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Dan Pallotta in HBR:
The unspoken assumption is that our goal is to gain competitive advantage, to crush the competition, to win. But I believe that the best creativity comes from a much deeper place than the desire to win. It comes from a desire to contribute to the lives of others, either by introducing something new that improves the quality of their lives or by showing people that something thought to be impossible is in fact possible. When you change people’s perceptions about what can be accomplished or achieved, you contribute to their humanity in the richest possible way. You give them hope for the future — a sense that life is not the demoralizing, unchanging drudgery day after day that the world so often teaches us that it is. When you change the way people think about possibility, it is an existential experience. It makes them feel understood. More than that, it makes them feel loved.
Creativity or Innovation without a context is not useful but actually not very effective. The context is the key. In my work and while working with not for profits around Australia, the one thing I am emphasizing is the context of the marketplace, the customers and non-customers and the larger environment with a focus on your mission. Without this context, you cannot innovate.