Corporate Creativity: How Innovation & Improvement Actually Happen

by Alan G. Robinson, Sam Stern

Corporate Creativity consistently connects creative outcomes to the actions that really made a difference to them. Through detailed real-life examples from organizations around the world - including British Airways, Du Pont, Fujitsu, General Motors, Hallmark, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Japan Railways East, Kodak, Universal Studios, the United States Forest Service, and enterprises in the USSR - the authors show how improvements and breakthroughs actually happen in organizations.

Genres: Business, Management

276 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Dr. Alan G. Robinson specializes in lean production, managing continuous improvement, creativity, ideas and innovation, and is the co-author of six books, which have been translated into more than twenty languages. His new book, The Idea-Driven Organization (co-authored with Dean Schroeder) is scheduled to be released on March 31, 2014.

According to the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), Modern Approaches to Manufacturing Improvement -- his 1991 book with Shigeo Shingo, one of the developers of the Toyota Production System -- "remains a must-read for anyone interested in lean production".

Corporate Creativity (co-authored with Sam Stern) was named "Book of the Year" by the Academy of Human Resource Management, was a finalist in the Financial Times/Booz Allen & Hamilton Global Best Business Book Awards, and has been translated into thirteen foreign languages.

His 2002 book Vos Idées Changent Tout (co-authored with Isaac Getz) has been translated into six languages. In his preface to the German edition of this book, Heinrich von Pierer, President and CEO of Siemens AG, called this "an important book on a topic that is fundamental to every business".

Robinson's book Ideas Are Free (co-authored with Dean Schroeder) was based on a global study of more than 150 organizations in 17 countries. It describes how the best companies go about getting large numbers of ideas from their front-line employees, and the competitive advantages they gain from this. The book was named Reader's Choice by Fast Company magazine and one of the 30 best business books of 2004 by Soundview Executive Books, and was featured on ABC World News and CNN Headline News. A syndicated small business columnist for Scripps-Howard, Paul Tulenko, wrote about Ideas Are Free, "I rate this book 5 1/2 stars, a first in this category. It's that powerful. (Only the Bible and the Constitution receive 6 stars.)".

Robinson has advised more than 200 companies in fifteen countries on how to improve their performance. Some of his more well-known recent clients include: the Federal Reserve Bank, Lucent Technologies, Interbrew, General Electric, IKEA, Mass Mutual, UBS, Alcan, Volkswagen, Standard and Poors, The Washington Post, Danaher, Wyeth, Medtronics, Blue Shield of California, Toyota, Northeast Utilities, Millitech, Bemis, Pyosa (the Mexican chemical company), Fanuc (the Japanese robotics company), Schneider Electric, the Japan Industrial Training Association, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Coor Service Management, Lafayette 148 and the Applied Physics Laboratory.

He has served on the Board of Examiners of the United States' Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and on the Board of Examiners for the Shingo Prizes for Excellence in Manufacturing.

Dr. Robinson is on the faculty of the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts. He received his Ph.D. in applied mathematics from the Whiting School of Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, and a B.A./M.A. in mathematics from the University of Cambridge.

He has also taught at St. Petersburg Technical University in Russia, the Athens Laboratory of Business Administration in Greece (affiliated with INSEAD), the Jagiellonian University in Poland, the University of Porto in Portugal, the Hanoi Business School, and Tianjin University in China.

Reviews

[Bob Wallner · Rating 4 out of 5]

To date I believe this is my favorite of Dr Robinson's books. He and his colleague Sam Stern discuss their research on how creativity arises within a corporation. Unlike his other books that focus on individual creativity, corporate creativity identifies six key areas that organizations can be cognizant of to create a culture of creativity.

Alignment, self-initiated activity, unofficial activity, serendipity, diverse stimuli, and communication within the organization are the six drivers that they have identified that can lead to corporate creativity.

For each one of the elements, the authors demonstrate a well-known example of how an organization fostered creativity and ultimately gained from it. Unlike several other books by Dr Robinson, this one focused on the benefits that the corporation gained versus the benefits the individual gained.

In some cases, such as Kodak, the idea and innovation came well towards the end of the individual's time of employment.

I would definitely include this on my reread especially if I'm in a position where I'm trying to foster creativity. As a manager I can't show up tomorrow and say okay I want everybody to start being creative today, but I can certainly help set the stage.

I also feel there's some good advice that as an individual who enjoys the creative process can take away. The more I expose myself to the six elements, the more creative I can expect to be.

[Ashley Jane Casey · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good brief overview of creativity, and how to make sure you’re tapping into it in your workplace.

[Secretgeek · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a far better book than you’d expect!

Gives insight into how Innovation REALLY happens, using a lot of specific examples.

The lessons from this book have stuck with me for decades.