here’s an article on knowledge based engineering and some opinions on incremental innovation, creativity, and streamlining.
http://www.cadserver.co.uk/common/viewer/archive/2005/Mar/14/news3.phtm
Another point not to overlook is that in many situations, intelligent re-use of design knowledge elements can also reduce the need for big breakthroughs, by assisting (Kaizen style) incremental innovation that is constantly moving forward in small managed steps.
The key is in the creative thinking that drives the rules base: Using rules to create rapid variants within a “range†shouldn’t restrict innovation, it should enable a more sophisticated suite of designs overall. On the other hand, a strategy of using knowledge systems to “lock in†established practices can restrict innovation and worse, could actually “dumb down†the organization and restrict its ability to react to a changing context.
So the critical factors in the successful implementation of knowledge systems relate more to the strategic management of their creation, implementation and ongoing evolution than to the tactics of their application to specific projects, or even to the IT tools themselves.