Academy of Economic Studies

Bucharest

Livia Ditu
Mirela Stefan

Story of the project:

- the connection between creativity and NGOs;
- why creativity is so important for their development;
- how new ideas can be generated in NGOs;
=> everything is exemplified on AIESEC.
Importance of the subject:
- Creativity - crucial for NGOs due to competition and need of funds;
- basis for NPD (New Product Development) projects
=> fund raising.

1. Introduction

2. Creativity
3. Non-governmental Organizations
4. Creativity and NGOs
5. Generating Creative Ideas in NGOs
6. Case Study: AIESEC

7. Creativity in AIESEC
8. Conclusion

Creativity is the phenomenon where

something new and valuable is created, when
you bring new and imaginative idea into
reality.
Theories about creativity: Grahame Walles (with his 5 stages),
Kaufmann and Baghetto (four C model), Gauliford (convergent and
divergent thinking), Helie and Sun (Explicit-Implicit Internaction),
Arthur Koestler (process of bisociation).
Torrance Test of Creative Thinking

Nature of Creativity R. J. Sternbers:

Creativitity under the Gun Amabile:

Can creativity be taught?

 Since 1839;
The most effective voice for the concerns of ordinary people in the international arena;
Called by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan the worlds new superpower.
Characteristics:
run by volunteers;
driven by their mission;
lack of bureaucracy;
accept ideas from everybody;
constraint by funding;
Classification:
By level of operation;
By level of orientation
By activities;

 determines creation of new projects => further funding for the NGO;
an NGO needs to be original so that it can differentiate itself of others competitors;
the leaders have an important role in creating a flourishing environment for creative ideas;
the process of generating creative ideas should not take the form of scheduled meeting (most of
the great ideas that launched companies came by accident )

1. Brainstorming

Reverse Brainstorming

2. Brainwriting

6-3-5 Brainwriting

3. Electronic Brainstorming

4. Nominal Group Technique

 exchange and leadership

development experiences for
students

AIESEC could be
considered as a clear
example of an environment
that promotes and
encourages creativity.

 75% of the respondents agreeing that on a scale from 1 to 5,

creativity has an importance of 4 for the development of the NGO;
something that you can learn and develop in time;

idea generation sessions do not take

place on a regularly basis and they do
not have a certain structure;

all four idea generation methods

presented are used in the two
committees;
brainstorming and brainwriting have a
higher frequency over the others;
80% of the respondents consider
NGT as the most efficient method.

1. Brainwriting with small breaks from the

session during which the chair of the
meeting can redefine the problem and the
addition of 1-2 elements of NGT to the
session.

3. Divergent thinking - it
typically occurs in a
spontaneous manner, followed
by unexpected connections,
characteristics similar to the
way of being of an Aiesecer

2. In the beginning of the meeting, the project manager

should remind to the participants the AIESEC
mission, the goals and purpose of the project and how
the meeting can help to achieve all these.

4. Put up a What if... board in

the offices where the members
can write outrageous what if
questions

Creativity is crucial for the development of an NGO because without creative

volunteers, NPD projects cannot be developed, so the mission of the NGO cannot be
achieved;

The leaders have to find what drives the volunteers and sustain that motivation;

From the point of view of the members, the process of generating ideas inside
AIESEC is characterized by gaps which should be solved;

The process of generating new ideas should be modified and adapt according to each
organization mission and culture, as well as volunteers personality and work style.