Cogito : Intelligo : Efficio : evolution of a method for valuable innovation through the study of the relationship between creativity and innovation

• Main Author: Sathikh Peer Mohideen
• Other Authors: Andrea Nanetti
• Format: Thesis-Doctor of Philosophy
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2020
• Subjects: Visual arts and music::Design::Industry
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/145167
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Cōgitō, which means ‘I think’ in Latin, is the initial stage of the creative process and has to do with ideas evolving freely. Intelligō, which means ‘I realise’, is the second stage, referring to the process of selecting and developing ideas which have potential. Efficiō, which means ‘I accomplish’, is the final stage where the developed ideas are executed to achieve innovation of value. These three individual states combine to form the relationship between creativity and innovation and lead to what I term ‘valuable innovation’. This thesis seeks to identify a definable process from idea to innovation, via creativity. This has been approached by analysing the relationship between creativity and innovation in both the arts and sciences, and by investigating the interwoven complexities of difference and complementarity from the mid twentieth century to the present day. A partial autoethnographic approach has also been utilised to draw on the author’s long experience as an industrial designer to realise a synoptic map as a method for understanding valuable innovation and the myriad routes to it. This research was driven, in particular, by the author’s key questions: “Why and how did I become an innovator from a creative person? What is the difference? What has led to this change? What then is creativity and innovation?” These personal questions were then contextualised within an academic analysis of the journey from ‘creative’ to ‘innovation’, and culminated in the creation of a synoptic map depicting the routes to meaningful innovation for individuals, businesses, communities and / or societies. This synoptic map is tested and validated through five distinct case studies in the area of applied art, in particular industrial design, and exemplified by a showcase from an established creative artist / designer / innovator from Singapore.