i.SEE ?
We are a group of 5 like minded individuals with a particular purpose, to explore and understand the concept of creativity and innovation through observation, research, and experience. We are known as “i.SEE” which originates from the idea of vision and revelation, 'Vision' refers to our perception of the world around us through our senses, and 'revelation' is how we interpret the perceptions in our mind to create “creative ideas”. The letters in our group name describes our motivation behind this blog, which is to “Inspire, Stimulate, Explore and educate”. Our purpose is to research, develop and explore the idea of creativity and innovation in a way that it will draw ideologies from all departments (e.g. Psychology, science, business, statistics, sociology, religion, culture etc)
Who are we?
Steven Ngov
Steven Ngov was born in 1987 as a New Zealand born Chinese, and his family was originally from Guangzhou of China. His spoken language is English, Cantonese and Mandarin. He is currently undertaking his final year of his Bachelors degree from Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand and is currently on an international exchange at City University of Hong Kong majoring in Management and International Business. His interest in creativity and innovation is mainly due to his previous experiences in design and art, this is why he decided to pursue a career which involves this kind of work. Steven is a very hard working individual who strives to challenge both sides of his brain, this is important when it comes to exploring the idea of creativity, as creativity can be describe from both ends.
Chong Siu Ling (Shirley)Shirley is currently living and studying in Hong Kong, a student of City University of Hong Kong majoring in Human Resource Management. Her reason for undertaking this blog is her profound interest in creativity, and how a peerson can be creative. She personally wants to develop her creative skills and capabilities specifically for the use in the business world. She believes creativity plays a vital role in leading an organisation to success, particularly in this time in age; innovation is a must. Her way of thinking will become vital to the group. She will not only be important to look at the application of creativity but also how business or individuals will inherit creativity.
Valdimir Shestopalov
Valdimir was born on the 5th of June, 1989 in Moscow, Russia. He finished his school education in 2006 and decided to study abroad. After finishing his Business, Management & Economics Foundation Year at Surrey University, Guildford, United Kingdom, He felt that he was very interested in a Business career, so he decided to continue his education in the field of Management. When his tutors told him about the opportunity to study in a completely different environment and to join the Exchange programme he got really interested in the opportunity, and he decided to choose Hong Kong, the leading business centre in Asia. He is now currently studying in City University of HK, He believes this will broaden his knowledge about the Asian Business model, and will have the opportunity to study interesting subjects. Creativity and Innovation was his first choice, because he believed that it will help him with his future career at his fathers company (His Company is one of the main suppliers of Lenovo Computers in Middle AsiaChan Pui Yee (Gelfa)
Gelfa is currently in her second year of study at City University of Hong Kong. She is majoring in Human Resource Management. Her interest in creativity and innovation originates from wanting to know how to manage people in a way that will encourage creative ideas. She believes her experience in HRM will play a part in this blog in terms of the psychology of the workforces and what measures or tools are to be used. She is particularly interested in the application of tools, policies, culture, managerial styles, environment etc that will help a business foster creativity and innovation
Chan Yan (Eugene)
Eugene is currently in his second year of study majoring in Human Resource Management. He is a bright and enthusiastic individual who will be able to bring upon new and fresh ideas to the team. He will be the teams’ source of inspiration and enlightment. He is particularly interested in the current trends and styles both in business and in society. His contemporary style of thinking will be vital to the team, it will help the team explore ideas outside the box. His thoughts and feelings about the subject on creativity, he believes are part of his reason to participate in this blog, and to inspire others by the sharing of information. Blog to review
The blog we have chosen to review this week is by John Gaynard, his blog is solely based on exploring the idea of creativity and innovation. He is particularly interested in psychometrics, international innovation (industrial and social), knowledge management, creativity, coaching and leadership development.
Click on the link below to visit his website
Authorship
The author of this blog as mentioned before is John Gaynard, he is a French professor currently teaching a master's program for Technological Innovation and Project Management. In addition, he is also known as an Associate Lecturer, Coach and an Innovative Consultant. The purpose of his blog is based upon his interests as mentioned above. He aims to learn more about the phenomenon of creativity, what is it, how does it appears, and what affects the persons ability co create something new, something innovative.
The reason we chose to review John Gaynards blog is due to his vast range of subjects he covers and the articulation of his articles, we thought his background, experience and profession gave him authorisation to write on this complex topic.
Viewership
Gaynards’ blog was originally created for his students that was studying his course “Creativity, innovation and change”. But now has evolved, and now is more of a space for him to share his ideas and opinions. In addition, it provides us with a number of articles about creativity with his views on them. His opinions and views are enriched with information cited from books and articles on creativity. There are a number of stand points he argues from depending on the subject matter, for example; he would sometimes look at innovation and creativity from a managerial perspective, or information managements perspective, his views are rarely biased, This is why his articles are so articulate. The target audience would most likely be professionals, students or anyone interested in his field of discussion.
The author of this blog as mentioned before is John Gaynard, he is a French professor currently teaching a master's program for Technological Innovation and Project Management. In addition, he is also known as an Associate Lecturer, Coach and an Innovative Consultant. The purpose of his blog is based upon his interests as mentioned above. He aims to learn more about the phenomenon of creativity, what is it, how does it appears, and what affects the persons ability co create something new, something innovative.
The reason we chose to review John Gaynards blog is due to his vast range of subjects he covers and the articulation of his articles, we thought his background, experience and profession gave him authorisation to write on this complex topic.
Viewership
Gaynards’ blog was originally created for his students that was studying his course “Creativity, innovation and change”. But now has evolved, and now is more of a space for him to share his ideas and opinions. In addition, it provides us with a number of articles about creativity with his views on them. His opinions and views are enriched with information cited from books and articles on creativity. There are a number of stand points he argues from depending on the subject matter, for example; he would sometimes look at innovation and creativity from a managerial perspective, or information managements perspective, his views are rarely biased, This is why his articles are so articulate. The target audience would most likely be professionals, students or anyone interested in his field of discussion.
