Introduction

Never before in history has society been confronted with the amount of change we face today. Organizations and individuals are met with a simple choice: create the future in a creative manner or be mere passengers towards it. This choice will largely determine success or failure in the future. This article explains some of these changes in the context of Business Process Management (BPM) and gives some practical guidelines to apply creativity and innovation in everyday life towards a better future.

Current outlook

South Africa today is reaping the results of a decade of solid democracy and financial management. The growth rate attained exceeded all expectations. A strong middle class has developed, laying a sound foundation for the future. However education, law enforcement and general wellness are lacking in many respects. This is due to many root causes, including the growing divide between rich and poor, and the inability of local governments to provide basic services. To be competitive on a world class level is within our reach, but this will require leadership of a different kind. We need to have a passion for

everything we do, focus on improving on all levels, be different and unique, study global practice, sharpen our radar systems to pick up on great opportunities, never give up on innovation and do it in an ethical way with empathy for those that are lagging behind (Sunter, 2001). The world of the next decade will differ immensely from the one we used to know. The baby boomers, currently representing a large percentage of the population, will move into retirement, and a new generation, now 15-25 years old will bring a new dimension, skills offering and a vastly different market. The shadows of several revolutions - the information revolution, the coming of the new South Africa, and the rise of Conscious Capitalism - will pose greater challenges to individuals and organizations (Aberline, 2007). In this new world, long-term planning rituals do not work anymore, as strategy will become a living thing. Quantum leaps become more important than incremental steps. We will need to destruct

1

17 t h Annual

ConferenceTHE ROLE OF INNOVATION AND CREATIVITY IN BUSINESS PROCESS MANAGEMENTB Y VDS B R I N K

IN THIS ARTICLE

INTRODUCTION 1

CURRENT STATE OF AFFAIRS 1

CONTEXT OF INNOVATION AND BPM2

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT2

CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION IN PRACTICE 2

MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP 3

IN SUMMARY 4

ABSTRACT:

Society faces many challenges that can only be solved by renewing our way of thinking. Creativity and innovation are more important than ever before. The application thereof on business process management is essential to create better organizations. This can only happen if leadership in organizations understands and fosters it. Innovation needs to be managed as any other process and with logical focused steps individuals and groups can think beyond the obvious and create great value.

frequently, see all positions as temporary and do everything as a project. We have to cut the sideshows and create awe-inspiring value with an experience. A key tactic will be to cross communication boundaries with high touch and more female thinking, as we all work in cross-functional teams. We must fire turf kings and move frequently – a bit like musical chairs (Peters, 2003). The year 2011 poses exceptional challenges and opportunities. Newspapers do not write about it due to the obsession with 2010, but understanding the aftermath of 2010 may bring greatness to those that consider it carefully.

“It is time that we move from judgemental thinking to thinking concerned with value creation…..

We can analize the past, or we can design the future…that is the difference between suffering the future or enjoying it!” de Bono (2002).

Context of Innovation and BPM

Following current ways of thinking and acting will not bring wealth, prosperity and a better world (Venter, 2004, personal communication).

Strategic focus

Conventional thinking

Value innovation

Industry assumptions

Its given Shape it

Strategic focus Beat competition

Make them irrelevant

Customers Retain & expand

Focus on value

Assets Use existing Renew

Products In traditional boundaries

Solutions beyond boundaries

We should see a process as something that converts inputs to outputs and BPM as a structured way to analyze and continually improve fundamental activities such as manufacturing, marketing, communication, and administering. Applying

innovation on BPM processes does not require major technological breakthroughs, but poses challenges in the way that it requires people to fundamentally change the way they work.

In this new world we are entering the real winners will be those that work together, put things together, and show others how to; those who do it differently,

apply it differently, and do it locally in an empathetic and environmentally conscious manner (Friedman, 2006). More than ever before, winning will be about doing things differently.

Organizational context

We need to get over the idea of sharply defined units and move to a point where managers are representing markets, products and processes rather than having total control over it (Hammer, 2002). Yet management often fights for its “God-given” territory (Moss-Kantor, 2003). There are exponentially more data and information than a few years ago. Most of these are available to everybody, but creating knowledge from it is more difficult. Real insight and finally wisdom are only attained at great effort and with exceptional sharing of it in a climate of trust. This process is indispensable in attaining a competitive edge. In leading this process, managers need to move from doing the right things to doing things right, from doing right things better to doing away with

2

things, from doing what others do, to doing what they do not do, and doing the impossible. Creativity and Innovation in practice

To practice creativity managers need to lead the process to continuously create many ideas and steer it towards practical implementation. Creativity happens when we:

Are set to break sets, destruct if necessary Explore givens, use good things of the past See a broad picture with local detail Value play, become children again Build up, and not knock down Live with looseness Involve others (never do it alone) Connect and are receptive Know what we want, have a focus and a

vision Cycle often,close late Manage the process (Open University B822,

2007)

Creativity amongst people will only happen if they trust each other and the process starts with bonding, then sharing, followed by new insight.

The innovation process consists of generating many ideas, filtering it to the vital few and combining it to steer towards a product or process of value.

