I recently gave a presentation at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design on a topic entitled "Is creativity management an oxymoron?"
The essential confusion to people resistant to the idea of "creativity management" was the word "management." Replace it with the word "optimization" and the resistance disappears; all we're really trying to do is optimize the quality of the idea pool and optimize the implementation process.
Then you can suggest that most people already implicitly accept the idea of creativity management: if you ask them to solve a problem or engage in a particular endeavour, one of the things they're likely to do is herd people into a room with a flip chart and conduct some sort of brainstorming session and implicit in that action is the acceptance that certain methods, processes and procedures enhance creative output.
Then you can begin discussing how to improve the enormous amount of creative output people generate, from problem solving in everyday business life right up to the level or art.
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TIP OF THE DAY: ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE
It can be concluded with great certainty that certain organizational cultures inhibit creativity and innovation whilst others foster it. Some organizations are just better at identifying problems, generating and selecting valuable ideas and developing and commercialising them - this is why those firms tend to maintain competitive advantage and remain leaders in their field.
Another way to look at the problem is in terms of blocks. Certain organizations create or enhance blocks that prevent their human capital from working to its potential. Some of the many blocks include:
a) Conformity and risk aversion
b) Culture dictating behaviour
c) A sense of inappropriate behaviour
d) Negatively assessing own ideas
e) Logical thinking, scientific, cause and event thinking
f) Rejection of ideas without adequate valuation processes
g) Competition inhibiting behaviour
h) Fear of being perceived as being unoriginal
i) Fear of being perceived as being unintelligent
j) Problems have an illusion of difficulty
k) Waiting for inspiration
l) Lack of resources
m) Lack of tangible progression of good ideas
n) Lack of focus or goal
Resolution techniques include:
a) Psychological safety (Vernon, 1980) – accepting the individual as unconditioned worth – recognising that the individual is capable of producing but that their value is not based on producing.
b) Psychological freedom (Vernon, 1980) – eliminating a climate in which external evaluation is absent; understanding empathetically – understanding the individual from their point of feeling and view.
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If you haven't already done so, you can buy the MBA Research Project on Managing Creativity and Innovation, DIY Audit, Good Idea Generator software and the 50 slide Powerpoint Presentation from http://www.managing-creativity.com
Best
http://www.managing-creativity.com
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