Rowe’s Four Styles of Creative Intelligence (2005)

Intuitive

Intuitive intelligence is characterized by experience and is results driven. Many of the top CEO’s are known for intuitive intelligence and are guided by years of experience. These people generally do not think outside the box, but have so much experience that decision-making is very easy. Intuitive leaders are who most people would identify with as the crusty C level executive, the grizzled veteran of many business battles. Through self-confidence and the knowing the facts behind the issues, intuitive leaders are usually talented strategists with little use for indecision.

Innovative

Innovative intelligence is characterized by systems and data. Innovative people are drawn to precision and very specific problems. Albert Einstein could be thought of as a quintessential innovative creator. Innovative people are known for their single-mindedness and Einstein certainly fit that profile. Einstein always had a clear vision of a specific physics problem and could also visualize the solution (The Nobel Foundation, n.d.). This is similar to other giants of innovative thinking like Nikola Tesla. Innovative leaders have the hardest time motivating and influencing the workforce. Innovative leaders, being so single-minded, tend to work on a problem to the exclusion of others. While talented tacticians, many died poor due to lack of strategic planning skills.

Imaginative

When most people think of creativity, they probably think of artists and musicians. Thus, imaginative intelligence is the most known of the four types. People with imaginative intelligence can clearly visualize solutions and most of the notable “outside the box” ideas are products of this creative intelligence. Creative intelligence is characterized by leadership and artistic tendencies. Rowe (2004) mentions Winston Churchill as an example of this type of mindset; at once imaginative, inspirational, and a prolific writer and artist. Other imaginative leaders would include Rembrandt, Richard Branson, and Benjamin Franklin. By the shear appearance of getting ideas from thin air, imaginative leaders motivate the workforce through awe and talent.

Inspirational

Inspirational intelligence is characterized by selfless service and commitment to social change. Jesus Christ would certainly be classified in this mindset. He could deliver soaring oratory and his passion for change led to many followers and a legacy lasting for more than 2000 years. He, like others after him, was willing to die for his convictions. A visionary, Jesus Christ led a social, moral, and legal rebellion, much like Martin Luther King, Jr. would do in the 1960s. Inspirational leaders can motivate a workforce through passion and selflessness.

Mental Models

How the brain processes and ultimately uses to make decisions about data is called a mental model (Wind & Crook, 2005). Several forces throughout all phases of life can influence the how an individual envisions the world around them. Wind & Crook identify five forces that impact a person’s mindset.

Five Forces

Many forces have an impact on the way a person’s mental model is influenced. Five forces have been identified by Wind & Crook (2005) and include; (1) education, (2) training, (3) influence of others, (4) rewards, and (5) personal experience. An individuals experience and past failures and successes become ingrained in the psyche. In order to avoid a past mistake or recreate a previous success, the individual relies on these old mental models.

Education

Education may influence the mindset the most broadly, forming the foundation of an individual’s mindset (Wind & Crook, 2005). In the broadest sense, education is the common glue that binds societies and communities. In the United States and some other western cultures, a liberal arts education is the norm. This gives the recipients a similar background in which to view life. Contrast that with cultures like Cuba which use the Russian system of specialized education. In these countries students are given only a minimal amount of schooling in general education; the majority of class time is spent on the chosen, or chosen for them, subject.

Training

Using the example above, individuals in the liberal arts based schools eventually start getting trained instead of getting educated whereas individuals in the specialized school systems reach this point much earlier. This may occur after high school, or maybe in the upper division classes in a university. Training is a much more visible force on the mindset. A musician is going to have a different way of seeing the world than an economist. A danger exists for training to stagnate and not allow for changes needed in life.

Influence of Others

Family, friends, experts, and mentors, all have an influence on an individual’s mindset (Wind & Crook, 2005). This influence can be negative or positive. Late night infomercials may influence some to believe that all doctors are quacks, and only the huckster’s medicine is reliable. Other influences are media outlets and publications. Certainly listening to talk radio or talking heads on the television is going to affect an individual’s view of the world. The influence of family and friends, while possibly changing over time, also plays a critical function, especially in the formative years, in mindset. One of the reasons that friendships tend to come and go is related to the influence of others. People like to be around like-minded people and when mindsets change, so do all but the strongest friendships.

