Creativity is a term that is used to refer to the general act of generating fresh ideas. Management of creativity implies that the ideas are managed to such an extent that they are put into application in a certain specific context and that they are able to bear fruit. The management of the new ideas is what makes the difference between a mere concept and a true innovation. A particular and highly specialized management is very essential in giving these ideas the creative space that they require so that they can be turned into innovations. Such managers have to keep track of the idea and monitor all the channels that it will pass for it to become into a real innovative service or product.
Therefore one of the most important projects that these concepts need is special managers who know what is needed at every stage. Bill Gates and Michael Porter are some of the examples of the main persons in the field of creative management. They can be called gurus because they have broken ground in the area of creative management and turned their ideas into fresh and innovative products (Freedictionary, 2010).
The vision of the two men is what makes them to be very impressive. Both of them thought of ways of making life easier for man while making it more productive. Allen and Gates had a vision that all people on earth should have a computer on every desktop and home. He believed that Microsoft would come up with computing whose foundation lies on the internet. This form of computing will make businesses and individuals to have an easy way of communicating and hence increase the level of productivity. This is the vision that Gates had in mind for enriching the lives of all the people in the world with technology. On the other side, Porter’s vision is the one that ushered in the era of “sustainability and competitive advantage in the world of business. His article on “how competitive forces shape strategy” was the beginning of a revolution in the area of strategy (Porter, 1987). Porter focused on how nations can be more productive by producing goods and services that are of very high quality and sell them at high prices thus outdoing their business competitors. It is only through superior performance that an organization can gain market leadership and also enhance its chances of survival.
Both men have a philosophy of making the world a better place that they found it through the use of their ideas and innovations. Gates believes that his systems have to give man computing capabilities and make him advance scientifically and live better. Porter believes in the philosophy of competition. From his writings, he has shown that it is only through competition that better goods and services can be made and that this is what will develop many businesses in the world.
Gates is a person who works on developing new ideas and makes sure that they work for the good of man. His products are more tangible and easy to use than those of Porter’s. Gates finances further research while Porter does not. This clearly shows what both of these men believe in. Gates believes that with more funds invested into the creativity sector, Microsoft will be able to stay in business by developing new ideas. This shows that even though he is a business guru in the computer technologies sector, he still has an aggressive philosophy that he still applies to the development of Microsoft Corporations. On the contrary, Porter does not fund any further research in his field. The world is becoming more competitive and as a matter of fact, there needs to be more research carried out in sustainable profitability so that the competitive advantage can be taken to a higher level.
Gates believes that further research especially on software’s and innovation of new products can offer more solutions to the world. He believes that there are still many technical computational problems that need to be solved globally. After the competitive advantage, Porter does not give a way forward on the way businesses should be run with the advent of globalization and things like financial recession like the one that has been recently experienced by most nations of the world. To Porter, he is the only one who can be able to chart a way forward in his four factor model that can make businesses to have the competitive advantage.
Both Gates and Porter have been successful in their respective fields because they have shown the world the product of their creativity and the subsequent innovations. The ideas have thrown the world into the realism of new technologies as for the case of Gates and taken competition to a higher level as for the case of Porter (Gates, 2010). Both the ideas have made development in all areas of the economy of all nations of the world achievable in a very fast speed. The ideas of Porter have been used by several nations to propel themselves in the business world through owning several shares in leading world companies like Coca Cola.
Porter and Gates always look for creative ways that they can use to manage their ideas. The usability of their innovations has shown that they are able to effectively manage their thoughts and channel them through the creation process and finally make them products. Before they come up with an idea, they usually come up with a strategy. Then they try to look for the possible solutions or creative ideas. Finally they get into the process of concept development where they adapt the solutions and put them into real life situations.
The way they manage their work flow is very unique and this is what sets them apart form the rest of the creative managers in the world. They employ logic and monitor the development and adaption of creativity till they get the desired results and apply them (Porter 2006). The way they dedicate they monitor the work flow should be put into use in all industries so that we can have management of creativity and this will lead to more innovations being made than where the world is now.
Gates encourages his employees to be creative. Al the creative ideas from all Microsoft employees in the world are sent directly to Gates. He sifts through all of the ideas and reflects on them and chooses the ones that he will innovate. They also give the employees resources and motivate them so that they can make them to think creatively. They generated creative ideas and managed them by using a process that is flexible where ideas are given space to develop and become innovations. Their work habits are those of dedication and following what a person believes in. Being creative managers, they always keep watch of their resources and the flow of work.
Creative management is what is needed in the 21st century. For businesses to stay afloat and still maintain their competitive advantage, their solutions lie in creativity and management of creativity. More resources should be channeled to the nurturing of creative ideas than marketing and branding. This will enable the formation of services and products that are diverse and are more usable by today’s man.
References
Freedictionary (2010). “Guru”. Web.
Easy-Strategy (2008). Michael E. Porter – Bishop William Lawrence University Professor.
Gates, B. (2010). Creating Wealth – Bill Gates Wealth.
Porter, M. (2006). Competitive Strategy, New York:NY, Free Press
Porter, M. (1987). “From Competitive Advantage to Corporate Strategy”, Harvard Business Review, pp 43-59.