The Value of Constraints for Creativity

 Even if you don't embed them formally, we found, as in an optimization.  It states the walls to bounce off of.   Note the use of 'some' in the statement, which then requests the next word:  which?

The Role of Constraints in Creative Problem-Solving

Paper:  https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/21-068_2425a8e8-7eaf-47fa-8db3-4061c303f606.pdf  

by Daniel Ehls, Karim R. Lakhani, and Jacqueline N. Lane,  in HBS Working Knowledge

This study shows that constraints can support creative problem solving in a consumer electronics setting. Adding (some) constraints increased the quantity and quality of strong ideas generated and selected through an open innovation process.

Author Abstract

The role of constraints in the problem solving process has been a central line of inquiry in the creativity and innovation literature with ongoing debates of whether constraints imposed on creative problem solvers diminish or enhance their efforts and outputs. We investigate this question by designing and executing a field experiment in collaboration with a world leading company in consumer electronics seeking creative solutions through a community crowdsourcing program to improve the wearing comfort of their popular headphones. We mobilized 1,833 problem solvers, 331 ideas and 435 community evaluators to rate the quality of the solutions, for a total of 2,473 evaluator-solution pairs. To make experimental comparisons, we exogenously varied the number of constraints faced by the community problem solvers to determine how exposures to constraints affected the number and quality of solutions. We find causal evidence that moderate levels of constraints increase both solution quantity and quality. Compared to problems framed with no constraints, having some constraints causally increases a solvers’ likelihood of proposing a solution by 6% or 1.5 times. Turning to solution quality, we find that while constraints decrease the average novelty of solutions, they have no effect on the most novel and useful solutions. Lastly, we observe an inverse curvilinear relationship between the number of constraints and the most creative solutions, where problems with some constraints increase the likelihood of coming up with one of the most creative solutions by 3–4% compared to problems with no constraints. We discuss the implications of our findings to the creativity and problem-solving literatures. .... 

AI and Generative Design

Nice piece, an excerpt of article and at the bottom a pointer to a NASA example of its use. 

AI, Architecture, and Generative Design

Algorithmic Brainstorming for Creative Work

Jonathan Follett and Dirk Knemeyer  in TowardsDataScience

Architecture, like many creative professions, spans both the digital and physical world. As technologies such as 3D printing move the discipline forward in remaking the built environment, AI and generative design are having an impact on architecture from a planning and design perspective, where the profession is largely digital and computational. We spoke with Lilli Smith, Senior Product Manager AEC Generative Design at Autodesk, a practitioner in the field of architecture for more than 20 years — the last 18 of which have been making the software that architects use to design their creations.

In architecture, art, and other creative fields, generative design is a methodology that automates the creation of design options that may balance a variety of competing goals. The latest wave of generative design is driven by artificial intelligence. “This is often the case in architectural design problems,” Smith says. “There’s not a single objective that you’re trying to go after — there’s no one answer. But, there’s a lot of different objectives that come into making an architectural project. So, for example, in an urban design workflow, having a nice amount of open space and good views from your property might be important. But return on investment and value generated through more rentable area[s] might also be important.”   .... ...

In a more recent example of AI-driven generative approaches, NASA used programmatic design to create configurations for its satellite antennas. Jason Lohn, the leader of this project at NASA Ames Research Center, described the algorithmic approach to design in a feature article published by the agency in 2006:   ..... 

AI and Creative Content Industries

Some of the earliest objections we got to AI were:  Where is the creativity?  Then and now it can come from from how elements of content and value are effectively applied.  The article linked to below goes to some length to explore the space.   Its often not enough to be creative, but to understand how elements of creativity, old and new,  are then are operationally used to create value.   Once again, its the process.

strategy+business: Corporate Strategies and News Articles on Global Business, Management, Competition and Marketing
AI Is Already Entertaining You

How technology endowed with creative intelligence changes the way companies generate and distribute content.

AI — the new set of technologies that perform tasks that require human intelligence, such as speech recognition, decision making, and learning — is rapidly working its way into business operations within many global industries. Some members of the entertainment and media (E&M) industry have downplayed its potential. After all, these are creative industries in which both the germ of the business and the value added to it stem from the contribution of human ingenuity and people exchanging ideas. The most successful E&M products and services rely on connecting creative content, brands, and experiences with audiences. ... ....  "

And yet AI is already very much present in the creative industries, just as it is exerting an influence on financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, and most other industries. Which isn’t surprising. Whether in the form of digitization or social networking, the E&M industry has long had the necessary levels of creativity, content, technology know-how, and consumer passion to kick-start innovation. Throw in the low level of legal, financial, and regulatory barriers surrounding business models in entertainment and media, and you have a natural proving ground for new technologies. .... " 

Creative Titles Energizing Workers

I recall a few cases where people have revealed their non traditional and  unusual business title, and I am more likely to remember them.    In the HBR. 

Apple Must Move Beyond the Wow

In Knowledge@Wharton:   Good piece.

Why Apple Must Move Beyond the ‘Wow’ Moment
Apple’s disappointing second quarter earnings – including the first-ever drop in sales for the iPhone – sent the company’s stock tumbling for eight consecutive trading sessions. It was the first such drop since 1998 and, coupled with comments by activist investor Carl Icahn that he has dumped his shares in the company, it accelerated worries about how Apple will deliver the strong future growth that investors have come to expect. ....   "  

Center for Creative Leadership

CCL:  Achieve What Matters Most
Leadership development is ALL we do. For more than four decades we have leveraged the power of leadership to transform individuals, teams, entire organizations and societies to achieve what matters most to them — with results that are powerful, measurable, and enduring.

Our innovative solutions are steeped in extensive research and experience gained from working with tens of thousands of organizations and more than a million leaders at all levels — across six continents and more than 130 countries. We draw from a world of experience across cultures, industries and disciplines, helping you with your real world challenges, and measuring the impact of our work.

Financial Times
Ranked among the world's Top 10 providers of executive education by Bloomberg BusinessWeek and the Financial Times, you can be confident we will deliver the results that matter most to you. .... 

The Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) has named IFTF Distinguished Fellow Bob Johansen as their H. Smith Richardson Jr. Visiting Fellow for 2016. This prestigious fellowship is a great honor for Bob, who teamed with CCL on the second edition of his groundbreaking book Leaders Make the Future: 10 New Leadership Skills for an Uncertain World. CCL President and CEO John R. Ryan wrote the foreword for the book, which includes a CCL self-assessment and other original content.