BUS272 TB

satisfying, and challenging (discussed in more detail in Chapters 4 and 5 ) , correlates
fairly strongly with creative outcomes. This link is true regardless of whether we are
talking about student creativity or employee creativity. 80
It’s also valuable to work in an environment that rewards and recognizes creative
work. The organization should foster the free flow of ideas, including providing fair and
constructive judgment. Freedom from excessive rules encourages creativity; employees
should have the freedom to decide what work is to be done and how to do it. A 2012
study of 385 employees working for several drug companies in China revealed that
both structural empowerment (in which the structure of the work unit allows sufficient
employee freedom) and psychological empowerment (which lets the individual feel
personally empowered) were related to employee creativity. 81
Good leadership matters to creativity. A 2012 study of more than 100 teams working
in a large bank revealed that when the leader behaved in a punitive, unsupportive
manner, the teams were less creative. 82 By contrast, when leaders are encouraging in
tone, run their units in a transparent fashion, and encourage the development of their
employees, the individuals they supervise are more creative. 83
As we learned in Chapter 6 , more work today is being done in teams, and many
people believe diversity will increase team creativity. Past research, unfortunately,
has suggested that diverse teams are not more creative. More recently, however, a
2012 study of Dutch teams revealed that when team members were explicitly asked
to understand and consider the point of view of the other team members (an exercise
called perspective-taking), diverse teams were more creative than those with less
diversity. 84 A 2012 study of 68 Chinese teams reported that diversity was positively
related to team creativity only when the team’s leader was inspirational and instilled
members with confidence. 85 Another 2012 study in a multinational pharmaceutical
company found that teams that comprised members with diverse business functions
were more creative when they shared knowledge of one another’s areas of expertise. 86
Collectively, these studies show that diverse teams can be more creative, but only under
certain conditions.
Chapter 12 Decision Making, Creativity, and Ethics 431
Creative Outcomes (Innovation)
The final stage in our model of creativity is the outcome. Creative behaviour does
not always produce a creative or innovative outcome. An employee might generate a
creative idea and never share it. Management might reject a creative solution. Teams
might squelch creative behaviours by isolating those who propose different ideas. A
2012 study showed that most people have a bias against accepting creative ideas because
ideas create uncertainty. When people feel uncertain, their ability to see any idea as
creative is blocked. 87
We can define creative outcomes as ideas or solutions judged to be novel and useful
by relevant stakeholders. Novelty itself does not generate a creative outcome if it is not
useful. Thus, “off-the-wall” solutions are creative only if they help solve the problem.
The usefulness of the solution might be self-evident (for example, the iPad), or it might
be considered successful by stakeholders before the actual success can be known. 88
An organization may harvest many creative ideas from its employees and call itself
innovative. However, as one expert recently stated, “Ideas are useless unless used.” Soft
skills help translate ideas into results. A 2012 study found that among employees of a
large agribusiness company, creative ideas were most likely to be implemented when
the individual was motivated to translate the idea into practice—and when he or she
had strong networking ability. 89 Another important factor is organizational climate;
a 2013 study of health care teams found that team creativity translated into innovation
only when the climate actively supported innovation. 90 These studies highlight
an important fact: Creative ideas do not implement themselves; translating them into
creative outcomes is a social process that requires use of other concepts addressed in