Generating ideas at the ‘fuzzy front end’ of new product development is risky and has serious
consequences for all preceding development stages. One of the currently most prominent
techniques in supporting this idea-generation stage is the lead user approach. Involving lead
users in idea generation closely correlates to individual creativity, and both, in turn, to the
provision of information in social networks. This study, guided by lead user theory, creativity
research and network theory, investigates 16 school-groups of children examining the relationship
between the children’s social networks and their resulting creativity and lead userness.
In addition, the interplay between lead userness and creativity is discussed and
empirically tested. The main result of this study is that children who are positioned as
bridging links between different groups in social networks reveal both a high degree of lead
userness and a high level of creativity.