What do creativity managers do? Replace the word management with the word optimisation. That's what creativity managers do: they optimise the quality of the idea pool (creativity) and the implementation process (innovation). There are many methods of optimisation and the creativity leader must be aware of all of them, in other words, he or she must synthesise them for optimal effect. Areas [within creativity] that need managing include motivation, organisational culture, organisational structure, incremental versus radical effects and processes, knowledge mix, group structures, goals, process and valuation. Areas [within innovation] that need managing include idea selection, development / prototyping and the art of commercialisation. It is worth noting that 4000 good ideas result in 4 development programs, which in turn results in 1 winner. Effective Organizational Culture We can all be creative so what is stopping us? There are a huge number of blocks and one important grouping is "evaluation apprehension." We all want to be perceived in a positive light, intelligent, original. A number of cultural manipulations will increase creative output, including: a) Psychological safety: acepting the individual as of unconditioned worth recognising that the individual is capable of producing but that their value is not based on producing. b) Psychological freedom: understanding empathetically understanding the individual from their point of feeling and view. c) Separating creative from critical thinking: write first and edit later. Generate a large idea pool and then select; separate the idea generation and the idea selection. Learn more Download the MBA research, learn about this topic at http://www.creativity-management.com/ You can also receive a regular, free newsletter by entering your email address at this site. Kal Bishop, MBA ********************************** You are free to reproduce this article as long as no changes are made, the author's name is retained and the link to our site URL remains active. |
