Regional Development, Innovation and Creativity

The contribution is focused on analyzing the major approaches of experts to the contents of terms creativity, invention, innovation etc. The aim is to specify the content of these terms and find degree of interconnection and influence from different perspectives. The introduction is based on the basic definition by Schumpeter, who defined innovation as combination of development changes. Following, there are characterized approaches of authors, who developed the original Schumpeter's theory, and now they are primarily focused on successful management of innovation in enterprises. Common features of definitions are application of new ideas, change, improvement and invention. It is necessary to distinct innovation and invention, which is the ability to find new knowledge, see the possibilities of useful changes, but it is only the first step in a long innovation process in which a good idea gets into the form of useful and effective product or service. Subsequently, the article deals with creativity, which means the ability to create new technical and cultural, spiritual and material values. Creativity and its link to learning and achieved experience are regarded as condition for creation, processing and dissemination of innovation and thus the highlight of creativity became the basis for creative economy, which is precisely grounded on human creativity. The article explains the difference between creativity and innovation, where innovation is more than just an original idea - it means that new ideas must be implemented successfully on the market or that things will be implemented in new ways. The essence of creativity lies in the diversity of thinking. Its base is divergent thinking, in which personality focuses on expanding and finding new and appropriate solutions to problems and opportunities of various logical alternatives. The creative potential is the sum of knowledge, skills, abilities, and motivation, personal and moral qualities which are involved in the creative process. At the end of the article, there is an innovative model, which expresses the relationship between creativity and innovation characterized by creative skills as essential part of the comprehensive model in terms of the prerequisites for innovative capacity and innovation potential of enterprises.