Creativity Theory - TRaining MAterial in Creativity and InnovaTion ...

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46 B. SUCCESS FACTORS Likelihood of creative thinking High Low Time pressure Low High Creative thinking under low time pressure is more likely when people feel as if they are on an expedition. They: show creative thinking that is more oriented toward generating or exploring ideas than identifying problems tend to collaborate with one person rather than with a group Creative thinking under low time pressure is unlikely when people feel as if they are on autopilot. They: receive little encouragement from senior management to be creative tend to have more meetings and discussions with groups rather than with individuals engage in less collaborative work overall Creative thing under extreme time pressure is more likely when people feel as if they feel they are on a mission. They: can focus on one activity for a significant part of the day because they are undisturbed or protected believe that they are doing important work and report feeling positively challenged by and involved in the work show creative thinking that is equally oriented toward identifying problems and generating or exploring ideas Creative thinking under extreme time pressure is unlikely when people feel as if they are on a treadmill. They: feel distracted experience a highly fragmented workday, with many different activities don’t get the sense that the work they are doing is important feel more pressed for time than when they are “on a mission” even though they work the same number of hours tend to have more meetings and discussions with groups rather than individuals experience lots of last-minute changes in their plans and schedules Table 03: The time pressure/ creativity matrix. Source: Teresa M. Amabile, Constance N. Hadley, and Steven J. Kramer. “Creativity under the gun”, Harvard Business Review, August 2002, 56 Team quality and team cooperation is recognized as an important issue by many firms. In particular, Hewlett-Packard created one such model [35]. Uniformity is maintained as far as the problem and the goal definition are concerned while diversity in terms of how the issue can be tackled is promoted. Of course, this does not mean that such teams guarantee success. Personal talent and genius (individual creativity) are still needed. The HP model tries to solve everything else.
6. The Role of Leaders 6. The role of leaders Rapid technological change, global competition and economic uncertainty require, as we have seen, change at the organizational level, which also implies new forms of leadership. The top-down leadership models in hierarchical organizations are becoming less appropriate in terms of fostering innovation and creativity. Although traditional, directive, coercive leaders who are relatively authoritarian can be useful in motivating groups on simple tasks, for tasks that require creativity and self-motivation other forms of leadership are indispensable. New forms of leadership have arisen and are given different names: • Empowerment and distributed leadership • Trust-based leadership • Creative leadership • Innovation leadership • Change-centered leadership • Creative problem-solving leadership • Strategic leadership Creative leadership and how this may be implemented for nurturing creativity at the organizational, group and individual levels is highlighted below [36, 37]. As we have seen, change at the organizational level is very difficult to bring about, especially when it comes to changing the culture of an organization. Top management and a small team of consultants can change the structure of an organization through reorganization, merger or divestiture. Change that involves downsizing can also be commanded from the top. However, in order to change an organization’s culture, people must be motivated and induced to think and act differently. Such a major shift takes time and the support of people at every level. In many cases a major crisis is required to get that support. Professor Mike Beer from the Harvard Busi- ness School considers that there are four basic conditions for changing the culture of an organization: 1. Leaders are accepted, credible, and effective 2. People are dissatisfied with the status quo and feel personally motivated to change 3. The organization is non-hierarchical 4. People are accustomed to and value collaborative work In the absence of these conditions leaders need to work on these first. This implies a need to: 1. Involve employees. Employees need to be involved in the discussion about current and prospective problems. Management often fails to understand why employees are not as concerned about innovation and creativity. More energy and commitment is generated if people are involved in the process of identifying problems and solutions. 2. Create a working environment based on trust and provide opportunities for employees to inform / educate management about the dissatisfaction and problems they experience as they are closer to them than the management 3. Create an appealing and shared vision of the future. People will not buy into the pain and effort of change unless they can see a future state that is tangibly better – and better for them – than the one they have at the moment. Successful change leaders form such a vision and communicate it in compelling terms. 4. Support change from the top, but leave the thinking and doing to unit leaders and those most affected by change. 5. Celebrate milestones. Another responsibility of leaders at the organizational level is to set the strategic direction. If creative people do not understand where the company is headed, they are likely to generate and pursue ideas that do not fit with the company, that eat up resources and that will be 47 THEORETICAL PART
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