What do you think of when considering what it means to be creative? Do you think about an artist in their studio? A writer at their desk? Or a great inventor like Nikola Tesla or a groundbreaking researcher like Marie Curie? These are all examples of “Big-C” creativity, eminent creative works with incredible value to our society.
But creativity isn’t just limited to artists, inventors, or scientists. It’s all around us in our daily lives, and we use it daily in our jobs and homes. In fact, over the past 50 years, researchers have become more curious about how we are creative, not just as individuals but in groups and organizations. We’ve come to understand creativity as a process of engaging in divergent thinking, collaborating with others, and interacting with our environment to generate new ideas, solve vexing problems, and develop new products.
We still don’t know much about group and organizational creativity, but we do know that engaging in the creative process, even at a micro-scale, can lead to innovation and a positive long-term future for the organization. It can also lead to happier, more engaged employees, even those who don’t see themselves as creative contributors. This is especially true when employees are given creative freedom in their work.
You can probably name some of what are traditionally considered the world’s most innovative companies that get all the press for being cutting-edge. Think Apple, Toyota, Google, and Amazon, to name a few, massive corporations with deep pockets to invest in research and design and hire top talent in their industries. But even outside labs and development meetings, creative leadership is seen as a path forward for navigating an increasingly complex social and economic environment. In 2010, IBM conducted a qualitative interview study of 1,500 CEOs in 60 countries and 33 industries. According to the final report, these CEOs anticipated that the future would bring only more ambiguity, but creativity was the most critical leadership competency for success. The report concluded that leaders should embrace ambiguity, take risks, and move beyond “tried-and-true” models to support creative success within their organizations.
I became interested in creativity when I began my first job as an in-house communications coordinator. I love communications and marketing work because it gives me the opportunity to be creative in a way that contributes meaningfully to my organization, and this process was greatly enhanced when I worked with others. I became fascinated with why certain teams and organizations seem to have more creative process engagement than others. In particular, I am interested in how culture and leadership shape how often the folks on a team try new ideas, take risks, and, at times, fail forward.
I don’t think the creativity that leads to innovative solutions should be limited to the Fortune 500! In fact, most of the companies above started as small projects with lean teams, creative leaders, and a culture of creativity. Creative teams can be found in all sectors and all levels of an organization. My passion is the creative teams in the higher education, nonprofit, and public sectors, particularly those embedded in deeply complex institutions. Because of my professional background, I am particularly interested in marketing and communications teams, a space where creative freedom often plays a vital role in projects. However, creativity isn’t just limited to marketing and communications. Creative leaders and contributors are essential to supporting organizational change and innovation across the organization.
You may wonder how you, as a leader, manager, or even just an individual, can help build a culture of creativity in your team or organization. The reality is that there is no one-size-fits-all approach. Decades of research have shown promising evidence around particular influences, like brainstorming sessions, rewards, and team composition. Unfortunately, some of these aren’t always practical in public institutions, and they don’t always align with the organization’s mission.
Instead, I advocate for viewing organizational creativity from a cultural lens. This allows for a more holistic understanding of the values, assumptions, and systems that shape creative engagement in your organization or team. With that understanding comes the ability to determine ways to modify those systems and use leadership, team, and organizational development strategies to collectively support cultural change.
So why creativity? Creativity is key not only to an organization successfully fulfilling its mission but also to supporting engaged teams and individuals.