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BusinessWeek’s special report on creativity argues that the Knowledge Economy as we know it is being eclipsed by something new — call it the Creativity Economy. A new corporate model focusing on creativity and innovation could provide companies new pathways to growth.
The authors of the report argue that what was once central to corporations — price, quality, and much of the left-brain, digitized analytical work associated with knowledge — is fast being shipped off to lower-paid, highly trained Chinese and Indians, as well as Hungarians, Czechs, and Russians. Increasingly, the new core competence is creativity — the right-brain stuff that smart companies are now harnessing to generate top-line growth.
The game is changing. It isn’t just about math and science anymore. It’s about creativity, imagination, and, above all, innovation.
BusinessWeek has been jointed to the growing conversation about getting creative by launching a new online Innovation & Design portal to present the best research and thinking on the subject. This portal features articles from the new generation of innovation gurus. These new gurus focus more on micro-innovation than macro-innovation — teaching companies how to connect with their customers’ emotions, linking research and development labs to consumer needs, recalibrating employee incentives to emphasize creativity, constructing maps showing opportunities for innovation.