Understanding Innovation: Playing in the Sandbox with Friends

Paul T. Skaggs
(Brigham Young University, USA)

Abstract: This paper presents a metaphor for understanding innovation, the metaphor: playing in a sandbox with friends. The paper outlines the importance of innovation in workplace, the link between innovation and creativity and how innovation & creativity connect. Play in the metaphor represents creativity as an approach to working with opportunities. The sandbox is a space that stimulates, allows focus, provides materials, and fosters collaborative creation. Friends represent a collaborative team that provides a comfortable environment for sharing, critiquing, and building ideas. The paper also outlines barriers to each of these important innovation components.

Key words: creativity; innovation; curiosity; discovery; play

JEL code: O31