BUS505 Organizational
Creativity, Discovery and Innovation
Unit 1 Discussion
Introductions: Introduce yourself to the . Tell us about
your work and your professional background. Feel free to include information on
your personal life, family life, etc. as you see fit. Most importantly, include
at least one endeavor you are involved in that requires you to be creative. You
can also post a photo or a video if you want to.
Goals: Share your goals for the Program in general and for
this specific course. Try to make your goals as specific as possible. Use and
established goal writing technique that will make your goal more powerful and
measurable such as a variation of the SMART mnemonic.
Critical Thinking: A Graduate program requires a great deal
of critical thinking. When we are answering discussion questions, writing a
paper, or performing any variety of assignments it is important that we
incorporate critical thinking into our work. Discuss what critical thinking
means to you and how you believe it can be demonstrated. Include research and
include links to relevant content on the topic.
BUS505 Organizational
Creativity, Discovery and Innovation
Unit 2 Discussion
Consider these Discussion Board questions as you complete
assignments this week.
(1) Intersections. A key concept in The Medici Effect is the
idea of intersections. This concept seems simple and common, but it isn't as
common as we may think. He is not presenting intersections within fields, but
rather intersections that occur when we cross fields and domains. Have you
experienced intersections? If you have, give us an example and describe it. How
did it work? What did it produce?
If you have not experienced an intersection, search for
examples of intersections. There are many in the press and in popular
literature on exciting growing businesses. Be careful though. It is easy to
simply site an innovation or innovative product or service. You need to provide
more information on the actual intersection. Discuss.
(2) Creative Teams What are some of the characteristics of
creative and innovative teams? Discuss them. What are the management issues you
see with creating environments that foster creativity for new value generation?
BUS505 Organizational
Creativity, Discovery and Innovation
Unit 3 Discussion
Our discussion questions focus on leadership. Consider and
respond to these questions on our discussion board.
Psycological Traits of Creative Leaders. Based upon this
week's readings and your experience, what are some of the traits of creative
people? (you don't have to list all of them - allow others to come up with
answers) Discuss whether each one is in someone's nature or whether it is
nurtured (or can be nurtured)? Explain your answer and discuss with others in
the .
Affect - Creativity Leaders. In "Emotion and Creativity
at Work", Dr. Amabile discusses her team's research into the
affect-creativity relationship in the workplace. She presents a model called
the Organizational Affect-Creativity Cycle. Discuss the following. Can a
manager/leader encourage change through her behavior, the behavior of others in
the organization, or through structural or cultural changes in the environment
at work to positively impact creativity and individual behavior towards
organizational goals? If so, in what concrete ways can this be done? If not,
explain. Be sure to provide support and reasoning for your answers.
Double Loop Learning
What have you leaned about the idea of Double Loop Analysis?
Share thoughts and insights. Remember, this is an important part of the
Critical Thinking Assignment.
BUS505 Organizational
Creativity, Discovery and Innovation
Unit 4 Discussion
We know you'll be busy on team assignments this week. Even
so, be sure to keep up with our Discussion Board questions:
Ethics: Are there ethical considerations we should consider
during the the entire innovation process? If so, what are they? Do they occur
at every step of the process? Can an innovation be morally neutral, yet be
unethical or socially irresponsible when carried out or applied?
BUS505 Organizational
Creativity, Discovery and Innovation
Unit 5 Discussion
Managing for Creativity or Results? In business we all have
a job to do, things that have to get accomplished. As managers we have to see
that the work is done. We also want our people to work effectively and be
innovative.
Is there a difference in managing a team for results and one
for creativity?
How is it different or not different depending upon your
perspective?
In your experience have you managed/been managed differently
for creative projects than for daily results?
Discuss. Be sure to bring to the discussion any items that will
help support your position
Product & Process Innovation. In the video clip this
week Hamel (2007) poses the argument that product and process
innovation have much smaller impacts on the bottom line than
do management innovations. For this discussion answer the questions:
Do you agree with this statement? Explain why or why not.
