Idea collections: a link between creativity and innovation

In this essay we propose that considering ideas, or more specifically idea collections, should provide an important link between creativity and innovation. Ideas sit at the nexus between creativity and innovation, the point where one research stream has traditionally ended, and the other begun. Improving our understanding of samples, or collections of ideas, should provide a point of integration. To do this however, idea collections need to be built and shaped, maintained and, ultimately, used. In this brief article we comment on activities that should aid in building and shaping collections, developing collections of ideas to be more favorable to innovation processes, and using collections to extract more than single ideas to offer a variety of potentially fertile directions for future research.