Most people think creativity is the same as innovation; they are not. Creativity is the ability to think up or come up with new ideas or things and innovation is doing new things or it is more of ideas in action. The late Peter Drucker once said that innovation is, "the specific instrument of entrepreneurship . . . the act that endows resources with a new capacity to create wealth." In his "Seven Principles of Innovation," Drucker adds that:
- purposeful, systematic innovation begins with the analyses of opportunities
- innovation is both conceptual and perceptual
- that innovation, to be effective, has to be simple and it has to be focused
- he added, that effective innovations start small
- and that successful innovations aim at leadership
Hence, if African countries are to grow and develop, they need to be creative and innovative economies, coming up with new products and services for the global marketplace — moving away from being producers and exporters of only raw materials.
The Center for Innovation and Creativity Dynamics at the African Graduate School of Management and Leadership will undertake research, publish, and hold conferences and seminars on Creativity and Innovation in general but in particular as it pertains to Africa and its growth and development efforts.