The Creativity Post: We admire stories of creative leaders. We like to hear tales of CEOs and political leaders bringing about transformation with fresh ideas and innovative thinking. And there is good reason for it. Studies reveal that more creative people are better able to lead positive change in organizations and are better equipped to inspire followers. But while we love reading up on how these leaders turned the tide in their industry or organization, recent research suggests that most creative people aren’t given the opportunity to lead. We love stories of creative people; we just don’t want to be led by them.
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It seems that all companies today are looking for creativity, innovation and independent-thinking. There are many articles that keep popping up on the blog about how to be more creative, how to encourage and sustain an innovative culture in the workplace. Everyone is looking for this golden creativity, because it's supposed to be the new key to productivity, yet no one really knows how to approach it. This article shows that there's a significant disconnect between what people think of the concept of creativity and how they feel about the actual quality itself. It's clearly a desirable characteristic, but it seems that when confronted with it, it makes people uncomfortable and unwilling to listen and follow. I think it will be very interesting to see how company culture is going to shift regarding this specific aspect in the next several years as people come to terms with what creativity in the workplace really means.
It is good that people seem to value creativity more. Every time it is mentioned, creativity just gets brought closer and closer to the limelight. The funny thing is, in public schooling, they try to crush your creativity and make you conform to the social norms. People like to see creative things, but they don't want you to be creative. Isn't that a bit of irony there? Creativity isn't stressed enough in America to make the well rounded person. It is only once you get to taking art classes that they let you go a little crazy with your imagination.
In Japanese society, they value creativity in people. Innovative thinkers are what they want out of all the kids that go through their schooling. For entering a profession that is ages old, one must master the craft first before adding their own flair, but that is what makes it good. After all, art is the same way.
Being creative in the workplace seems to be becoming more popular. It seems in the past the business orientated and super organized were the people getting good jobs but recently I have seen more articles about the creative person getting better jobs. Business seem to be looking for people who will find a new and innovative way to solve problems. Lots of people want to be creative but it seems like not many people want to follow the directions of the creative. This is an unfortunate trend because many creative people could be changing the way we live but they do not always get the same chance.
Creativity in the workplace has always been present, it just hasn't really been recognized. It takes creativity to push a business forward, to develop new ones, and to maintain steady ground. Products and trades were not conceived without a creative mind. Creativity is not alone in maintaining a business though but also courage. New ideas can fail and it is probably because of this that business people are skeptical of super out-of-the-box thinkers.
I actually can see why it's better not to have a more creative person be the leader leader, but it is crucial to have a creative person on a team, always. Creative people tend to be less structured (this is not to be seen in a negative way, it's actual great for those who are creative!) and that allows them to see things past what they are. A leader needs to be structured, keep the order, know how to lead a group. Both positions are crucial to a successful group! I think a leader should still have some creativity and not be a total brick wall (haha get it!? structure, brick wall!) but they shouldn't be the one on the team who understands how the green wall was feeling last night when Jeffrey left the party. (That probably isn't a good example...) And the creative person should have a small sense of structure because they need to be reliable.
I understand where this article is coming from about creative people in leadership. Often creative people are attributed to a more scatterbrain approach to their craft, which makes them great at what they do, but less good in management though. I subtly agree with this, but I also think the best leaders are those who are all naturally creative people at heart, but can reign that in when things need to get done. I think the best managers are those who can creatively problem solve and add to the ideas of the artistic team, while also being able to make sure everyone is doing their job and staying on schedule.
I can definitely see some of the ring true here at CMU as well. Not on a large scale of any sort, but in the different student orgs I am part of, I can see where creativity and thinking out of the box is really needed. In one organization I am part of, we had one creative person elected to a high position, and he had some ideas that could have been considered extreme and thus received push-back. Eventually, he was outnumbered and an excuse was found to remove him from office. Now he isn't too active in the org anymore. My point is that people do have a hard time coping with those that are more creative. And at the same time, I can see the need for the structured,not so creative, people. But you definitely both types of people on the team. However, you also need to make sure they can work well together, otherwise it will just result in a mess and someone being removed from the position. Or so it seems from my experiences.
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