Creativity Support Systems

Creativity support systems (CSSs) aid companies in finding ways to differentiate themselves by examining their current paradigm and improving or modifying the paradigm in a fundamentally new way. The four key factors involved in the execution of creative acts are the four Ps: person, process, press, and product. Each of these four factors plays an active role in how CSSs should be designed and utilized. The cognitive process of creativity starts in the mind of individuals to formulate the problem and produce ideas. At the individual level, a CSS can be used to present a variety of stimuli to the individual in an effort to break cognitive inertia and to help stimulate dissimilar memory chunks or frames. Various creative processes and techniques can be supported and implemented in a CSS. The creative press or environment is the context in which creative ideas are produced and explored. When a CSS is introduced to the creative process, it brings in its own internal environment comprising of the technology’s spirit and its structural features. The creative product can be measured by the quality, the novelty, degree of originality, feasibility, appropriateness, or usefulness of the idea. As organizations strive to produce creative products, CSS tools, with their potential to enhance or modify the creative output of an individual or group, become increasingly called upon to aid in this goal.