Provide an example of a management innovation that worked
(or didn’t work), explain your answer and cite references.
Take a stand and support your position on others’ posts.
BUS505 Organizational
Creativity, Discovery and Innovation
Unit 6 Discussion
Creative Abrasion. We've touched on the concept of
"Creative Abrasion" in prior discussion boards. Diversity in creative
teams seems to be a consistent message. In spite of this many of us tend to
gravitate towards people we are comfortable with.
As managers, what can we do (what have you done), to ensure
diversity in a team?
What techniques can you use to ensure that the diverse team
works well together when it comes to creativity?
What have you seen work in the past?
Barriers to Innovation & Creativity: In your experience,
how have team leaders promoted processes to encourage team development and
creativity? How have these team leaders been a barrier to, not understood, or
ignored any process? How would you approach creativity and innovation in the
light of what you have learned? Have you ever been an engine or leader of
creativity in your group? Have you ever been a barrier? Explain and analyze.
Seek out articles and research barriers to innovation and
creativity. Explain their relevance to the discussion and what they add to our
knowledge.
Human Potential & The Process of Innovation: Does innovation
tap into something unique about the human condition that allows us to focus on
something greater than ourselves? If so, what does this say about tapping into
our nature as humans to encourage others to engage in creative endeavors and
innovation? What can we learn from Dr. Moskowitz's story as told by Malcolm
Gladwell?
Can leaders use this knowledge to drive their organizations
to sustainable success? Also, watch the Daniel Dennet video before
participating in this discussion.
BUS505 Organizational
Creativity, Discovery and Innovation
Unit 7 Discussion
Weird Rules: In Weird Rules of Creativity there are many
"out there" concepts. Choose one and discuss the validity of the
concept or why you do not think it is a good idea. Either way make sure to bring
experience or other research to the table to back up your ideas.
Power of Design: In the Power of Design they discuss IDEO's
processes and successes. What do you think is the key to IDEO's success and
why?
BUS505 Organizational
Creativity, Discovery and Innovation
Unit 8 Discussion
Future Thinking
Throughout this course we have learned about a variety of
tools and techniques, we've learned about the power of innovation and
creativity in organizations, and the impact of a manager on his/her people. All
of this has been based upon research done in the present and the past.
Now let's take a moment to look forward. What changes do you
see with organizations when it comes to innovation and creativity? Will
organizations embrace innovation or revert to production? Should they - and
will it be done the same as now or in a different way? Where are we going when
it comes to being an innovative society?
... and two final questions ...
Lessons Learned: Please share with us your best learning
from the course? Why did you pick it?
Burning Questions: Please share the questions that remain
for you at the end of the course. What's next?
p.s.. Just for fun. Identify the person in this picture.
BUS505 Organizational
Creativity, Discovery and Innovation
Critical Thinking
Assignment Part 1
This assignment is a 2 part assignment. Part 1 will be due
this week (week 2), Part 2 will be due next week (week 3).
Overview: You will select an article on
creativity/innovation that expresses a point of view. (the myths of creativity
articles in this week's unit are examples). You will ultimately write a 4 page
paper on the article that incorporates the double loop analysis. We would
expect your paper to have an introduction, information on the article, your
point of view, back up for your point of view, the opposing point of view with
back up, and ultimately a conclusion.
Part 1 - to make sure you are on the right track we ask that
in week 2 you submit a one page paper that describes the article and explains
what point of view you will be taking and why. Please see the rubric for
specific requirements for this paper. Keep in mind that a page of text for an
assignment does not include the cover page or the reference page.
