Creating a Creative Organization

Module 4

David A. JarvisSalve Regina UniversityMGT567 Creative Problem SolvingOctober 6-7, 20-21 2012

VIDEO: Why work doesn't happen at work (Jason Fried)

A culture that supports the creative process

A creative culture

People

Leadership

Environment

Process

Organizational characteristics to support creativity and innovation

Characteristic Green Yellow Red

Risk taking is acceptable to management XX XX XX

New ideas and new ways of doing things are welcomed

XX XX XX

Information is free flowing – not controlled XX XX XX

Employees have access to information sources

XX XX XX

Good ideas are supported by executive patrons

XX XX XX

Innovators are rewarded XX XX XX

SOURCE: Managing Creativity and Innovation, HBR

Risk taking is acceptable to management

Find organizational mechanisms for handling the risk/reward relationship

Communicate that risks are acceptable

Two key methods for dealing with risk: Diversification (portfolio of

ideas)

Cheap failures (fail fast)SOURCE: Managing Creativity and Innovation, HBR

“You got to know when to hold 'em, know

when to fold 'em, Know when to walk away and

know when to run.”

New ideas and new ways of doing things are welcomed

Innovation has to be a normal part of business

Have to communicate your reasoning

You can only shoot ideas down if: They lack strategic fit You lack resources to

implement them

SOURCE: Managing Creativity and Innovation, HBR

20% time

15% Rule

Connect + Develop

Information is free flowing and employees have access

Knowledge from inside and outside the organization

Knowledge management systems Social networks Lessons learned Best practices Communities of interest Customer visits Professional meetings and conferencesSOURCE: Managing Creativity and Innovation, HBR

Good ideas are supported by executive patrons

Important for radical innovation Provide

Moral support Guidance Protection Funding Resources

SOURCE: Managing Creativity and Innovation, HBR

Jeff Bezos Elon Musk

Steve JobsRobert Galvin

Innovators are rewarded

SOURCE: Managing Creativity and Innovation, HBR

Recognition Control Celebration Rejuvenation

Weird ideas that work

1. Hire “slow learners”2. Hire people who make you

uncomfortable, even those you dislike3. Hire people you (probably) don’t need4. Use job interviews to get ideas, not to

screen candidates5. Encourage people to ignore and defy

superiors and peers6. Find some happy people and get them

to fight7. Reward success and failure, punish

inaction

Weird ideas that work

8. Decide to do something that will probably fail, then convince yourself and everyone else that success is certain

9. Think of some ridiculous and impractical things to do, then plan to do them

10. Avoid, distract, and bore customers, critics and anyone else who just wants to talk about money

11. Don’t try to learn anything from people who seem to have solved the problems you face

12. Forget the past, especially your company’s successes

What makes a creative leader?

A creative manager?

Leadership styles

coercive “do what I tell you”

authoritative “come with me”

affiliative “people come first”

democratic “what do you think”

pacesetting “do as I do now”

coaching “try this”

Transformational leadership qualities

Open to change Involves followers in problem solving efforts

Responds positively to new ideas

Is supportive of new ideas

Encourages debate Entertains different perspectives

Allows freedom and autonomy

Encourages risk taking and accepts failure

The creative business?

Maximize business results

Maximize business creativity

coordination productivity control

originality influence usefulness

SOURCE: How to Kill Creativity, Amabile, HBR

How to manage creativity

Challenge Freedom

Resources Work-group features

Supervisory encouragement

Organizational support

SOURCE: How to Kill Creativity, Amabile, HBR

How to manage creativity

SOURCE: How to Kill Creativity, Amabile, HBR

Challenge Freedom Resources

• Match people with the right assignments

• Balance being bored and being overwhelmed (losing control)

• Give people autonomy to control the means of how things get done

• Ensure that goals remain stable

• Provide an adequate amount of time and money

• “Threshold of sufficiency”

• Don’t create fake or artificially tight deadlines

How to manage creativity

SOURCE: How to Kill Creativity, Amabile, HBR

Work-group features

Supervisory encouragement

Organizational support

• Mutually supportive

• Diverse perspectives

and backgrounds

• Share excitement

• Help teammates

through difficult times

• Watch out for

homogeneous teams

• Work needs to

matter to the

organization

• Minimize layers of

evaluation

• How do you treat

people who’s ideas

fail?

• Watch the level of

criticism

• Appropriate systems,

procedures, and

values to foster

creativity

• Encourage

information sharing

and collaboration

• Minimize political

problems

Ekvall’s climate dimensions

Challenge Freedom Idea support Trust and openness Dynamism and liveliness Playfulness and humor Debate Risk taking Idea time

A climate for creativity

Would you rather work here…

A climate for creativity

…or here?

A climate for creativity

Here…

A climate for creativity

…or here?

Physical environment checklist

Accessible, casual meeting space Physical stimuli Space for quiet reflection Variety of communication tools Employee-only space Customer contact space Space for individual expression Game or relaxation area

SOURCE: Managing Creativity and Innovation, HBR

The Allen curve

SOURCESBOOKS Arthur, Cropley. Creativity in Education and Learning. Routledge, 2001. ISBN-10: 0749434473 Kelley, Tom, Jonathan Littman, and Tom Peters. The Art of Innovation: Lessons in Creativity from IDEO, America's

Leading Design Firm. Crown Business, 2001. ISBN-10: 0385499841 Lehrer, Jonah. Imagine: How Creativity Works. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012. Leonard-Barton, Dorothy and Walter C. Swap. When Sparks Fly: Harnessing the Power of Group Creativity. Harvard

Business Review Press, 2005. ISBN-10: 1591397936 Managing Creativity and Innovation (Harvard Business Essentials). Harvard Business Review Press, 2003. ISBN-10:

1591391121 Puccio, Gerald, Marie Mance and Mary C. Murdock. Creative Leadership - Skills That Drive Change. 2nd ed. Sage

Publications, 2011. ISBN-10: 1412977576 Treffinger, Donald, Scott Isaksen, and Brian Stead-Doval. Creative Problem Solving: An Introduction. 4th ed. Prufrock

Press, 2006. ISBN-10: 1593631871

ARTICLES “Developing Creative and Critical Thinkers”, Col. Charles D. Allen, U.S. Army, Ret. and Col. Stephen J. Gerras, Ph.D.,

U.S. Army, Ret., Military Review, Nov-Dec 2009 “Sparking creativity in teams: An executive’s guide”, Marla M. Capozzi, Renée Dye, and Amy Howe, McKinsey

Quarterly, April 2011 “How Pixar Fosters Collective Creativity”, Ed Catmull, Harvard Business Review, Sept 2008 “Inside Cisco’s Search for the Next Big Idea”, Guido Joret, Harvard Business Review, Sept 2009 “How to Kill Creativity”, Teresa M. Amabile, Harvard Business Review, Sept-Oct 1998 “Cultivating organizational creativity in an age of complexity” (IBM study, 2011) “Defining Systematic Creativity” (LEGO Learning Institute, 2009) “Accelerate!”, John P. Kotter, Harvard Business Review, Nov 2012 “What Doesn't Motivate Creativity Can Kill It”, Teresa Amabile and Steve Kramer, Harvard Business Review Blog

Network, April 25, 2012 “KIDS Vision: Imagining Possible Futures for Technology”, Latitude Studios