An 11-step process to work alone, in meetings or in groups is recommended (Open University B822, 2007).

Step 1:

Relax, play, talk. Never just start the process. Great ideas will not happen in stressful situation

Step 2:

Explore all aspects of the challenges. Avoid open discussion and brainstorming. Use anonymous techniques. The focus is on quantity not quality. Listen to a story, note daydreams or use the brain-writing technique.Step 3:

Reduce ideas to the vital few things that must be done. Divide these ideas into groups, discuss the grouped items and label with a new name.

Step 4:

Discuss and gather more information. At this point make presentations on the topic.

Step 5:

Break, incubate, sleep over it.

Step 6:

3

Before this step use metaphors like items from nature or art to stimulate right brain thinking.

Create many ideas on how to solve the challenge. Use playful techniques, use art, stories, play, and paint. Have fun!

Step 7:

Reduce ideas to the vital few and group into clusters. Label clusters of ideas and name the clusters as resultant action steps.

Step 8:

Screen further with only the vital few remaining.

Step 9:

Prioritize. Do the easy steps with the highest impact.

Step 10:

Create an action plan with action step, date for completion and responsible person.

Step 11:Execute and follow up.

Management and Leadership

Managing creativity means that the managers need to equip themselves to read the environment, be proactive and visionary, have excellent people skills and remote management skills, use IT to transform, manage complexity and be competent to manage changing contexts. Leading a process like this can be compared to certain techniques followed by a Jazz band:

• Know where the soloist is• The soloist listens and builds on group• Know the rules and when to break it• Experiment in the band by changing

structure• Overblow your clarinet / sax sometimes

• Expect smashes, recover and move on• Do not repeat the same solo, improvise on

the known

In summary

Creativity and resultant innovation is a choice. It is a choice each person and each organization can make. It is a difficult journey that will often challenge our existing ways of doing. . However, the outcomes of this process hold such great promise that we have no choice but to embark on this journey. Acknowledgments

Southern Africa Institute of Management Services for their trust and support

Marianne Theunissen for creative writing.

Creatix Design for the layout of this article and the design of the PowerPoint presentation

Tertia Agenbag for additional research.

________________________________________

4

Branson, R. (2006) Screw it let’s do it, Virgin Books.Brown, J.S., Denning, S. and Groh, K. (2005) Storytelling in Organizations, Elsevier-Butterworth.

Bogen, N. (1994) How to write Poetry, Macmillan.

Carolselli, M. (1998) Great session Openers, McGraw Hill.

Carter, J., (2001) The Comedy Bible, Fireside.

De Bono, E. (1967) The 5-Day Course in Thinking, Penguin.

De Bono, E. (1970) Lateral Thinking, Penguin.

De Bono, E. (1999) New thinking for the new Millenium, Penguin.

De , E. (1985) Tactics: The art and science of Success, Fontana.

Denning, S. (2005) The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling, Jossey Bass.

Gladwell, M. (2000) The Tipping Point, Abacus.

Gladwell, M (2005) Blink, Little Brown.

Greene, R. (2001) The Art of Seduction, Viking.

Grove, S (1994) The Dance of the Brain, Human and Rousseau.

Gulledge, T.R. and Sommer, R.A. ( 2003) Business Process Management: public sector implications, Business Process Management Journal , 8, 4.

Friedman, T.L. (2006) The World is Flat, Penguin.

Hedge, A.J. (2005) Business process Management: Management tools, Edoc Magazine, 2005, July.

Hung, R. Y. (2006) Business Process Management as Competitive Advantage: a Review and Empirical Study, Total Quality Management, 17, 1.

Justice, T. and Jamieson, D. (1999) The Facilitators Fieldbook, Amacom.

Kriek, D. and Viljoen, G. (2003) Teambuidling, Mindmuzic.

Kung, P. And Claus, H. (2007) The fruits of Business Process Management, Business Process Management Journal, 13, 4.

Lee, R.G. and Dale, B.G. (1998) Business Process Management: a review and evaluation, Business Process Management Journal, 4, 3.

McLeod, F and Thompson, R (2002) Non-stop creativity and Innovation, McGraw Hill.

Naisbitt, J. (2006) Mindset, Collins.

Parkin, M. (2004) Tales for Change-use storytelling to change Organizations, Kogan Page.

Pennington, D.C. (2002) The Social Psychology of behavior in small Groups, Psychology Press.

Peters, T. (2003) Re-imagine!, DK.

Pyke, J. (2006) The value of Business Process Management, Management Services, 2006, 3.

Snyman, J. and Brink, VDS (2007) The Art of Facilitation, Technoscene, unpubl.

Sunter C, (2001) What it takes to be World Class, Human & Rousseau.

Tushmann, M.L., (1997) Winning through Innovation, HBS Press.

Vise, D. (2005) The Google Story, Pan.

Zairi, M. (1997) Business process Management: a Boundaryless approach to modern competitiveness, Business Process Management Journal, 3, 1.

Zdenek, M. (1983) The right brain Experience, Corgi.

5

References and Additional Reading