Understanding Creativity: A Study of The Individual Traits of Nobel Laureates and Their Ecosystems and The Implications on Corporate Innovation
Understanding Creativity: A Study of The Individual Traits of Nobel Laureates and Their Ecosystems and The Implications on Corporate Innovation

Author(s): Kaustubh Dhargalkar
Subject(s): Business Economy / Management
Published by: Transnational Press London
Keywords: Creativity; creative milieus; creative individuals; innovation quotient; creative destruction; Nobel laureate;
Summary/Abstract: The study was directed towards answering the following questions: • What is creativity? • What are the factors that foster creativity? • Can these be used by organizations to enhance their innovation quotient? Creativity cannot be understood by defining it in words, creativity has to be deciphered by experiencing it in action. One must, therefore, understand the actions of highly creative individuals. This further led to the question: • Who are the most creative individuals? Further research was based on the assumption that ‘A creative individual is one whose contribution is original, unique, relevant, and highly impactful. After due analysis, the study concluded that the contributions of Nobel laureates satisfy all these four criteria. Biographic sketches of 29 recipients of the Nobel Prize and 2 recipients of the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel were analyzed to understand their thinking patterns and approach to life in general. Twenty traits that these Nobel laureates displayed have been identified. Another question that arose during the research was: • What are the environments in which their work was carried out? A study published by the Nobel Museum, Stockholm (Larsson, 2006) helped answer this question? A total of 13 ‘creative milieus’ were identified. Creative milieus are places that are considered as cradles of innovation, most of them have been homes to the pursuits of Nobel laureates during the 20th century. These creative milieus were analyzed to understand the institutions, cities and environments which nurtured creative minds and the patronizing surroundings that enabled individual creativity to flower. The study revealed 20 factors that foster creativity. These factors can be embedded in corporate environments as well to enhance an organization’s innovation quotient.

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