Creativity Unlimited Thinking Inside the Box for Business Innovation Micael Dahlén
Creativity Unlimited
Creativity Unlimited Thinking Inside the Box for Business Innovation Micael Dahlén
This edition copyright 2008 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex PO19 8SQ, England Telephone (+44) 1243 779777 Email (for orders and customer service enquiries): cs-books@wiley.co.uk Visit our Home Page on www.wiley.com All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except under the terms of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 or under the terms of a licence issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP, UK, without the permission in writing of the Publisher. Requests to the Publisher should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex PO19 8SQ, England, or emailed to permreq@wiley.co.uk, or faxed to (+44) 1243 770620. Original edition (Sweden) published by Volante QNB Publishing Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. All brand names and product names used in this book are trade names, service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. The Publisher is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold on the understanding that the Publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services. If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought. Other Wiley Editorial Offices John Wiley & Sons Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, USA Jossey-Bass, 989 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94103-1741, USA Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH, Boschstr. 12, D-69469 Weinheim, Germany John Wiley & Sons Australia Ltd, 42 McDougall Street, Milton, Queensland 4064, Australia John Wiley & Sons (Asia) Pte Ltd, 2 Clementi Loop #02-01, Jin Xing Distripark, Singapore 129809 John Wiley & Sons Canada Ltd, 6045 Freemont Blvd. Mississauga, Ontario, L5R 4J3 Canada Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Dahlén, Micael. [Boxen. English] Creativity unlimited : thinking inside the box for business innovation / Micael Dahlén. p. cm. Translation of: Boxen : kreativitet som skapar bättre affärer : träna dig till framgång. Stockholm : Volante QNB Pub., c2006. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-470-77084-9 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Creative ability in business. 2. Creative thinking. 3. Technological innovations. I. Title. HD53.D34 2008 658.4 063 dc22 2008027939 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978-0-470-77084-9 Typeset in 11/16pt Trump Medieval by SNP Best-set Typesetter Ltd., Hong Kong Printed and bound in Great Britain by TJ International Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall, UK
Nothing is impossible. Some things are just more difficult than others.
Contents Acknowledgements xi 1 Why this book? 1 PART I It s About Success 7 2 Why creativity? 9 3 Are you creative? 19 4 Why is creativity so important? 29 5 Isn t creativity dangerous? 49 PART II Think Inside the Box 57 6 What is creativity? 59 7 The creative result 67
viii / CONTENTS 8 The creative process 73 9 The creative person 93 10 Thinking inside the box 103 PART III Expanding the Box 123 11 The four walls of the box 125 12 The first wall: conventions and rules 135 13 The second wall: common sense 159 14 The third wall: physiology 179 15 The fourth wall: consciousness 199 PART IV Filling the Box 219 16 There s no such thing as useless knowledge 221 17 The brain is lazy 229
CONTENTS / ix 18 The power in brands 243 19 Associations 255 20 The context rules 263 PART V Shaking the Box 269 21 Preparations for the final step 271 22 Shaking the box side to side 281 23 Shaking the box up and down 307 PART VI Congratulations: You ve Become Smarter 335 24 Are you a creative business innovator? 337 Further Reading 343 Index 357
Acknowledgements Study after study has made it clear that creativity and personal success are strongly dependent on the environment in which one operates. Others must be the judge of whether this author has been creative or is successful, but my environment, at least, has always been the best possible. I only wish that everybody could enjoy the advantages of working with the people mentioned below. Claes - Robert Julander is an amazingly wise man who continuously challenges and encourages me to be more incisive. For a researcher and writer with a tendency to indulge in details, it is a blessing to have a boss who can always see the big picture. Magnus S ö derlund is my other boss, an inspiration and example both in the matter of academic hygiene and other forms of asceticism. I have the further advantage of working on a number of exciting research and education projects and of laughing my way through the time in between in the company of a group of gifted and dear friends at the Centre for Consumer Marketing (CCM) at the Stockholm School of Business, who have also been fantastic and well - informed guinea pigs for several of the exercises
xii / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS contained in this book (Anna Broback, Karolina Brodin, Rebecca Gruvhammar, Hanna Hjalmarson, Fredrik Lange, Jens Nordf ä lt, Sara Rosengren, Henrik Sj ö din, Fredrik T ö rn and Niclas Ö hman). And of course there is Richard Wahlund, who is now a boss somewhere else, but still provides very valuable support. Over the years (now I m feeling old ) I have had the pleasure and the honour of educating a large number of amazingly bright and successful students. You have made a greater impression on me, and meant more than you will probably ever know. I am very grateful that so many of you stay in contact (don t stop), and that I have the chance to be involved, give support and take pleasure in your successful careers. Particular thanks are due to my magical students in Marketing Communications XL, who have been involved in testing many of the exercises and arguments in this book. A very meaningful and stimulating part of my research work is meeting with businesses and inquisitive and skillful marketers and business creators on a virtually daily basis. These meetings give my work invaluable feedback as well as insights and suggestions for what I should do
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS / xiii next. Many thanks for the important work you do every day and for your readiness both to learn and to teach! Apropos learning and teaching it is really wonderful to have a publisher who has evolved from being my student into my teacher and friend. Thank you, Tobias Niels é n.