As global competitiveness forces companies to innovate and distinguish themselves, this 360° method for innovation focuses on capturing and using a company’s creative potential. The profiling tool was implemented by Grenoble Ecole de Management and helps foster innovation in organizations.
"There are many approaches and creative tools to efficiently produce good ideas for products and services. The key is to share the best ones with companies. Many have long believed that creativity is only available to certain people. But that's simply wrong! Even people who don't believe they're creative can in fact be creative." explains David Gotteland, a professor of marketing at Grenoble Ecole de Management.
Created in the first decade of the 21st century, this method is based on international scientific research. It was first published in the Science review. It was also the subject of articles in the Journal of Marketing Research and Management Science. It uses fundamental and creative concepts to foster innovation.
Supporting the creative process
“The methodology of fundamental concepts has demonstrated its relevance to support the innovation process in businesses. You have to decompose an existing product into two types of characteristics: components and attributes. This then enables you to explore possible configurations. This fundamental approach is the first step in the creative process.
However, it inspired the 360° profiling tool which was created by GEM in collaboration with Academics for Business.” explains David Gotteland, who also collaborates with Academics for Business (a company dedicated to sharing scientific research and transferring marketing expertise to businesses).
A 360° approach to creating relevant innovations
"A good idea is not an original idea. It's an idea that's at the service of the client. To generate real opportunities for innovations, it has been demonstrated that a company has to leverage all creativity opportunities including employees, products, and clients. Many innovative products such as the mountain bike, rock climbing shoe and washing machine are in fact ideas drawn from customers." says David Gotteland.
Four key points
- Creativity is not limited to certain individuals. Even those considered not creative can be sources of creativity.
- The fundamental concept is to break an existing product down into two types of characteristics: components and attributes. This enables you to explore possible configurations.
- The goal is to organize the idea creation process for new products.
- The 360° profiling tool created by Grenoble Ecole de Management and Academics for Business offers a logical next step in the creative process to capitalize on a company’s creative potential.
Creanov©: a fun approach to fundamental concepts
The Creanov© serious game was created by Aurélie Merle and David Gotteland, two professors at Grenoble Ecole de Management. "Our goal was to facilitate access to and learning for this efficient creative method. As the method is very organized it can sometimes be perceived as stiff and difficult to learn. Creanov© was therefore developed on the concept of creating competition between several teams dedicated to product development.
The game format can easily be adapted to each situation and enables participants to dream up creative ideas using a fun approach." Creanov© will be commercialized by the CCMP at Grenoble Ecole de Management by the end of this year. It is aimed at two target audiences: students and innovation managers (product managers, R&D managers, etc.) The game took four years to create.
