Signs of Scientific and Creative Genius in Business

Genius, previously termed gifted, is a person who excels in one or a number of fields in a manner that contributes something new and unique. Geniuses develop new ideas, concepts, artistic forms, or new scientific breakthroughs in order to advance the field. Businesses are naturally interested in geniuses because they can either solve new problems or create new discoveries. A study by Dr. Keith Simonton helps define the differences in creative and scientific genius and how these are impacted by genetics and life. 

Genius as a Creative Output

Genius is more than being intelligent or ranking high on certain abilities tests. It is also about the actual output marks the individual that creates it. For example, having all the abilities in the world is great but eventually they must be used to create something. A telltale aspect of genius is the advancement of a new artistic piece, a scientific theory, or literary work. 

Genius as Intelligence:

Creative genius and scientific genius may hold some similar traits but ultimately rely on different types of skills. For example, scientific genius typically has intelligence over 140 while creative genius has an IQ over 125. The reason may be more associated with the nature of test taking whereby creative individuals could see multiple answers to problems and may take longer to answer questions.  The higher forms of genius having greater broader skills that applies across multiple spectrums. 

Genius as an Environmental Factor:

Genius is not all biological. Some places and times in the world created more geniuses than others. These are certainly not due to the slow pace of biological development and more likely oriented toward the sociocultural aspects of society at the time. The right atmosphere can help more geniuses come forward with ideas and created golden ages in societies. 

 The Benefits of Applying Genius to Business:

Genius can have many uses and each advancement in knowledge or creative output helps push society forward. When applied to the business world it can have a significant impact on the type of products developed and the amount of profits a business can make. A single invention can change the trajectory of development creating new lines of market solutions and put companies on top of their game.

It may seem like genius in one field cannot be applied easily to business but this is not always the case. Artistic genius can be transferred to media arts and design, scientific genius to product development, and creative genius to solve strategic problems. The transference of skills may not be one to one but the general skills can apply to solve unique problems. Developing the right exploratory environment and applying the skills to a specific task can make a big difference.

Simonton, K. (2012). Creative Genius as a Personality Phenomenon: Definitions, Methods, Findings, and Issues. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 6 (9).

National Growth as a Result of Research and Development Expenditures

Economic growth requires the creation of new products and services for sale that develops new financial revenue streams. Creative works contribute to economic growth by allowing for solutions to market problems and effective consumer utility. On a national scale research and development can increase the gross national product of entire nations. 

The first step in understanding economic development is the production of creative works. Creative works can be defined as a systematic approach to increase the stock of knowledge that contributes to man, culture and society by developing new applications (OECD, 1993). Such creative works are then further developed to make consumer products. 

The human capacity to innovate has an impact on productivity growth (Porter and Stern, 2000). This productivity growth is based on the intellectual capital within R& D projects and available national knowledge stock. As investments are moved into R&D, it is the human capacity that develops creative works from available information to solve market problems. 

Research by Guloglu and Tekin (2012) studied the relationships among R&D, innovation and economic growth in the countries of Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom and the United States.  R&D expenditures, patents and Gross National Product were considered important factors in the research in order to determine how each influences the other. A Granger-Causality Testing Methodology was used to analyze the results. 

Results: 

-There are positive relationships between R&D and innovation, R&D and economic growth, and economic growth with innovation. 

-R&D cause technological change and this technological change causes economic growth. 

-Causality relations between R& D and technology may also work in reverse. 

-Support for the Schumpeterian view that R&D sectors generate innovation and enhance rates of growth in the economy.

-Support that inventive activity and innovation are pro-cyclical. 

Analysis:

The development of national wealth is a result of the capacity to use human capital to engage in R&D projects that can be used to develop creative works and enhance GNP. Organizations contribute uniquely to the development of their nation by developing products and services that create higher levels of revenue that make their way into the economy. Through synergistic R&D developments and knowledge sharing national positions on the global market can be enhanced.

Author: Dr. Murad Abel

Guloglu, B. and Tekin, R. (2012). A panel causality analysis of the relationship among research and development, innovation and economic growth in high-income OECD countries. Eurasian Economic Review, 2 (1).

OECD (1993). The measurement of scientific and technological activities: Proposed standard practice for surveys of research and experimental development (Frascati Manual).Paris:OECD

Porter, M. and Stern, S. (2000). Measuring the ‘ideas’ production function: Evidence from international patent output. NBER Working Paper, 7891.