Ownership of ideas - is competition good or bad for creativity?
(Pam) one of the best ways to encourage people to take part in an idea generation process is to offer real rewards to the individuals who come up with the best ideas.
however, the best ideas are often created by a group of people who build on each other's ideas. a good creative process should make everyone feel like they created the ideas, and make it hard to attribute a good idea to just one person in the room.
does competition between those taking part get in the way of creativity because it stops people from building on each other's ideas?
however, the best ideas are often created by a group of people who build on each other's ideas. a good creative process should make everyone feel like they created the ideas, and make it hard to attribute a good idea to just one person in the room.
does competition between those taking part get in the way of creativity because it stops people from building on each other's ideas?
posted by ROInnovation at 1:29 PM
1 Comments:
I think you can have (and need) both competition and collaboration within the ideation process. I love breaking a large group up into small teams... the small teams being internally collaborative and externally competitive (as each vies to create the most revolutionary ideas).
Historically, brilliant ideas are born from competition. Whether it's managers improving their steel making process, musicians developing new sounds, or mathematicians solving advanced proofs. An interesting question is... would they have been even more effective through collaboration?
The key is balance. To compete and then collaborate. In software terms, to develop in-house (and compete) and then go open source (and invite collaboration). While the best path depends on the situation, the product, the service, the compete-then-collaborate to me represents the best "general" ideal.
The challenge comes in competitors making the mental shift to become collaborators. It's difficult to own an idea, and then open it up to critique, re-design, and change. That takes a lot of confidence and bravery... but the result is likely worth the anxiety.
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