Insights on impact from the development, delivery and evaluation of the CLEAR IDEAS innovation training model

The increasing pressure on organisations to innovate more effectively in what they deliver and how they work means there is a distinct need for interventions that enhance the innovation capabilities of employees. This paper therefore describes insights from the development, delivery and impact evaluation of a research-based innovation training model (CLEAR IDEAS) designed to improve both the idea generation and idea implementation competencies of trainees. How key findings from the creativity and innovation literature were turned into a practical model and its operationalisation in practice are first discussed. This is followed by presenting a longitudinal evaluation of the training intervention with 151 public sector leaders. Findings showed that the model was well received, led to significant improvements in innovation competencies and resulted in certain trainees undertaking a range of actions to introduce innovations back in the workplace while others failed to apply their learning. Longer-term data provided several examples of subsequent notable ultimate impacts on organisations’ functioning and public service delivery. Finally, reflections on key training, trainee, task and work environment facilitators and inhibitors of innovation training impact are offered

Creativity circles in information management

Based on the premiss that, as technology gradually takes over most of the clerical functions of management, the one function which computers and automation may never replicate is the creativity of the human mind. Examines the implications of the management of creativity for information managers in the 1990s and beyond. This is achieved by the application of an American model of creativity to information work, the outline of a strategy concerning the introduction of creativity to the organization and finally a consideration of how creativity can enhance the decision-making process

Creativity : snowflakes and circles in information management

Based on the premiss that, as technology gradually takes over most of the clerical functions of management, the one function which computers and automation may never replicate is the creativity of the human mind. Examines the implications of the management of creativity for information managers in the 1990s and beyond. This is achieved by the application of an American model of creativity to information work, the outline of a strategy concerning the introduction of creativity to the organization and finally a consideration of how creativity can enhance the decision-making process