Merits
Gaynards’ website started from a simple purpose which was to inform and educate his students, and has now become a library of information about creativity and innovation. It enriches us with large range of subjects that cover his views on creativity and innovation, from looking at the cognition behind creativity to sustainable developments for businesses. It is not simply his opinions and views, but also collaboration with other researcher’s ideas and theories which he cites to back up his ideas. In addition to this, he also provides references such as websites in which his viewers can visit for further information. This is important for those who are researchers or professionals in the field. The most important factor that contributes to the success of this blog is most likely the frequent updates by John Gaynard, it takes into consideration the most up to date research being done by other researches and also current business and social issues.
Discussion
Creativity and Innovation can be described in differant ways, generally creativity can define as the ability to create, or using imagination to generate ideas, images or solutions. Innovation on the other hand is decribed as a process of turning the creative ideas into something useful, or turning it into a new product, process, or new way of thinking.
In one of John Gaynards posts on "do all problems need to find a solution". It mainly discusses the remarks from the world champion of “systems thinking” Russel Ackoff. He clearly states his points and opinions on his ideals and says it is mainly based on the patterns of thoughts. There is a quote by Ackoff from Einstein “Without changing our pattern of thought, we will not be able to solve the problems we created with our current patterns of though”. Even though its been said centuries ago, it is still valid in our modern day and also a great reminder of how our mind works. People are use to thinking in a pattern of thought, which is why when a problem comes up, the only thought that comes to mind is based on pattern. This is why when a problem arises, it is almost never a solution to the problem. Ackoff mentioned that we can do one of three things when a problem arises “solve it, resolve it, or resolve it”.
John Gaynards is personally enhancing, in sense that it allows us to realise our perception of problems and allows us to make the suitable adjustments on it and identify the patterns of thought, the article calls this “assumption surfacing”. This is one of the many inspiring articles by Gaynard, we do not hesitate in recommending this to people who are interested in this topic area.
Suggested improvements
The only suggested improvement for the website would be more diagrams, images, videos, or other methods to communicate his ideas rather then just through text. '
Below are some suggested readings we thought was really useful but did not choose to analyse.
The only suggested improvement for the website would be more diagrams, images, videos, or other methods to communicate his ideas rather then just through text. '
Below are some suggested readings we thought was really useful but did not choose to analyse.
http://creativityandinnovation.blogspot.com/
The blog features a lot of collective experiences, best practices and insights on Creativity and Innovation in Business from the top 50 innovative companies, as well as questions and answers on generating, managing and growing Creativity & Innovation through proven processes. The blog is worth reading, as some of the ideas, success stories and case studies on Innovators creating new and disruptive innovations are really inspiring.
http://ideaflow.corante.com/
The blog by Gwen Smith Ishmael, Sr. Vice President of Insights and Innovation at Decision Analyst in Arlington, Texas. Her articles on Innovation and Creativity can be well trusted, as her beign a well recognised analyst from Corante - "a trusted, unbiased source on technology, business, law, science, and culture that's authored by leading commentators and thinkers in their respective fields."
http://keithsawyer.wordpress.com/
This blog is introduced by Keith Sawyer, a scientist who studies creativity. This blog consists of some interesting scientific researches. At the same time the information in the blog allows you to learn about where creativity is happening, whether in business, culture, or technology.
http://www.creative4business.co.uk/blog/
This blog is part of the creative4business website (http://www.creative4business.co.uk/) Derek Cheshire, principal and founder set up creative4business to promote the use of Creativity as a business tool and to demystify Innovation processes. The blog contains some of his thoughts, introduces some interesting articles shared by the author, links and videos.
The blog features a lot of collective experiences, best practices and insights on Creativity and Innovation in Business from the top 50 innovative companies, as well as questions and answers on generating, managing and growing Creativity & Innovation through proven processes. The blog is worth reading, as some of the ideas, success stories and case studies on Innovators creating new and disruptive innovations are really inspiring.
http://ideaflow.corante.com/
The blog by Gwen Smith Ishmael, Sr. Vice President of Insights and Innovation at Decision Analyst in Arlington, Texas. Her articles on Innovation and Creativity can be well trusted, as her beign a well recognised analyst from Corante - "a trusted, unbiased source on technology, business, law, science, and culture that's authored by leading commentators and thinkers in their respective fields."
http://keithsawyer.wordpress.com/
This blog is introduced by Keith Sawyer, a scientist who studies creativity. This blog consists of some interesting scientific researches. At the same time the information in the blog allows you to learn about where creativity is happening, whether in business, culture, or technology.
http://www.creative4business.co.uk/blog/
This blog is part of the creative4business website (http://www.creative4business.co.uk/) Derek Cheshire, principal and founder set up creative4business to promote the use of Creativity as a business tool and to demystify Innovation processes. The blog contains some of his thoughts, introduces some interesting articles shared by the author, links and videos.
Closing Statement
i.SEE really do appreciate all the comments posted, and for spending the time and effort to provide us with valuable information which we can work towards to do better.
A lot of the comments identified an issue with not picking a specific blog by John Gaynard, which is why we have decided to make an addition to our post under the “discussion” section. We made our own analysis on one of johns posts and decided it was a valuable experience in a way that, it gave us an insight on what John Gaynards style of writing was, and where we stood in terms of his postion on creativity and innovation. Again, we want to thank everyone for their sincere comments and critiques.
**Comments and questions are most welcome, with kind regards
i.SEE (2009)