Part 2 - Once you finish the 1 page summary and feel
confident you can continue on to complete the 4 page paper. The summary can be
a part of the paper, but be sure to incorporate any comments from your
professor. Again, please see the rubric for specific requirements for the
paper. (The rubric is in unit 3)
BUS505 Organizational
Creativity, Discovery and Innovation
Critical Thinking
Assignment Part 2
Overview: You will select an article on
creativity/innovation that expresses a point of view. (the myths of creativity
articles in this week's unit are examples). You will ultimately write a 4 page
paper on the article that incorporates the double loop analysis. We would
expect your paper to have an introduction, information on the article, your
point of view, back up for your point of view, the opposing point of view with back
up, and ultimately a conclusion.
Part 2 - Once you finish the 1 page summary and feel
confident you can continue on to complete the 4 page paper. The summary can be
a part of the paper, but be sure to incorporate any comments from your
professor. Again, please see the rubric for specific requirements for the
paper. (The rubric is in unit 3)
BUS505 Organizational
Creativity, Discovery and Innovation
Unit 6 Individual
Evaluation Assignment
This assignment is an individual assignment. The student will provide a critical analysis
of his or her performance on the team project just completed in Weeks 4 and
5. The deliverable is an APA paper which
is 3 to 5 pages in length, excluding title page and references. The paper must
be in MS Word format uploaded to Blackboard.
The paper may be written in the first person voice.
Submissions will be graded against the criteria identified
in the rubric below - please note that this is not about the team performance,
but about your performance as a team member:
BUS505 Organizational
Creativity, Discovery and Innovation
Unit 6 Individual
Team Member Assessment
Here is the place to submit your assessments that will be factored in to the
grading, as part of your grade for this assignment will be based on the results
of the peer evaluations you received.
The form to use is attached - Please rate yourself and each
member of your team on a scale of 0 to 10, with 0 being the lowest and 10 being
the highest, on each item. Please feel free to add more columns if necessary.
TEAM ASSIGNMENT –CREATIVE EXERCISE: INDIVIDUAL TEAM MEMBER
ASSESSMENT FORM
Please use the form attached to rate yourself and each
member of your team on a scale of 0 to 10, with 0 being the lowest and 10 being
the highest, on each item. Once you have determined a score for each peer,
provide details in the comments section to support the score you gave to
yourself and each peer.
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Description
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Yourself
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Team Member Names
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The
team member did fair share of work
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The
team member was cooperative/did agreed upon task
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The
team member contributed to ideas/planning
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The
team member was available for communication
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The
team member was positive, helpful
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The
team member contributed to overall project success
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One word to describe the team member
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Comments to support the score you gave
to each peer.
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Please evaluate your peers on the following scale:
0- No participation
1-3 Minimal participation
4-6-Average participation
7-8-Above average participation
9-10-Exceptional participation
BUS505 Organizational
Creativity, Discovery and Innovation
FINAL ASSIGNMENT
This individual assignment is your opportunity to
demonstrate your mastery of the materials studied in this course and apply what
you have learned to a specific company or organization. It is essentially your
final exam.
You will demonstrate your mastery by analyzing how an
organization handles creativity, applying the concepts from the course, and
offering suggestions for improvement.
The organization that you choose needs to be one you are
intimately familiar with. We want the analysis to go deep, which means that you
need to know about the management and operations, not just what you can read in
the media about an organization. The papers are kept private, and you can
change the name if you must. If you do change the name, please let us know that
the name has been changed.
The deliverable can be in any form, just make sure to
exercise creativity in whichever form you use and make sure to cover all the
required elements.
Some minimum elements are:
1. Organization Selected. Describe the organization that you
use as the subject for your project. Explain why you selected the organization.
If the organization is large you are free to focus on a department, division,
practice or product.
2. Application of Course Concepts. In your analysis of the
organization be sure to identify and apply course concepts and principles. Be
specific and clear in the linkages.
3. Suggestions and Lessons. Make specific suggestions for
improvement based upon the lessons learned. If there are no clear suggestions
for improvement, suggest how what this organization does can be transferred to
other organizations.
Pay close attention to the rubric for additional items to
include:
