Unleashing creativity with digital technology

Abstract

Technology can be deployed to augment the creative abilities of people and organizations and make new and valuable forms of innovation possible. Today's digital technologies have reached a level of maturation that enables, across many domains, a practical capability that may be called cheap and rapid iteration. To iterate is to try something different from what you tried last time. Iteration is the process that enables most forms of artistry. Painters often create numerous versions of a painting. Processes often become more creative when rapid iteration is affordable. Unfortunately, this is not the case in a lot of business domains. In the next five years, managers will awaken to a wide range of new possibilities. They'll act to improve creative capabilities, by figuring out how to deploy technologies to replace expensive physical trying with cheap virtual trying. In effect, they'll be constructing virtual rehearsal spaces, virtual laboratories, and inexpensive prototyping facilities. The aim won't be to design machines to take over peoples jobs, but rather to augment human capabilities.