Fostering CCI in industrial regions
Fostering CCI in industrial regions
Formats
Art Thinking is a process of using artistic thinking and artistic methods to meet a challenge. The goal is to create a completely new approach to a problem with the help of art. It is a creative method combining two disciplines: art and entrepreneurship. Art Thinking can be useful for organisations, entrepreneurs, industry, research and development or other sectors than CCI. To integrate artists and the thinking of artists in organisational processes is not new, but very useful for both sides. But how can Art Thinking help other sectors? By systematically promoting, sharing and harnessing creativity in an organisation, processes can be seen in a new perspective, handled more flexibly and possibly stuck processes can be seen in a new light. Art Thinking is designed for the long term. It functions as a source of inspiration from an artistic perspective to promote attitudes of change, openness and a thinking towards possibilities.
The format Help desk describes a supporting system that is runned by trained staff bundling different requests and forwarding them to the right contact person. Instead of the need to search for the right person to respond yourself, Help desk workers already know where to ask. They are able to establish connections with the right contact person and may connect you with someone with a similar request you never have thought of working with before. A CCI Help desk is a place where bundled information about CCI or promoting CCI can be found. That might be a help center in a regional institution or an orientation offer of a local CCI association.
To get more information on how our project partners from Slovenia and Italy implemented a CCI Help desk in their industrial region, please have a look at the profile CCI Help desk.
Design Thinking is a non-linear, iterative process which seeks to understand users, challenge assumptions, redefine problems and create innovative solutions to prototype and test. The method consists of 5 stages : Empathise, Define, Ideate, Prototype and Test and is most useful when you want to tackle problems that are poorly defined or unknown.
The format Design Thinking is derived from the way professional designers work. They follow the intuitive process based on observation and a high degree of user-centricity.
It’s a solution-based approach to problem solving, especially useful for solving complex problems.
- Stage: Empathise — Research Users' Needs
The first stage of the design thinking process allows to gain an empathetic understanding of a problem, typically through user research. Empathy allows to set aside assumptions about the world and gain real insight to users' needs.
- Stage: Define — State Users' Needs and Problems
In the “Define” stage you accumulate the information you gathered during the “Empathise” stage. You analyse your observations and synthesise them to define the core problems you and your team have identified. You should always seek to define the problem statement in a human-centered manner.
- Stage: Ideate — Challenge Assumptions and Create Ideas
With the solid background of knowledge from the first two phases you can start to think "outside the box”. Look for alternative ways to analyse the problem and identify innovative solutions to the problem statement you created.
- Stage: Prototype — Creating Solutions
This is an experimental phase with the aim to identify the best solution for each of the problems. Design teams will produce a number of inexpensive, scaled-down versions of the product (or specific features found within the product) to investigate the problem solutions generated in the previous stage.
- Stage: Test — Try Your Solutions Out
Designers or evaluators rigorously test the complete product using the best solutions identified in the “Prototype” phase. This is the final phase but results are often used to redefine one or further problems. Designers can choose to return to previous stages to make further iterations, alterations and refinements to rule out alternative solutions.
If you want to read more see the following sources:
https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/design-thinking . https://digitaleneuordnung.de/blog/design-thinking-methode https://www.six-sigma-deutschland.de/news/design-thinking
A focus group is a group involving a small number of participants who have common interest in developing a topic. It is a form of moderated group discussion. In our case the focus group was built to spread awareness to the topic of CCI in industrial regions. The more diverse the group, the more valuable the discussion can be, because topics may arise that you had not thought of beforehand. In which way you are designing the focus group is up to you. You could organise a group discussion, guided or open. You could start with pitching your idea.
Please have a look here to find out more about the advantages, how to do a focus group and what is necessary before inviting.
link to "how to do a focus group"
A CCI showcase is an event that showcases products or services by CCI. A showcase in general highlights selected works or features of one topic. In the case of the "InduCCI" project, the test case CCI Showcase represented products and services of the twelve sub sectors of the Saxon Cultural and Creative Industries at a public exhibition. The advantage of a showcase is that you have a cluster of CCI and CCI services represented at one place. Highlighting the creative force of a region by this practical approach has a long term effect.
For further information, please have a look at the detailed description of our test case “CCI Showcase”
Creative Problem Solving is a structured creativity process to generate novel and useful solutions to a problem and to manage changing processes. The Creative Problem Solving Process is often equated with brainstorming but it is much more than that. It’s a well-defined process that can help you come from problem definition to implementing solutions. There are different models of Creative Problem Solving. The one presented here contains seven steps.
- Clarify and identify the problem
First of all you need to fully understand your problem. This is the most difficult part of the process, because sometimes the problem is something different than the problem you have in mind. Take some time and clear up any confusion.
For instance, you may feel you need a new job. If you break down your problem and analyse it you might find out that you're unhappy with your income, not your job. Therefore you could change the way of spending money or ask your boss for more money. Now you're focussing on another problem than before.
- Research the problem
Once you know the problem, learn all you can about it: Who does it affect? Who can be involved in solving the problem? Gather all the knowledge you can to gain a better understanding of the issue. Let's go back to our example: You want to earn more money in your job. What is affected by this wish? What do you need for more income? Whom you should ask to get what you want?
- Formulate creative challenges
By now you should be clear what your problem is and start finding solutions. Start to formulate simple and precise questions that focus on one issue.
How do I convince my boss to pay me more money? What am I doing that allows me to ask for more income?
