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‘What was even a little surprising in the responses, was how close radical creativity was perceived to be to the core of research in all disciplines,’ says Assistant Professor Tua Björklund, one of the interviewers and authors of the report and the director of the study.  

Responses reflecting on the concept of radical varied from paradigm shifts and disciplinary transformation to concrete examples of knowledge from another field being applied to a new context or unusual ways of doing things.     

What is essential, however, is the strategic incentive to think bigger – beyond the incremental development. ‘Even if a scientist's or a teacher's own discipline is not related to creativity, innovation or development, understanding radical creativity can help enable scientific breakthroughs,’ explains Björklund.  

Sparking discussions for new thinking and collaboration  

The researchers suggest that by making visible and articulating the different manifestations of radical creativity (processes–outcomes, intentional–serendipitous, individual–collaboration), it will be easier for staff to perceive similarities and differences, which will, in turn, increase opportunities for radically creative collaboration and make it run more smoothly.   

‘Instead of everyone sharing the same definition about radical creativity, it might be more useful to increase understanding of the different approaches, and what they might add to your work and your field. This could inspire people to see connections and opportunities as well as better understand other disciplines,’ Björklund says.  

The interviews highlighted challenges with university and research funding that holds off radically creative research that does not fit into existing funding models. Despite this, there is still room for debate about what directions we as a community want to take within the current framework.   

‘If we want to be known for radical creativity, what could we do differently? What would we as a community like to focus on and how? This is the kind of discussion we would like to start.’ 

During the autumn and spring, the Aalto Design Factory research team has reserved time to present their findings in more detail, for example at department meetings or events where it would be beneficial to discuss how people from their own school or field comprehend radical creativity could open up new paths.   

The research team offers two options for presenting the results to the Aalto community:  

• 10–15-minute summary of the results and emerging issues in your school or field   
• a one-hour workshop with a brief introduction to the interview report and a workshop facilitated by the researchers, first to reflect on how radical creativity themes link to the participants' own work, and then mainly to discuss how participants could together better support radical creativity activities and what kind of collaboration opportunities could emerge between them.  

Further information: 

Tua Björklund , Assistant Professor, Aalto University Design Factory 
+358 50 511 3182  
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