Invite creativity to work

We all know that business challenges require inventive solutions. So why do we limit creativity at work to job titles such as graphic designers, coders and marketers?

A study of 1500 global CEOs uncovered that organisations that masterfully navigate change and are more innovative, all had creative leaders at the helm. For these CEOs, creativity was noted as the single most important trait for navigating through the complexity of corporate data, technology, and regulations.

The study recommended that creativity needs to exist at all levels, not just CEOs and that if you require a workforce that excels in problem-solving, you need to create an environment that promotes innovation and encourages creativity - across all departments and functions from accounting to customer service.

The product of creativity

Creativity prevents stagnation, facilitates growth and agility, and boosts productivity.

READ: Creativity is not just child’s play

By encouraging employees to challenge the status quo and finding new and better ways of doing things, your employees and your company would be better equipped to cope with the VUCA world by means of:

• Higher productivity. Creative employees are often more engaged and motivated which leads to increased productivity and efficiency.
• Innovation and problem-solving. Creative thinkers are better equipped to find novel solutions to complex challenges. When employees are encouraged to think creatively, they are more likely to generate new ideas and solutions to challenges, leading to continuous improvement and competitive advantage.
• Adaptability and resilience. Creative employees are more flexible in their thinking and better equipped to navigate uncertainties and embrace change.
• Employee engagement and satisfaction. Encouraging your employees to bring their unique talents and perspectives to the table fosters inclusivity and empowerment. The result is higher engagement and job satisfaction, and better retention of staff. A culture of creativity also promotes teamwork, communication, and collaboration, strengthening the relationships among employees.
• Positive organisational image. Organisations known for encouraging creativity attract top talent and enhances the organisation’s brand image. Creative organisations can develop cutting-edge products and services which differentiate them from competitors and help them to stand out in the market.

WATCH: The benefits of creativity

In the book Tomorrow Mind, the authors break creative thinking into four types:

• Integration,?or showing that two things that appear different are the same
• Splitting,?or seeing how things that look the same are different or more usefully divided into parts
• Figure-ground reversal,?or realising that what is crucial is not in the foreground but in the background?
• Distal thinking,?which involves imagining things that are very different from the here and now.

For everyone, one of these types would come naturally and we would use it in our daily lives. They all offer a unique approach but do have the potential for blind spots such as integrators trying to find synergies that do not exist, and splitters overcomplicating a simple solution. Individuals should become aware of their creative instincts and challenge themselves to try styles that do not necessarily come naturally to avoid overuse of their approach in all scenarios.

Management needs to understand how people approach creativity, balance the types of thinking across teams and use the differentiations to welcome different ways of thinking. Perhaps a starting point would be to encourage your employees to present at least one option across the four styles. A critical review on an organisational level of how business innovation has been approached such as questioning whether there are patterns emerging of leaning more towards distal thinking or perhaps innovation that has been devoid of figure-ground reversal thinking.

The building blocks of creativity

The human race’s progress has been very much dependent on our ability to innovate, to adapt and to create. Organisations are no different.

Creativity is not only how we think, but also depends on expertise and motivation:

• Expertise. The content-related knowledge and skills, and everything the person knows and can do in the broad domain of their work. ?
• Creative-thinking skills. Creative thinking refers to how people approach problems and solutions and their capacity to group existing ideas together in new combinations. This skill depends on personality as well as how they approach imagination and flexibility.
• Motivation: Willingness to expend energy in producing a new concept through passion and interest. This motivation is beyond earning a salary but rather focused on adding value.

WATCH: The mindset of motivation

Here’s how not to kill creativity

Many leadership styles kill creativity for a variety of reasons. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that creativity is something that you manage. Rather you manage for creativity.

Here is some helpful direction proposed by Teresa M. Amabile?and Mukti Khaire on how to manage for creativity:

-Engage the right people, at the right time, to the right degree

• Tap ideas from all ranks
• Encourage and enable collaboration
• Open the organisation to diverse perspectives

-Scale creativity

• Map the phases of creative work
• Manage the commercialisation handoff
• Provide paths through the bureaucracy
• Create a filtering mechanism

-Fanning the flames of motivation

• Provide intellectual challenge
• Allow people to pursue their passions
• Be an appreciative audience
• Embrace the certainty of failure
• Provide the setting for “good work”

?

In addition, the following practical tips could assist leaders in welcoming creativity:

• Create a supportive culture. Leaders should establish a culture that encourages risk-taking, values diverse perspectives, and rewards creative efforts. Mistakes are part of the learning process and all ideas are respected. Fail safe, and fail forward.
• Provide time and resources. Allow employees dedicated time to explore their creative interests and projects. Provide access to resources, training, and tools necessary for creative work.
• Encourage cross-functional collaboration. Interdisciplinary collaboration can spark fresh ideas and break down silos. Encourage employees from different departments to work together on creative projects.
• Recognise and reward creativity. Acknowledge and celebrate creative achievements, whether big or small. Publicly recognise employees’ efforts and contributions to fostering creativity.
• Offer autonomy and independence. Micromanagement can stifle creativity. Trust your team members to make decisions and allow them to have autonomy in their work. Manage the ends, but not the means.
• Promote continuous learning. Provide opportunities for skill development and learning techniques through workshops, training sessions and exposure to new experiences which stimulate creativity.
• Establish work groups. Match people with the right assignments which will challenge them, together in a group to work together towards the solution. Work groups should be diverse, and the members should be excited about the goal, willing to be team players that support, respect and recognise others knowledge and perspectives.

Investing in creativity should be a strategic imperative that can lead to increased innovation, productivity, and organisational success. By creating a supportive environment that values and nurtures creativity, organisations will have a competitive edge not only in output, but also in terms of an engage and well workforce.