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How Darwin’s insights into how Creativity can help businesses to grow…

Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship are integrally and directly linked. According to Darwin, creative behaviour can enhance a persons adaptive fitness. Entrepreneurs can benefit from his insights and observations. Trial and error on its own is an inefficient process, rather creative thinking and insights can give rise to a unique competitive advantage. If we apply this behavioural trait to a community, or perhaps an economic or business model, this too, can potentially give us a compelling competitive advantage. Creativity leads to innovation and a willingness to embrace change is an integral part of how entrepreneurs can thrive, survive and prosper.

The Darwin Matrix (and App) is a process and a series of real time events that create a mindset and readiness for success. We called it Darwin Matrix because of the similarities it has with Darwinian principles. There are thought processes involved, including a distinct type of motivation for survival. What makes it interesting is the relevance it has to creativity and business. There are underlying lessons and rules that we can learn from Darwin’s observations that can serve as a vehicle for understanding not just how to survive but how to be creative and look for other solutions when the environment and basic resources change.

Darwin’s ‘natural selection’ theory proposals;

Spontaneous variations in a species
Biological inheritance
Environmental adaptions
Motivations for survival instinct affect behaviour
Survival to a mature state ensures a reasonable chance for reproduction
New species will emerge over time

Motivations for survival instinct affect behaviour…

Do expectations affect outcomes? We are concerned here with the connections implicit in, not only the survival of any particular species, but the impact on individuals – and groups – in a community and an economic model or business context. If Darwin has indicated that ‘Nature’ favours adaption and trying new ways in order to prosper and survive – surely there are lessons here that we can draw upon?

Darwin’s book on the “Origin of species” was a game changer in terms of understanding evolution and some would say “changed the world” and challenged “creationism”. The book describes the various species of finches on the Galapagos Islands. Each species of finches developed particular characteristics according to their environment and their food resource. For example, in some, their beaks were modified – sometimes within a single generation – to adapt to different food, like insects or seeds. The finches that survived were the ones that were best adapted to their environment and the type of food resource.available.

There is another source of inspiration that Darwin alluded to in his observations and has relevance to businesses today – that nature favours an adoption of creative outlooks and a propensity to try new things – ways that challenge current thinking, change the status quo and ignore ‘handed down’ wisdom. Without a creative behavioural trait – with no willingness to change when the environment or food resource became scarce, there would be no survivors. This is relevant in a business context, if we consider resources to include financial status, the market place and the capability and motivation to satisfy customer needs.

Amongst Darwin’s many achievements his contributions to perspectives on creativity give us insights as to how we might grow and be successful. A more highly adaptive and flexible approach to evolutionary traits, it seems, can favour the brave and the creative mindset.

Behavioural traits that are positive and conducive to be adaptive and survival are retained, conversely negative traits dramatically reduce the survival rate. Thus a learning curve is introduced whereby positive and flexible attitudes and attributes are an asset. Creativity plays its part in foregoing previous behaviours in favour of trying new things in order to gain a new competitive advantage.

The Creative Mindset

Once the creative mindset and the understanding of how creativity can help us to develop a competitive advantage is obtained, it needs to then continuously evolve (be prepared) in order to be sustainable and stay ahead of the game. The Darwin Matrix process and App reproduce these attributes by opening pathways to a mindset that includes creativity, analysis, insights and, crucially, motivation. The monitoring App technology can be used on any mobile device in real time, and ensures that the adaptions to change and the decisions taken thereafter are implemented and followed through.
see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjhGfAq_aUs

Darwin suggests that nature favours creative adaptation thinking
Evolution of Ideas and eureka moments