The Creatrix Innovation Inventory
– developing innovative capacity in individuals, teams and organisations
What do you want to do?
The Creatrix model is an excellent, low risk approach to developing innovative capacity within organisations.
We have a number of ways of helping you:
- Train your developers, trainers & managers to use the Creatrix in-house
- Certificate you to use the Creatrix with your clients
- Facilitate innovation workshops with your people
- Read a summary about the Innovation Equation
- The history of The Creatrix™
If you want to be certified to use the Creatrix Inventory please contact our training team who will talk through the options. This is a 2 day programme which is available an an in-house or public programme. For open programmes please see Our training page for programme details details or our training dates page for scheduled courses.
CreatrixTM
Fed up with Innovation tools that seem fun and valuable at the time but the culture of the organisation remains? Or tools are not being put to best effect?
Want to find the key to successful innovation?
- Need to find the lever that builds the capacity for change & innovation, in individuals, teams and organisations?
- Fed up with techniques that over promise and under deliver? – then it is time for a behavioural approach
The CreatrixTM Is the only approach to innovation that recognises the importance of innovative capacity in both the organisation and its individuals. To our knowledge the CreatrixTM is the only innovation instrument that focuses on the behaviours required for an organisation to become more innovative, rather than just creative technique.
Ensuring accessibility to practical innovation for all organisations.
The CreatrixTM approach is unique in that it looks at the behavioural capability of individuals, teams and organisations, rather than skills and techniques.
A powerful method for today’s companies
Behaviourally based change management framework
We challenge the current assumptions about Creativity and Risk Taking:
We all are creative – it’s not only the artists
We all take risks – it is not only the thrill seekers
Today’s companies need to tap into and develop the power of individual, team, and organizational creativity and risk taking to accelerate innovation.
Capacity for Change and Innovation
Having worked for many organisations over the years, we have come to recognise that innovation is more than just a process, or indeed an attitude. It is that unique combination of factors which enable change and new ways of thinking.
It about having the right mix of attitudes, skills and processes for the particular phase of an organisations life cycle or product range.
The Creatrix Inventory uses a unique blend of the Innovation Equation
( Innovation = Creativity * Risk Taking)
Activated by the DRIVERS necessary to enable real Action
Accelerating Innovation
- Creativity is the ability to produce unconventional ideas, and when we are facing difficult challenges we need new ideas most
- Isn’t it under the most difficult times, when we are under the most difficult stresses, that we need those new ideas that can change or alter the path and redirect our energies? Using The Creatrix Inventory is so unique that there’s nothing comparable. The Creatrix Inventory takes the concepts of creativity, risk taking and innovation and makes them understandable and concrete.Individuals, teams, organisations can increase their innovative capacity by using their own knowledge of their creativity and risk-taking orientation and their results on the seven drivers of creativity and risk taking.
- Learn about your personal orientation toward innovation by taking the Creatrix Inventory
- Explore the Seven Drivers of Creativity and Risk Taking
- Discover how to unleash your own creative potential in productive ways for greater innovation.
Find out more about the Creatrix™ as an innovation inventory
The Innovation Equation – Building Creativity and Risk Taking in your organisation
Book Title: The Innovation Equation: Building Creativity and Risk Taking in your organisation
Author: Jacqueline Byrd & Paul Lockwood Brown
Publisher: Jossey-Bass Pfeiffer
ISBN: 0-7879-6250-3
Price: £24.99
Reviewer: Mike Morrison
The Innovation Equation is a book aimed at explaining some of the principles and hard-won secrets behind successful innovation. It aims to clarify the characteristics of differing cultures and people that take ideas and bring new products, processes and services into existence. It seeks to clarify what innovation is and, most importantly of all, how to develop the innovative capacity of individuals, teams & organisations.
The Authors begin by defining innovation they start by using a dictionary definition: “Innovation is the act of introducing something new” and explain that “the act of introducing” is akin to taking risk & “new” is about creativity. This leads on to what the authors call the innovation equation:
Innovation = Creativity x Risk Taking
They make clear that innovation may be small or large and that what is innovative in one industry may have been done somewhere else before (or not as the case may be) leading the reader to recognise that innovation is available to all of us and not an elite few within organisations.
Once the scene has been set the authors go on to explore the Innovation Equation in detail outlining some of the strengths of individuals and teams based upon their current capacity of Creativity and Risk Taking. They identify eight orientations to innovation and label them:
Innovator, Challenger, Dreamer, Sustainer, Modifier, Practicalizer, Synthesizer and Planner.
