Week 4 Reading Reflection

Week 4 Reading Reflection

“Innovation: The Creative Pursuit of Ideas” by Kuratko

It was incredibly interesting to read about Kuratko’s perspective on entrepreneurial imagination and the nature of the creative process. He says that “entrepreneurs blend imaginative and creative thinking with a systematic, logical process ability.” This is the kind of thinking that leads to the ability to find opportunities in the world. I also found it very interesting that Kuratko sees creativity as a process that can be developed and improved. Some people who are more creative than others may have just grown up in an environment that was encouraging and open to the flow of creativity or was just born with a greater aptitude for creativity.

I found myself confused about the topic of incongruities during this reading. An incongruity is defined as something that occurs when a gap or difference exists between expectations and reality. I am assuming that Kuratko includes this term because he is saying that there is an opportunity for entrepreneurs to fill that gap between expectations and reality.

 

If I could ask Kuratko a question, I would ask him, “what is the best way for one to become aware of perceptual changes in the environment?” While certain opportunities are relatively easy to spot, it seems very hard to foresee perceptual changes. Is there a way to train your eye to spot them before others do? Another question that I would ask Kuratko is “what is the timeline on developing one’s creativity?” He wrote several pages giving tips to enhance one’s creativity, but I am curious to know how much work must be put in to see even a small amount of change.

I did not find anything in this chapter that I disagreed with. Instead, I found a section that I agree with completely. Phase 2 of the creative process, called the incubation process, is very relevant to my own creative process. Like Kuratko suggests, my best ideas come to me when I sleep on it, engage in routine and mindless activities, exercise regularly and sit back and relax on a regular basis. Whenever I am feeling stressed about needing to come up with an idea, I follow these tips rather closely.

Megan