Consider a recent transformation at Procter & Gamble. Consider the results of an intensive research project we recently completed called the Team Events Study. Such support is the job of an organization’s leaders, who must put in place appropriate systems or procedures and emphasize values that make it clear that creative efforts are a top priority. As for work style, the scientist will be more likely to achieve creative success if she perseveres through a difficult problem. A creative idea cannot be born in an environment limited by logic and rationality. They claim that employees are “empowered” to explore the maze as they search for solutions but, in fact, the process is proscribed. At the same time, new product successes and new business ideas seemed to be slowing to a trickle. Can executives build entire organizations that support creativity? By following each team every day through the entire course of a creative project, we had a window into the details of what happened as the project progressed—or failed to progress, as the case may be. 200+ of the Best Self-Help and Personal Development Books, 71 Morning Routine Ideas to Successfully Start Your Day, Learn Something New: 101 New Skills to Learn Starting Today, Best Pedometer Watch (and Wearable) Review for 2020. But they should understand that inclusion in those discussions will not necessarily enhance creative output and certainly will not be sufficient to do so. Take expertise. There are no definable cost savings from running the products where they do, and there is no counterproposal on how to save the money another way. If you decide that a logical course of action is the best, no wonder, you don't feel creatively stimulated. Yet another National team had put in particularly long hours over a period of several weeks to create a radically improved version of a major product. It is challenging for enterprises that lack innovation and creativity to survive successfully in the market. One employee told us that he was afraid to tell his managers about some radical ideas that he had developed to grow his area of the business. Extrinsic motivation comes from outside a person—whether the motivation is a carrot or a stick. In fact, clearly specified strategic goals often enhance people’s creativity. Seriously, if you can't function efficiently, don't expect your brain to offer you creative ideas on a platter. They must be able to assess them not just for their knowledge but for their attitudes about potential fellow team members and the collaborative process, for their problem-solving styles, and for their motivational hot buttons. But the truth is in the workplace, you either let them try to express their creativity or you will kill their drive and desire to contribute. Incorporate creative behavior into the performance appraisal process. When I consider all the organizations I have studied and worked with over the past 22 years, there can be no doubt: creativity gets killed much more often than it gets supported. The work itself is motivating. Indeed, our research suggests that intrinsic motivation increases when people are aware that those around them are excited by their jobs. And just as important, they work in organizations where managers consciously build environments that support these characteristics instead of destroying them. The dilemma is that you can’t possibly know beforehand which ideas will pan out. It is almost conventional wisdom that creative teams need open, comfortable offices. By contrast, managers who kill creativity do so either by failing to acknowledge innovative efforts or by greeting them with skepticism. This is a very common thinking habit. When it comes to project resources, again managers must make a fit. Their intrinsic motivation will evaporate. Almost invariably, though, they found their passion and interest growing through a deep involvement in the work. Ignorance of the creative process is not lack of creativity – it's a choice. At first, many team members were energized by the fire-fighting atmosphere. In another instance, a product that had been identified as the team’s number one project was suddenly dropped without explanation. They are under pressure for results. But the solution that arises from the process is likely to be unimaginative. For instance, in one project, we interviewed dozens of employees from a wide variety of companies and industries and asked them to describe in detail the most and least creative events in their careers. We can still write, paint, dance, and dream when our symptoms are being treated – and since I’ve been taking meds for my attention deficit, I can pay the bills on time, too. Many of us think that most questions generate only one correct answer. Will ADHD Meds Squelch My Creativity? Help!”. Harvard Business Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School. But homogeneous teams do little to enhance expertise and creative thinking. Members of the CNV team also were given a clear, challenging strategic goal: to invent radical new products that would build the company’s future. The scientist can have outstanding educational credentials and a great facility in generating new perspectives to old problems. Taking the six categories that have emerged from our research in turn, let’s explore what managers can do to enhance creativity—and what often happens instead.
2020 behaviors that kill creativity