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5.4 Innovation & Creativity at Work
Organizations today are the 'primary crucible for human development'. As such they have a great influence on humankind's future development, for better or worse. Much has been said and written about organizations from an external, structural point of view: how they should define their business mission, set their strategies for differential advantage, design their structures and objectify their tasks, to assure the efficient and successful attainment of their economic goals. Indeed, this is how we have tended to think of business: as an external structured mechanical approach to attainment of tangible economic goals. Recently, however, questions have been arising about the internal, less tangible side of our organizations: why does the organization have the purpose it does, what values are inherent in its purpose, how are these values manifested in its culture, and how does this culture affect the motivation and contribution of its employees to the company's purpose? This questioning has spurred the scientific inquiry by the behavioral sciences toward a better understanding of this cultural side of organizations.
At the same time as the above trend, the need to increase creativity and innovation in our organizations has emerged. Driven by the globalization of competition, and the increased pace of change in the situation around them, organizations are questioning whether their products or services are sufficiently innovative to meet the needs of the changing environment. On contemplation of the need to increase creativity and innovation, it becomes apparent that faster, smarter technology will not be enough. The creativity of the human being must be enhanced as well. Thus the question before the organization is how do we increase the creativity of our employees?
These two streams of inquiry, how we can understand the contribution of our culture to the achievement of our company purpose, and how we can increase our creativity, come together in the question: how does the culture of an organization affect the creativity of its employees?
This question has been the focus of a research effort by the Centre for Creative Leadership (CCL) and Dr Teresa Amabile of Brandeis University. Dr Amabile is well known for her research into the effect of the social environment on the creativity of the individual. Her research has documented a link between the social environment around an individual and the creativity of the individual's work output. The link is the effect the social environment has on the intrinsic motivation of the individual. One does one's most creative work when one is primarily motivated by the enjoyment of the task itself, and not by extrinsic motivators. Thus the basic theory underlying the CCL research is that organizations can increase their employees' creativity by shaping a social environment that encourages the inner motivation of the employee to emerge and engage with the work task.
The CCL research has had two goals: to identify and measure the factors in organizational climates which affect employee creativity, and to provide an organizational intervention methodology which makes this information useful to organizations which desire to improve their climates for creativity i In this research design, Dr. Amabile provided the theoretical and empirical expertise, while CCL provided the client interface and the organizational intervention expertise, see Table 5.2.
Table 5.2: Centre for creative leadership: brief descriptions of the WEI factors with sample items from each scale
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STIMULANTS TO CREATIVITY Coworkers Teamwork, willingness to help each other, commitment to the work, and trust with fellow workers. In my work group, people are willing to help each other. The people in my work group are committed to our work. Resources Access to appropriate resources, including facilities, equipment, information, funds, and people. The facilities I need for my work are readily available to me. Generally I can get the resources I need for my work. Challenge Challenge due to the importance of the work and the intriguing nature of the task. I feel that I am working on important projects. The tasks in my work call out the best in me. Freedom Freedom in deciding how to accomplish the task. A sense of control over one's work and ideas. I have the freedom to decide how I am going to carry out my projects. In my daily work environment I feel a sense of control over my own work and my own ideas. Supervisor A manager who gives support to subordinates, communicates effectively, and sets clear goals. My supervisor clearly sets overall goals for me. My supervisor values individual contributions to project(s). Creativity supports Encouragement and support for creativity from top management; mechanisms for developing creative ideas in the organization. In this organization top management expects that people will do creative work. People are encouraged to take risks in this organization. Recognition The existence of rewards and recognition for creativity in the organization. People are recognized for creative work in this organization. People are rewarded for creative work in this organization. Unity and cooperation A shared vision within the organization and a cooperative and collaborative atmosphere. There is a generally cooperative and collaborative atmosphere in this organization. Overall, the people in this organization have a shared 'vision' of what we are trying to do.
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OBSTACLES TO CREATIVITY Insufficient time The lack of time in which to consider alternative ways of doing the work. I have too much work to do in too little time. We do not have sufficient personnel for the project(s) I am currently doing. Status quo The reluctance of managers or co-workers to change their way of doing things, a generally traditional approach. There is much emphasis in this organization on doing things the way we have always done them. Management avoids controversial ideas in this organization. Political problems Lack of cooperation between areas of the organization, and battles over turf issues. People in this organization are very concerned about protecting their territory. There are many political problems in this organization. Evaluation pressure Perceived inappropriate evaluation or feedback systems or environment focused on criticism and external evaluation. People are quite concerned about negative criticism of their work in this organization, People in this organization feel pressure to produce anything acceptable, even if quality is lacking.
CRITERION SCALE (OVERALL RATING BY EMPLOYEES) Creativity How creative the organization is overall. Overall my current work environment is conducive to my own creativity. My area of this organization is creative. Productivity How productive the organization is overall. My area of this organization is effective. Overall this organization is productive. |
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