Thinking Outside of the Box

Abstract

As Chap. 3 discussed, companies have tendency to improve the products they have, emphasizing incremental innovation. In contrast, radical innovation is primarily generated by imagination, which is thinking outside of the box without having specific products to improve, without having a particular problem to solve, or without being forced to innovate to make money for the company. Thinking outside of the box primarily provides solutions to consumer problems that are not readily recognized as problems. Consumer solutions are intended not to sell products but to improve the quality of life (Jones 2001). This chapter proposes that in corporate cultures every attempt must be made to nurture imagination and not just rely on predetermined product development. It is maintained here that imagination and ­creativity can coexist, but they are not one and the same.