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Igniting the Innovative Spirit in the Creative and Gifted Community

Dr. Mark W. Oleksak

Giftedness

1407

As Saudi Arabia focuses on economic diversification through the Vision 2030 initiative, the concept of innovation is being widely purported in public and private sector circles. There are many entities involved in this innovation process, including incubators and accelerators that support individuals and their quest to provide unique solutions to existing problems or enhancement of current products/services. These, and other organizations, are making positive strides in the requirement to alleviate the overwhelming oil dependency for the Kingdom. One piece in this stage that requires more frequent mention is the humanistic side and what it takes to be an “innovative person”, including igniting the spirit inside. This is especially relevant within the creative and gifted community, as witnessed by current and previous successes in National and global academic and innovation competitions.

The purpose of this article is to provide recommendations as to how this spirit or enthusiasm can be promoted and engaged with the gifted persons. First, it is important to define some key terms that will be used herein.

Innovation = An original, useful and industrial idea that may be a solution to an existing problem or an improvement of an existing product or service.
Discovery = Something that exists primarily but is not known in advance. It can be identified and communicated.
Creativity = Exceptional aptitude and capabilities or a distinct positive performance from the amongst others in the field of mental excellence or creative tradition.

Next, it is important to understand that individuals are always motivated by specific areas in the pursuit of an end outcome. For an innovation project, there are several personal intentions that could be present and should be reflected upon. One motive is the contribution to meeting human needs. In any society, there are persons that require the help of others, whether it be because of sickness, disability, financial issues or emotional areas. Supporting these people that are in need certainly can be integrated with the overall purpose of doing good deeds

Another area is the necessity to create a livelihood and make money to support an individual or an entire family. There are existing jobs available, but if someone has a solid idea and valid target market, it could turn into a startup business and be successful at generating revenue.

An additional motive is to satisfy a hobby or discipline of interest. Most people have something that they absolutely love doing, outside of their employment. This may be in the form of games, cooking, traveling, reading, sports, and many more. Mark Twain said it best, “Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” The most satisfying ventures are the ones that really interest the individual and make them wake up and want to get going each and every morning.

One final reason that motivates individuals is their altruistic compassions for the economic health of their country and future viability. The Kingdom certainly has fixated the future on innovation and discovery via economic incentives. This has been in the brand of both pure and applied sciences. Pure science is the academic research-based work that deals with creative projects in scientific methodology or the engineering/invention process. Applied science is the implementation in the real-world of innovation that leads to financial and communal benefits. Many of the pure science efforts can and should be transferred into applied ventures. This is the model of many successful global government’s strategy. For example, South Korea, which is ranked 28th in total population in the world, and ranked 12th in total GDP delivered. Their strategy of investing in pure research that drives applied solutions has been exemplary. It has created large entities, such as Samsung, Hyundai and LG, in addition to Small and Medium-size Enterprises (SME’s), which now account for over 50% of the total manufacturing output of the nation.

So if innovation is the key to advancing the economic multiplicity of a nation, it is therefore imperative to promote the spirit within, especially amongst the gifted and creative people. These are the students and individuals that have the potential to lead the way with research and engineering solutions in multiple disciplines necessary to fortify an economy. In order to guide them in the right paths, these students should be motivated to enhance their ingenuity, inspiration, imagination and innovation. So what are the main methods to encourage this stream of encouragement? Four distinct suggestions are applicable;

First, provide them an understanding of the common characteristics that the best innovators of all time possess. Throughout the centuries, the world has witnessed great inventors who have changed the world. Leonardo Davinci, Michael Faraday, Wright Brothers, Mari Curie, Thomas Edison, Tim Berners Lee, Steve Jobs, and Elon Musk, to name a few. Besides their amazing contribution to the world in areas of science and technology, they showed us similar traits that can be passed on to the gifted persons. One of these is the mastering of basic process skills, which include;

Inference – Using evidence to purport a conclusion
Observation – Reviewing something carefully to make an assessment
Measurement – Thorough and accurate determination of units
Classification – Grouping based on shared characteristics
Prediction – Guess of the outcomes based on background research
Communication – Being able to explain everything clearly to others

In addition, they all had these common personal attributes; Highly intelligent (gifted)

Possessed great content knowledge on their subject
Passion for disciplines of choice
Inspired by discovery
Perseverance

This last one is so important. There are stories about all great inventors/researches about their amazing persistent and never giving up! Each one of them held the highest level of determination and ambition. Nothing would stop them from reaching their goals.

“But still try, for who knows what is possible” – Michael Faraday

“We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves” - Marie Curie

“Be honest with yourself and people. Be punctual, never give up, achieve your goals, even when everything goes bad.” - Steve Jobs

This type of thinking and these examples must be provided to talented students and innovators so they understand the solid foundation of making things happen.

Second, teach the gifted and creative persons to think like innovators. A key point is to train them how to think like these creative and successful discoverers. Here are the top protocols in order to focus their minds on the right track;

Following the process skills outlined above.
Always questioning and finding the answers (publications and experts).
Apply their natural critical thinking skills.
Follow the scientific or engineering methodology.
Solve problems logically.

Third, link them to the proper process of innovation. Gifted and creative persons can have all the proper tools at their disposal, but they still need to follow the best practices in the steps of innovation. This will allow them to achieve outcomes though the proven path of invention. This includes the steps from “idea to commercialization”;

Generating the idea of the invention
Determining the value of the invention
Searching for existing solutions
Creating the solution
Protecting the idea through Intellectual Property channels
Producing the invention though prototyping, testing and alterations
Commercializing the invention

It is important to note that when considering this flow, the “sweet spot” for innovation must be focused upon. This pertains to the desirability, feasibility, and viability of a concept. Desirability is the most complete solution to meet the targeted constituents needs. Feasibility is the capability of persons, materials, technology, etc. that is available to economically implement the solution. Viability is applicable nature of the solution in the targeted space. These all must be evaluated in the beginning of the process and throughout any design changes.

Fourth, sustain the process through resources and benchmarking. “According to Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen, there are over 30,000 new products introduced every year, and 95 percent fail.” This can be attributed to a lack of resources, a lack of guidance and a lack of ambition to see the process through. It is critical to ensure that the gifted persons are schooled in all available resources and have guidance from experts to help them through the challenges of the process.

In summary, a big key value in realizing the goals of the Vision 2030 is to understand the motives that drive individuals and teams to innovate and to advance forward in the commercialization efforts and contribution to the GDP. In this manner, it supplies a clear path in the journey to creative concepts that can lead to quantifiable implementations.

The gifted and creative community can be and should be key players in this process of innovation because they have the ability and the foresight to make things happen. They can also be trained to follow the valid methodology that brings ideas to life in the most effective and efficient manner.

They must continue to have their “spirit” ignited so that they light the way for the Kingdom’s diversified growth in the next decade.