Creativity & Innovation Final project Daniel Roger Casanova PART II Fellow colleagues, I would like to introduce you

ou to a new world. A world where technology evolves at a faster pace than our societys level of knowledge. A world in which those who decide not to innovate cannot succeed. Somewhere in which change will happen obliging us to adapt in order to save ourselves. It is beyond us. We might not realize, but being an expert at books will no longer be reliable. Life is ambiguous; there is not one single answer for every question. We must consider all of the perspectives and ways an issue can be attacked in, defying our own automatic judgments, our mental models. We have to think out of the box, countercurrent, without giving up on our interests. This is the only way to stand out in a now much more competitive globalized world, our personal brand. Creativity and innovation course offers you the tools to start this never-ending movement. Thoughts rush our mind every day and it is difficult to close this tap in order to find peace. You cannot see your reflection in running water. Youll have to wait for the water to remain still to perceive a comprehensible reflection. Thats why calming down our thoughts and slowing down our busy mind is the key to introspection and insight of the real valid ideas that we contain but yet cannot encounter. Firstly, I would like to draw the importance of creativity. Without it, a lot of technology, systems, strategies and basically everything that has been invented so far by humans wouldnt exist. We have been imagining a better world, with further efficient and competent commodities. We have to keep on doing it. Society desires it. Weve arrived to a point where consumers have such a large amount of choices that they can afford to be selective. Competition has largely increased, brands fight to obtain the highest amount of consumers, develop superior products and achieve the highest consumer satisfaction. This strictly means that businesses that are not up to date and find it hard to adapt to changing circumstances will fail. They are no longer necessary. They are not creative. They have lost all of their appeal, without any help but their option to design an innovative reality to attract consumers attention again. Thus, creativity proves crucial for the development of society and success in the business environment to gain competitive advantage in niche

markets. We have also got to note that being inventive and carrying out innovation doesnt strictly mean creating completely new projects but can also be the improvement of the existing ones, and believe me, anything can be improved. However, creativity is not only useful for society but will be a key factor in our personal lives. It is a much more intricate process than what it seems, linking directly with self-achievement and the capability to understand concepts at the next level. We posses mental models, we are fixed and have been educated in environments which influence our thoughts and feelings quite directly. Usually, our decisions will be taken according to these disregarding other points of view, especially if they are contradictory to ours. Being creative allows this flexibility that we need, the compassion and will to accept what is wrong according to our criteria, therefore allowing us to adapt to harsh changes which we might experience during our life. When we are creative we are also more aware of our surroundings. You cant even imagine how much we omit. Its ridiculous. We are fired with such a large amount of data that we cannot collect most of it. By focusing, we have to be the ones who look at detail with accurate eyes, unveiling a huge amount of information we had never noticed in the past and that the majority wont notice. From this deep introspection, a tiger or a sense of instinct in you is identified. This is the way you carry out the ordinary, the way you act without thinking in those valuable situations, which can result in a great loss. You can change it. You can control it. Think about yourself as a business, creativity lets you manage it to optimize your functions. It allows you to ask yourself what are your true desires, classifying them on top for them to succeed. Personally, I would break down the keys to being creative in 3 categories: experience, motivation and awareness. I believe they are the key to success both in creativity and in life as a whole. In the first place, experience means knowledge. It means failure, it means having learnt from errors in the past in order to improve, the capability of exploring a new area, failing, and getting back up again to fight it with the new weapons and information which your failure provided you with. Life isnt about how hard you can hit, but how hard you can get hit and keep on getting up with the same persistence towards reaching your goals. Secondly, motivation is crucial to persist and to generate interest which will automatically make you love what you do, which is the best way you can enroll on doing anything. Believe

youre doing it right, convince yourself and others; if you love what you do, you will fight for it and dive so deep into the subject, that you will arrive to a place where someone has never been before, meaning the creation of a new idea. Last, but not least, awareness. Be informed, pay attention, stay aware of what happens around you. It is important to be aware since the greatest ideas can be hidden right in front of you, but since you just tend to ignore them, if you never focus or practice attention skills such as in the experiments during the course, you will continue to perceive reality uniquely through your own narrow perspective which will block you from a large amount of benefits you now know that exist. So, what are you waiting for? Want to empower yourself with the fundamental ways to control your thoughts and ideas? Go grab your opportunity at ESADE Creativity & Innovation. Capacities for leadership before you miss the train!