ABSTRACT
Creative discoveries are increasing in importance across domains such as medicine, pharmacology, and technology. With millions of dollars being spent on high-risk creative endeavors, it is important to understand the processes involved with highly successful innovative initiatives. While recent noteworthy strides have been made in this area (e.g., Hunter, Bedell, & Mumford, 2007; Mumford, Hunter, Eubanks, Bedell, & Murphy, 2007), there is still much room for advancement. Gone are the days when companies achieved profits solely by streamlining a process or cleverly advertising a product. Clearly, these elements are important; however, true competitive advantage often comes through creative discovery (Amabile, 1988, 1996), and it does not come cheap. Because implementable creative ideas are rare, are embedded with high levels of risk, and thus often fail, the process is incredibly expensive (Mumford, Scott, Gaddis, & Strange, 2002). Therefore, an increased understanding of what leads to a creative discovery is extremely valuable.