- Generate ideas
This is the part associated with brainstorming: the idea generation phase. Take some time and start with one creative challenge/question you formulated before. You can do this on your own or invite some friends. Find as many possible or impossible solutions to your problem. There is no wrong answer. Write down everything that comes to your mind even if you think the solution might be stupid. The target is to find 50 or more ideas. If you have the time, wait until the next day and generate another 25 ideas.
- Combine and evaluate the ideas
After writing down your ideas, take a break. This could be an hour or a day. Now go through your ideas and combine related ones. You could make a cluster or build pairs. Feel free to write down your favourite ideas on the top of a list. Check every idea more than once. Maybe you formulated solutions already. Score your ideas from 0 to 5 (0 = not useful, 5 = very good idea). Then try to concentrate on one solution. Sometimes you find more than one but concentration on one helps to follow one action plan only.
- Draw up an action plan
At this point you already generated a great idea. However, a lot of people have trouble motivating themselves to take the next step. Some creative ideas might include changing something bigger or taking risks. Some of us love change and taking risks. Others are scared by it. Draw up an action plan with simple steps to implement your idea. Break your implementation down into several tasks. This makes it easier to finally implement.
- Do it!
This is the simplest step of all. Take your action plan and implement your idea. If you are steering away from the action plan, don’t worry. Rewrite your action plan!
To sum up: Creative Problem Solving is a simple process – and critical to any innovation process. If you do not use it already, familiarise yourself with the process and start using it. You will find it does wonders for your innovativeness.
https://innovationmanagement.se/imtool-articles/the-basics-of-creative-problem-solving-cps
https://xn--kreativittstechniken-jzb.info/kreativitaetsframeworks/creative-problem-solving-process/ https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/creative-problem-solving.htm https://www.lucidchart.com/blog/how-to-use-creative-problem-solving-at-work
A CCI study tour is a tour to a typical CCI location: Either a creative hub, a place of creativity like a graffiti wall or an architectural office. A study tour can take from half a day to three days or longer and always has a major educational element. In terms of a CCI Study Tour it’s learning about the ecosystem of the Cultural and Creative Industry, how creatives work or how the daily work of a certain entrepreneur looks like.
In the "InduCCI" project study tours were organised to connect CCI and representatives of industrial companies or administrative staff members. They are a great format to form mutual understanding of the work of CCI and administration.
As part of their CCI competency training for administrative staff, project partners from Austria organised a study tour named “Learning Journey to Quartier A”. “Quartier A” has managed to transform an industrial wasteland into an innovative creative location.
The Austrians target groups were:
- Cultural Departments
- Departments for urban planning and development
- Department of Building Construction, Property Management
- Regional development agencies
- Chamber of Commerce Employees
- Interested parties, spatial and location development
They have focused on organisations that may be seeking answers to the following questions: How can I make a region, municipality or location more attractive, creative and innovative? How does my region become an attraction and hub for creative companies or start-ups?
To reach their goal, among other things, they organised a tour through “Quartier A” and visited one creative agency located there. The study tour gave the administrative staff the possibility to exchange directly with the actors of the creative location. Another positive side effect was that the study tour participants changed their perspectives beyond daily administrative routines and got better insights of the way creative people work by direct interaction. You can find the documentation of the Austrian’s study tour.
Source: https://creativeregion.org/events/learning-journey-quartier-a/ (in German language, last checked 2021/10/25)
In recent years Hackathons have become increasingly popular. In a short time the participants can find solutions for complex problems, products and services. Hackathons are a modern tool for innovation.
The word hackathon is a combination of the words "hack" and "marathon”. “Hack” stands for experimental, creative problem solving with a playful approach and “marathon” for the duration of the event.
In the beginning Hackathons were mainly organised in the context of software and hardware engineering, but the concept is now also successfully applied in other industries for developing innovative solutions.
Everybody who runs a Hackathon can decide on its duration and frame. Normally, a Hackathon lasts between 24 and 48 hours and is dedicated to a specific topic or challenge. The participants work in small groups in a unique environment that encourages creative thinking and leads to (surprisingly) innovative new concepts, ideas, and prototypes. The result of the Hackathon is a finished prototype for an innovative product, service or business model, depending on the topic you organised the Hackathon for.
This is how a Two-Day-Hackathon could work:
Day 1: After the arrival of all invitees, you start with a short introduction of all participating companies. The participants should receive enough information on the subject and the problem they are invited to solve: Which subject area do the participants dedicate themselves to? What is the task? Which problem should be solved? The defined groups start working right after this introduction.
Afterwards the most significant needs and problems that the participants have already identified on the topic are to be discussed. It is important to make sure that all teams are on equal level of knowledge and that they understand the importance of the topic. After a short break, the teams start generating ideas and work on the prototypes. In the afternoon, the teams present their first results to get feedback from other participants and the companies. The results are at least two prototypes and business models for each company and numerous ideas. After an interim presentation and feedback, the teams continue to work on their ideas and prototypes.
Day 2 is dedicated to prototyping: The teams work intensively on the basic models or design of the product/service according to the concept. During a hackathon, the teams build and reject several prototypes. During the whole time they have an opportunity to get feedback from both experts and companies to bring their ideas and prototypes to perfection. In the next step, preparing the final pitch, each team also creates a business model that explains how the team is going to earn money. At the end of day 2, the teams pitch their final ideas and prototypes, including the corresponding business model. All participants end the day with an evening programme and open networking.
In the InduCCI project our project partner from Poland tested this format to bring Cultural and Creative Industries together with traditional industries. Therefore, please have a look at the profile of “Industrial Hackathon ”.
Quelle: https://www.lead-innovation.com/english-blog/what-is-a-hackathon
