Understanding creativity motors and obstacles in product development

Although many factors have been found to facilitate creativity in product development, the evidence of these studies lacks explanations of the mechanisms enhancing or impeding creativity. Building upon the model of Van de Ven and Poole (1995), a framework is formulated for understanding the motors of creativity in product development. Four motors for driving creativity are proposed: creativity as an evolutionary process, life cycle process, confrontation between different groups or individuals or within the context of a purposeful individual or team. A multiple-case study of three Swedish manufacturers explores the motors further and complements the framework with drivers of and counterforces to the four motors, for example, the existence of challenging managers and the perceived inappropriateness of certain formal processes for creative work. Although creativity is the result of the four motors operating simultaneously, each of the four motors provide different conditions for radical and incremental innovation.