Reward

Individuals want to be accepted. They also like to feel special. Rewards influence mindset by appealing to the part of the mind that likes pleasure. Peer acceptance is a pleasurable and fundamental goal for most individuals. Monetary rewards for some action are also pleasurable. Striving for rewards influences mindset and through it morals. Rewards can seem so enticing that crimes may be committed to receive them, or the quest for acknowledgment can overwhelm even the most upstanding person. Rewards can also shape good behaviors. A business goal, when met, may reward a bonus or extra time off.

Personal Experience

The reliance on experience can create both opportunity for success as well as failure. Experience can be used to apply knowledge not necessarily related to the problem at hand. This application of cross-experiential knowledge creates a new vision or approach to solve the problem at hand. Experience can also be limiting by allowing an individual to only see what they already known. New ideas are not apparent and the same old, possibly inefficient, processes are used.

References

kolbe.com (n.d.). Kolbe A™ Index – Measures instinct or conative-based actions – Kolbe.com. Retrieved September 11, 2008, from http://www.kolbe.com

Rowe, A. J. (2004). Creative intelligence: Discovering the innovative potential in ourselves and others. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

The Nobel Foundation (n.d.). Albert Einstein biography. Retrieved September 11, 2008, from http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1921/einstein-bio.html

Wind, Y., & Crook, C. (2005). The power of impossible thinking: Transform the business of your life and the life of your business. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc..

Creativity

Creativity can essentially be defined as coming up with an idea. In and of itself, creativity is not that useful to companies. The creative process can be thought of as the starting point for a company to innovate and ultimately design a product (von Stamm, 2003). Many experts suggest that unlike development and implementation, creativity can not be produced by a team; it is a wholly individual process.

Creativity is related to experience not divine intervention which is what many laypeople believe. An example of that would be musical improvisation; it can be taught and the more experience a student has with music the easier the student can put together musical fragments subconsciously to make a coherent improvisation. Without this experience, the student would make noise. There is little doubt that certain individuals are more creative than others, but everyone can learn techniques to stimulate the creative process as long as sufficient motivation and encouragement exists.

Innovation

Innovation means different things to different people. Most modern definitions include differing levels of innovation. These include things like process improvements; new products, both to the company and the world; new markets for existing technologies, and disruptive or revolutionary technologies. Companies need to make certain that existing knowledge or expertise does not prevent innovation and innovation is truly about a frame of mind (von Stamm, 2003). Innovative companies combine all three aspects of improvement, creativity, innovation, and design. These innovative companies have a strategic vision allowing them to culturally encourage these processes.

Design

Perhaps the most elusive process to define is design. Design has been broken down into engineering, or production design, and artistic design, although many other definitions exist. Basically design, as it is relevant to creativity and innovation, is figuring out how to make something better and requires a balance of both engineering and art. The result of design does not necessarily refer a product, but could be a business process or service. Design is often confused with creativity, but they are two sides of the same coin. Von Stamm (2003), suggests that “design is the conscious decision-making process by which information (an idea) is transformed into an outcome, be it tangible (product) or intangible (service)” (p. 12). The key difference between design and creativity is conscious versus unconscious processes. Design is creative, but it is not creativity. Design refers to some type of tangible outcome whereas creativity concerns itself with creating an idea. Designers are oftentimes the creators and many of the skill sets are shared, but they do not have to be the same person. As stated above, creativity is a singular, unconscious task; design, as a conscious process, often lends itself to group settings and is generally more accepted as a business process with many organizations having design teams either formally or informally.

Conclusion

Strategically an organization must balance innovation, design, and creativity in order to stay competitive. Innovation, design, and creativity all overlap to some degree and organizations must nurture and encourage all three. Creative staff needs freedom to experiment and synthesize, but also need constraints and objectives. Managers must understand that analyzing and quantify all aspects of a creative team or employee is not always possible since many of the outcomes are often based on intuition, not measurable results (von Stamm, 2003). Without the creative process, and ultimately its implementation and design, companies are in reality copying other ideas and never innovating new products. This leads to a company that is more tactical than strategic and an over reliance by management to react to the market instead of leading the market.

Reference

Von Stamm, B. (2003). What are innovation, creativity and design?. In Managing innovation, design and creativity (pp. 1-18). West Sussex, England: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.