open innovation searching for and finding solutions outside of the organizational structure
pain point problem that people have with a product or service that might be addressed by creating a
modified version that solves the problem
pioneering innovation one based on a new technology, a new advancement in the field, and/or an
advancement in a related field that leads to the development of a new product
scientific method most often associated with the natural sciences, outlines the process to discover an
answer to a question or a problem
user interface what the user sees and interacts with
Summary
There are many practical approaches to being creative and developing innovations. Many programs and
models encourage creative thinking. Some of the best encourage entrepreneurs to think like the stakeholders
they hope their products and services will help. Human-centered design begins with empathizing with the
people experiencing a problem or pain point. It continues through steps meant to clearly define problems and
examine solutions through careful testing. Returning to empathy is essential in the human-centric design
protocol. The Six Thinking Hats method of ideation can open up deep avenues of creative thought directed at

solving problems by limiting the roles individuals in a group play. This reinforces the idea that creative thinking
is a practice, that it can be guided, and that sometimes a combination of open thinking and rule following is
ideal for collaborative creativity. The statement starter method of creative thinking frames every problem as
though there must be a solution. This type of open thinking is an effective way to begin a creative journey that
can lead to innovation and invention of products or services for social benefit.

Creativity is defined as the ability to develop something original, particularly an idea or an artistic
representation of an idea. Innovation occurs when an individual or a firm applies something new to an existing
product or service that adds value. Innovation can be planned or spontaneous, incremental or pioneering.
Some pioneering innovations rise to the level of being unique inventions—truly novel products, services, or
processes that, though based on ideas and products that have come before, represent a leap.
The diffusion curve is related to iterative innovations versus black box innovations. Innovators and inventors
conduct the iterative innovation process by engaging with potential consumers on a near-continuous basis in
order to develop the product and the consumer base at the same time, thus bridging the diffusion chasm.
Black box innovations either jump the chasm or not, depending on the social perceptions through which they
are perceived by potential users, the quality of the product itself, and marketing strategies.

Whether an entrepreneur has innate creativity or not, practice can help improve creative efforts. One practice
model includes preparation, incubation, insight, evaluation, and elaboration. Entrepreneurs can use their
creativity to solve problems and innovate. However, innovators strive to anticipate and prevent problems,
rather than react to them. The innovation pyramid begins with problem solving at the base, moving up to
prevention, then continuous improvement, and finally directing the future of an industry. Innovative products
are DICEE: They are deep, indulgent, complete, elegant, and emotive.
Building and fostering your own creativity often involves linear and nonlinear thinking. Models are available
that help develop inventions, such as Sourcify.com’s five steps: Educate yourself, stay organized, conduct
market research, conduct patent research, and develop a prototype. This model has guidelines for working
with teams as well. These models allow you to apply your knowledge of creativity, innovation, and invention in
an entrepreneurial context. Seek inspiration from inventors who have come before and learn from the modes
of thought and models of practice that guide inventors today.
Review Questions
1. The question “How might we find a way to make use of DVDs and other physical media as users adopt
streaming services for films and television over time?” is an example of which form of ideation?
A. statement starter
B. open innovation
C. design thinking
D. brainstorming

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4

Creativity, Innovation, and Invention

4.1 Tools for Creativity and Innovation

• Describe popular, well-supported, creative problem-solving methods

Creative Problem-Solving Methods

This OpenStax book is available for free at https://cnx.org/content/col29104/1.9

2 Stanford d.school. https://dschool.stanford.edu/

Watch this video on human-centered design (https://openstax.org/l/52HumnCntDesign) for more

This OpenStax book is available for free at https://cnx.org/content/col29104/1.9

Matching Innovation Methods to Circumstances

4 “Six Thinking Hats.” The de Bono Group. n.d. http://www.debonogroup.com/six_thinking_hats.php

Examples of Disruptive Technology

Company Disruptive technology

Amazon Speed based delivery

Uber and Lyft Ride sharing versus taxi driving

Bitcoin Digital currency not connected to a specific country or monetary standard

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Staying on Top of Emerging Practices

4.2 Creativity, Innovation, and Invention: How They Differ

• Distinguish between creativity, innovation, and invention

Creativity, Innovation, and Invention

Innovation change that adds value to an existing product or service

Creativity, Innovation, and Invention

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Process need Weaknesses in the organization, product, or service

Changes in New regulations; new technologies

Demographics Understanding needs and wants of target markets

Changes in Changes in perceptions of life events and values

New knowledge New technologies; advancements in thinking; new research

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Pioneering Innovation in the Personal Care Industry

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Did Henry Ford Invent the Assembly Line?

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This OpenStax book is available for free at https://cnx.org/content/col29104/1.9

This OpenStax book is available for free at https://cnx.org/content/col29104/1.9

4.3 Developing Ideas, Innovations, and Inventions

• Describe and apply the five stages of creativity

The Creative Process: The Five Stages of Creativity

This OpenStax book is available for free at https://cnx.org/content/col29104/1.9

Innovation as More than Problem Solving

This OpenStax book is available for free at https://cnx.org/content/col29104/1.9

This OpenStax book is available for free at https://cnx.org/content/col29104/1.9

Step 1: Educate Yourself

A leadership style inventory (https://openstax.org/l/52LeadStyleQuiz) can help you understand your

Step 2: Stay Organized

This OpenStax book is available for free at https://cnx.org/content/col29104/1.9

Step 3: Conduct Market Research

Step 4: Conduct Patent Research

Step 5: Develop a Prototype

This OpenStax book is available for free at https://cnx.org/content/col29104/1.9

This OpenStax book is available for free at https://cnx.org/content/col29104/1.9

4.2 Creativity, Innovation, and Invention: How They Differ

4.3 Developing Ideas, Innovations, and Inventions

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