It’s best to bring a group of people together with cognitive differences, such as different backgrounds, capabilities, strengths, etc, together to harness innovation.
With the exponential growth of information in the digital era, today's problems have become more complicated in the ever-changing world. Being innovative is a state of mind.Creative differences from interdisciplinary perspectives arise from the varied approaches, skills, and knowledge that individuals from different fields bring to a collaborative project. These differences can be a source of innovation but may also lead to conflict if not managed effectively.
Diverse Thinking Styles: Individuals from different disciplines may have distinct thinking styles. For example, mathematicians may exhibit more convergent thinking, while artists show more divergent thinking.
Mastery of Different Domains: Creative individuals often possess mastery in a specific domain, requiring significant education, training, and practice. This specialization can lead to different perspectives and approaches to problem-solving.
Unconventionality: Creative people tend to be independent and nonconformist, willing to express radical ideas. This can clash with more conventional approaches from other disciplines.
Problem-Solving Thoughts: Problem-solving can be divided into divergent thinking (generating diverse solutions) and convergent thinking (narrowing down to the best solution). Different disciplines may prioritize one over the other.
Managing Creative Differences
-Encouraging Individual Expression: Work environments that encourage individual expression and tolerate unorthodox thinking can foster creativity.
-Recognizing Value: It is essential to recognize and value the contributions from various disciplines. Innovations can be rejected due to prevailing attitudes, so openness to different perspectives is crucial.
-Understanding the Creative Process: The creative process involves preparation, incubation, illumination, and verification. Recognizing these phases can help manage expectations and workflow in interdisciplinary projects.
-Systems Approach: A systems approach considers the relationship between the creative individual and the larger world, including the domain (knowledge or activity area) and the field (gatekeepers and opinion leaders). Understanding this system can help manage differences.
It’s best to bring a group of people together with cognitive differences, such as different backgrounds, capabilities, strengths, etc, together to harness innovation. People are constantly looking for innovative, unique improvements even when things are going well; can work through the barriers and put ideas into place; and build on the ideas/insights of others to come up with “outside the box” solutions.