Orientations
These orientations are explored in terms of their value and limitations to the organisation and how the coach/ consultant can work with them to begin building the organisations capacity to innovative. The Creatrix model maps the orientations graphically. Included here is a short questionnaire to help the reader identify their current preference and orientation on the Creatrix.
Taking the model to another level the authors identify a number of drivers for creativity & risk taking. These drivers are shown to be important in helping individuals and teams to change their current performance.
The drivers for Creativity have been identified as: ambiguity, independence, inner directed, uniqueness.
The drivers for risk taking have been identified as: authenticity, resilience, self acceptance
Case Studies
Case studies and examples of how the authors have worked with individuals to change and grow are used to show these drivers in context.
A chapter is included which addresses the barriers to change which the authors call “stop signs”. They have included case studies which are accessible and valuable to the reader in understanding practical application of the Creatrix theory.
In pulling it together in the context of introducing change, the authors introduce a simple model to aid the change agent in implementing some of the ideas contained in the book. They call this the 4A’s model – Aim Assess, Activate, Apply and go on to give practical guidance as to what type of activities could be done when for effective change.
The last section of the book is called “the innovative consultant” and aims to give the reader a competitive advantage in working with clients using some of the concepts in the book on a personal level.
Throughout the book case studies, academic references, examples and graphics are use to communicate key ideas, to help understanding and support the reader doing something with the content of this publication.
Follow Up
Having followed up on the book and the ideas, the original model was developed in the 70’s and has been used as a tool with 1000’s of individuals over the years. This book marks the re-birth of the model and its re-invention for modern business. This is not just a marketing “re-brand” but a complete academic re-visit to the material and its fit for today’s rapidly changing world. It is a shame that the authors do not fully explain this pedigree within the book as at first sight the model appears to be lacking academic credibility.
In summary:
This is a practical book with plenty of ideas and concepts for the manager, developer or coach to take away and use. Throughout the authors have included small sections containing “ideas for the consultant” which provide valuable ideas thoughts and actions which any reader can use in their day to day work.
Chapter Titles:
- Perspectives on Innovation
- Assessing Innovative Capacity
- Drivers of Creativity & Risk Taking
- Two tales of Innovation
- Stop signs to Innovation
- The Innovation Equation in Action
- The Innovative Leader
- The Innovative Consultant
Overall:
It proved to be an interesting and motivating read. It aims to clarify the characteristics of cultures and people that lead new products and services to market and what you can do to improve your competitive advantage.
How might it benefit you? More and more organisations list innovation as a value or competence, and too many leave it there. This book would be of value if you:
- Run development programmes that incorporate innovation or change, buy a copy and use some of the workshop ideas on your own programmes.
- Are confused by what innovation actually means in the real word.
- Are a coach who works with individuals or teams that are interested in developing their innovative capacity
- Are a clear-sighted senior manager and want to re-engage your people to become more innovative or adapt to change quicker.
The Creatrix Inventory is so unique that there’s nothing comparable in the field of creativity, risk taking or innovation.
- Originally developed by Dr. Richard E. Byrd in the 70’s, it has since undergone several iterations, standing the test of time, widely accepted, and used like the MBTI and the Firo-B. Dr. Jacqueline Byrd has added to the work of her father and updated the inventory for today’s use.
- The Inventory takes the concepts of creativity, risk taking and innovation and makes them understandable and concrete.
- Individuals, teams, organizations can increase their innovative capacity by leveraging their own knowledge of their creativity and risk-taking orientation and their results on the seven drivers of creativity and risk taking.
- The Creatrix Inventory has no right or wrong answers. Several studies have provided the necessary guidance for its development. Continued refinement is ongoing. More information on The Creatrix Inventory can be obtained by contacting CreatrixTM Research Division or Mike Morrison@RapidBI.com.
Click on the book to order in the UK.
* The CreatrixTM is Copyright (c) 2005, The Richard Byrd Company. CreatrixTM is a Trade Mark of the Richard Byrd Company. All Rights Reserved.
The Creatrix Inventory was formerly known as the C&RT.
Developing an Innovative Culture
Developing Innovation in teams
Innovation and Leadership
Using the Creatrix
Historical article from @rapidbi blog- https://rapidbi.com/creatrix_innovation_inventory/