Write a case-study of an innovator of your choice. In your paper apply Grudins points on creative inspiration and courage, draw from Lubarts observations about culture and creativity, and refer to Clydesdales review of the Beatles as a model. Addressing the question, in what ways is my example an innovation? build your case, addressing each question in your project: 1. Briefly summarize in no more than three paragraphs the pertinent who, what, when, and where details about your chosen innovation. In the next, state why this particular innovation interests you. 2. Describe the environment in which the innovator lived and worked, noting the obstacles and barriers she or he faced personally, if any, such as race, gender, class, health, age, etc. 3. Discuss any failures and abandoned approaches (what was the outcome of the failure/s? In what ways did failing help or hinder further creative development?). 4. Discuss any internal and external deterrents to the innovations success in the marketplace, such as competition. In the event that you select an innovation for which there are several innovators, add a discussion of their group dynamic as a contributor or deterrent to their collective effort. 5. Discuss the innovators inspirations and attention to the creative process. Are there any indications that the innovator balanced holistic with linear processes? If so, provide examples to illuminate your points. 6. Describe the impact of the innovation then and now. What did it advance? How have things changed as a result? 7. What questions are you left with, and if you could go further in your research what would you want to find out next? 8. Your paper should be 6 pages. Please follow MLA style guidelines. 9. Cite your sources in your text, of course, and provide a Works Cited list at the end of your paper. You should cite at least four scholarly sources throughout. Read below: Innovation and Creativity What is innovation? Merriam Websters online dictionary defines it as being, 1: the introduction of something new, and 2: a new idea, method, or device: novelty. Using Websters definition, participants in the 2010 Lisbon Council on Innovation answered the same question, stating that it is something new, a product, a service . . . a new process or product, regardless of the setting in which it is created. To bridge your understanding of the creative process and innovation, lets turn to Greg Clydesdales essay, Creativity and Competition, a study of the popular British pop group, The Beatles (129-39). Drawing from extensive scholarly research on creativity and innovation, he researched the singing group to advance his ideas about the creative process. Making a case that their work is both creative and innovative, he shows how both internal and external competition were part of their process and as such, essential to their group dynamic and success. Innovators like The Beatles, however, do not create in vacuums. They weather, as all innovators must, the mutable reception of society (Grudin 139-43). Societys response, says Grudin, can have profound effect . . . on the quality of creative achievement, not only as an influence on the innovators themselves, but as a means of defining innovative production over history (141). Innovators must also have a special kind of courage when confronted with societys mutability. This, too, Grudin explores, noting that, Creative people . . . seem more at ease with this dualism than others. They are more open to the inner dimensions of their own characters. They can balance the opposite demands of the tame and the wild . . . in such a way as to accept the validity of both without admitting the dominance of either. The effort required to sustain this balance, and such other necessary requirements as complete commitment, exhausting practice, prolonged concentration and the maintenance of an open mind, demands substantial fortitude. It is not the sort of courage we ascribe to great heroes in battle or undaunted revolutionaries. But it is courage nonetheless (97). A creative person, he tells us, may find more swashbuckling sorts of courage . . . necessary as well. Innovative vision . . . has an ambiguous effect on an individuals relationship to society at large (97). Although Clydesdale does not present his subjects with Grudins reflections in mind, he does point to the groups complete commitment, exhausting practice, prolonged concentration as being integral to their creative process. Clydesdale concludes is study with an intriguing observation about creativity and innovation: The terms creativity and innovation are often used as similes; however, there may need to be greater distinction between the act of creating and the act of innovating. Creativity may well be driven by intrinsic motivation, whereas innovation may be driven by extrinsic motivation and the need to surpass previous standards . . . . The Beatles were both intrinsically motivated by their love of music and extrinsically motivated. External rewards such as getting on the A side, getting high in charts, fame, and surpassing their heroes were clear incentives for them (138). To better understand and appreciate the dynamics of their group and the forces that helped shape the individuals who formed it, Clydesdale chose to analyze The Beatles creative process chronologically. For your purposes his approach is useful, for it provides a method with which you can examine an innovation over time. To further spark your thinking about innovations, listen to participants share their views at the 2010 Lisbon Council on Innovation posted on YouTube. You may find British Internet news article from The Telegraph, “Retail and Consumer: Britons Vote for the iPhone,” also of interest in that it lists inventions and innovations that may not immediately come to mind. Brief biographies of Garrett Morgan, the creator of the stoplight, and of Marie Curie, Nobel Prize winner in Physics, may also broaden your appreciation for innovation especially when considering the environmental contexts in which they lived and worked. Lastly, you may enjoy viewing atomic physicist Josh Silver demonstrate his adjustable liquid-filled optical eyeglasses invention and listening as he discusses his plans for correcting vision globally through its application. Beatles article: Greg Clydesdale (2006) Creativity and Competition: The Beatles, Creativity Research Journal, 18:2, 129-139, DOI: 10.1207/s15326934crj1802_1
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