Stimulating Creativity in Organizations

MSOP 622Scott Bohlin

What is Organizational Creativity?

Many different professionals and researchers give many different definitions but according to Woodman (Ref.7)

organizational creativity can be interpreted as the creation of a valuable, useful new product, service, idea, procedure, or process by individuals working together in a complex social system.

Creativity does not only concern thoughts/ideas, but also action, innovation, and progress (Vicari, 1998) (Ref.7) . Innovation is a defining feature of organizational creativity. New ideas should be implemented in order to achieve competitive advantage through innovation

It is also important to remember that although the terms are at times used interchangeably creativity is an individual or team level process, while innovation is the successful implementation of creative ideas at the organizational level.

How can we use it? Creativity is a powerful tool to use in business. Bennis &

Biederman are quoted as stating (Ref.1) “The organizations of the future will increasingly depend on the creativity of their members to survive. Great groups offer a new model in which the leader is an equal among Titans. In a truly creative collaboration, work is pleasure, and the only rules and procedures are those that advance the common cause"

1. Creativity leads to competitive advantage which research has already established causes growth in revenues, profits, and ROA.2. Creativity encourages learning. Through learning employees retain and improve competitiveness, productivity, and innovativeness 3. Unsworth, 2005 Creative people, managers and employees, may become more committed with their work and organization if top management values their work and ideas (Ref.2). This leads to better employee retention, higher quality applicants, and a more content workforce.

How do we maintain it? Any change to a business culture requires three elements to be

successfully implemented-1) Organizational support- When members perceive work environments

that restricts or fails to encourage creativity, a gap may exist between the level of individual creative potential and the actual amount of individual creativity practiced within that organization.

2) Supportive Leadership/Management- The organizations of the future will increasingly depend on the creativity of their members to survive. Great groups offer a new model, in which the leader is an equal among Titans. In a truly creative collaboration, work is pleasure, and the only rules and procedures are those that advance the common cause" (Bennis & Biederman, 1997) (Ref.1) .

3) Education- The greater the available knowledge and level of codification (the process of standardizing and developing a norm), the greater the probability that this will spread within the organization, leading to the definition of shared mental models that favor group work and the integration of competences.

Who will lead it? In order to build and sustain a culture dominated by creativity

and innovation, organizations must effectively identify and mobilize the creative resources of their members. This is where “Transformational leadership” comes in.

TFL is a style of leadership that helps to generate positive change or "transform" organizations through mutual engagement of both leaders and employees (Ref.1) .

To be a Transformational leader requires four important components-

1. Idealized influence, being a charismatic leader.2. Inspirational motivation, the ability to articulate and share a

vision.3. Intellectual stimulation, the ability to encourage and stimulate

their followers.4. Individualized consideration, which is a leader who takes their

followers needs into account.

How we doing so far? Obviously we cannot incorporate anything into our

organization without knowing if it is benefiting or disrupting our business. So we must be able to monitor and measure its progress. In this case we are already equipped to do these tasks with things such as the Balanced scorecard, Performance Dashboard, and Benchmarking. See examples below.

Production line Industry Average Company Goal Line production Status

Production Performance Dashboard

Line 1 Tabs 30,000 units 30,500 units 29,300 units Line 2 Tabs 30,000 units 30,500 units 30,165 units Line 3 Bottles 10, 000 units 11,000 units 7,050 units Line 4 Caps 20,000 units 21,000 units 23,010 units

How can I do it? Anyone can successfully contribute creativity and innovation to

their organization. Here are some ways how-1. Richard Brynteson writes “Hunting for trends is one of the first

steps in innovation work. Trend hunting should not be limited to a person in marketing research. Because of the web, anyone can and should be a trend hunter. Besides, trend hunting can be fun” (Ref.4).

2. If you’re a leader of a team remember “One doesn’t manage creativity. One manages for creativity” (Ref.6). Do not suppress or try to force creativity, support it and nurture it.

3. Believing in one self's ability to successfully engage in creative behaviors is considered an important part of the creative process. The more one believes in themselves , the more likely the individual will be to perceive opportunities to actually apply their creative potential in the form of creative action.

In Closing In order to build and sustain an organizational culture dominated by creativity and innovation, organizations must effectively identify and mobilize the creative resources of their members (Ref.5). The future has always been built on the ideas and creativity thinkers and doers, those who do not utilize such resource fall to the winds. I thank you for your time.

References• (Ref.1) HOLDING THE HELM: EXPLORING THE INFLUENCE OF TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP ON GROUP CREATIVITY, AND

THE MODERATING ROLE OF ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING CULTURE Phipps, Simone T A; Prieto, Leon C; Verma, Satish . Journal of Organizational Culture, Communication and Conflict

• (Ref.2) CREATIVITY, INNOVATION AND COLLABORATIVE ORGANIZATIONS de Sousa, Fernando Cardoso; Pellissier, René ; Monteiro, Ileana Pardal. International Journal of Organizational Innovation (Online) 5.1 (Summer 2012): 26-64.

• (Ref.3) Creativity and Firm-Level Performance: The Mediating Effects of Action Orientation Weinzimmer, Laurence GView Profile; Michel, Eric JView Profile; Franczak, Jennifer LView Profile. Journal of Managerial Issues23.1 (Spring 2011): 62-82,7.

• (Ref.4) Innovation at Work : 55 Activities to Spark Your Team's Creativity, by Brynteson, Richard, September 2012• (Ref.5) Leadership development: the key to unlocking individual creativity in organizations Houghton, Jeffery D; DiLiello,

Trudy C. Leadership & Organization Development Journal 31.3 (2010): 230-245.• (Ref.6) Creativity and the Role of the Leader, Teresa Amabile Mukti Khaire FROM THE OCTOBER 2008 ISSUE• (Ref.7) Organizational creativity: breaking equilibrium and order to innovate Borghini, Stefania. Journal of Knowledge

Management 9.4 (2005): 19-33