Culture Management and Creativity

Many concepts in the fields of managing creativity are very much applicable to culture management in general. The same concepts that foster creativity and innovation also maximise human capital potential, increase productivity, reduce costs and maintain competitive advantage etc. Some of the many commonalities between culture and creativity management follow.

a) A culture of psychological safety and freedom. A culture that limits experience, information and expression and allows relatively few members to contribute to decision-making is not taking advantage of the immense pool of available talent. Just as idea-generating sessions are conducted in environments that limit judgement, in order to elicit the contribution of all participants, so that philosophy should be extended throughout the organisation permanently.

b) Motivation is more important than natural ability. This is similar to possessing high intelligence ? one must be motivated to apply it and improve it. Human capital is optimised when participants have high intrinsic motivation and i) synergistic extrinsic motivators are present to facilitate the task and ii) non-synergistic facilitators are minimised. Further, specific motivators such as i) gap between ideal and real self, ii) degree of enjoyability, iii) degree of challenge, iv) feasibility, v) degree of self-determination, vi) recognition, vii) material reward, viii) time pressures, ix) project numbers and complexity and x) competition versus collaboration etc need to be measured and monitored.

c) Team structures. The group structure affects individual productivity. Individuals working alone, when motivated, have high output levels, but suffer from path dependency, parochialism and a lack of intellectual cross-pollination. Pairs reduce some of these tendencies and as groups get larger, negatives begin to outweigh the positives ? group think, status differentials and deference, politicking and the restriction of information are just some examples.

d) Competency and tacit knowledge mix. Without a varied tacit knowledge and competency mix and a collaborative approach, a number of things happen: i) groups significantly under-perform and ii) the gap between individuals increases. Competitive advantage is lost in the group, team, department and eventually the organisational.

These and other topics are covered in depth in the MBA dissertation on Managing Creativity & Innovation, which can be purchased at http://www.managing-creativity.com

You are free to reproduce this article as long as the author's name, web address and link to MBA dissertation is retained.

Kal Bishop MBA
Kal is a management consultant based in London, UK. He has consulted in the visual media and software industries and for clients such as Toshiba and Transport for London. He has led improv, creativity and innovation workshops, exhibited artwork in San Francisco, Los Angeles and London and written a number of screenplays. He is a passionate traveller.

In The News:

---

Google News Updated : Wed, 08 Oct 2008 02:50:04 GMT Ayers and Obama later worked on Chicago charitable boards together - CNN BBC News Ayers and Obama later worked on Chicago charitable boards together CNN - 1 hour ago By Drew Griffin and Kathleen Johnston CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) -- More than 30 years ago, William Ayers was a fugitive leader of the Weather Underground, an antiwar terrorist group known for its bombings of police stations, the Pentagon and the US ... Connelly: My tea with a 'terrorist' Seattle Post Intelligencer What’s The Obama-Ayers Connection? KPHO Phoenix Town Hall - Chicago Reader - New York Times - Los Angeles Times all 134 news articles Publ.Date : Wed, 08 Oct 2008 00:55:44 GMT Obama, McCain stretch facts in debate - The Associated Press Voice of America Obama, McCain stretch facts in debate The Associated Press - 48 minutes ago WASHINGTON (AP) - Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain stretched facts, sometimes past the breaking point, as they addressed the financial crisis and more during their second presidential debate. McCain, Obama Laud Buffett When Asked About Treasury Candidates Bloomberg Obama-McCain debate Question 2: How will Kansas City Star MSNBC - USA Today - Detroit Free Press - New York Times Blogs all 344 news articles Publ.Date : Wed, 08 Oct 2008 02:01:16 GMT Fed's new tool: Business loan bailout - CNNMoney.com Christian Science Monitor Fed's new tool: Business loan bailout CNNMoney.com - 1 hour ago By Chris Isidore, CNNMoney.com senior writer NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The Federal Reserve announced a new program to help the battered market for short-term business loans - taking its closest step yet to lending directly to businesses. Fed's Credit Tactic Has Small Effect Forbes Fed, in emergency move, will lend to companies The Associated Press Bloomberg - MarketWatch - BusinessWeek - The Miami Herald all 1,833 news articles Publ.Date : Wed, 08 Oct 2008 01:33:46 GMT Judge Orders 17 Guantánamo Detainees Freed - New York Times ABC News Judge Orders 17 Guantánamo Detainees Freed New York Times - 1 hour ago By WILLIAM GLABERSON WASHINGTON - A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the Bush administration to release 17 detainees at Guantánamo by the end of the week, the first such ruling in nearly seven years of legal disputes over the administration’s detention ... White House "Deeply Concerned" With Guantanamo Ruling Voice of America US judge orders Guantanamo Uighurs freed AFP Bloomberg - Financial Times - ABC News - Aljazeera.net all 692 news articles Publ.Date : Wed, 08 Oct 2008 01:49:29 GMT Bloomberg’s Gift to the People: Moi - New York Times Telegraph.co.uk Bloomberg’s Gift to the People: Moi New York Times - 1 hour ago By CLYDE HABERMAN An e-mail pen pal of mine in Alaska (no, not her, someone else) wrote the other day mentioning Marshal Philippe Pétain. UPDATE 1-NYC lawmakers to weigh bill raising term limits Reuters Bill to end term limits introduced in City Council New York Daily News The Associated Press - People's Daily Online - NY1 - WNYC all 434 news articles Publ.Date : Wed, 08 Oct 2008 01:08:24 GMT Obama And McCain On Small Business - CBS News CBS News Obama And McCain On Small Business CBS News - 3 hours ago The fifth installment of the series examines where each candidate stands on helping small businesses. Supported the government bailout aimed at easing the credit crunch. Obama-McCain debate Question 5: What sacrifices Kansas City Star Ad Wars: McCain Dishonorable and Obama Untrustworthy Huffington Post Atlantic Online - UM Maneater - Politico - The Plank on TNR.com all 441 news articles Publ.Date : Tue, 07 Oct 2008 23:28:47 GMT World markets mixed amid ongoing bank jitters - Forbes AFP World markets mixed amid ongoing bank jitters Forbes - 4 hours ago By PAN PYLAS 10.07.08, 5:55 PM ET World stock markets were mixed on Tuesday as banking stocks on both sides of the Atlantic took another pounding despite the US Federal Reserve's announcement that it will buy huge amounts of short-term debt in an ... TOPWRAP 15-Fed steps in but US stocks dive; UK to rescue banks guardian.co.uk Patrice Hill THE WASHINGTON TIMES Washington Times New York Times - AFP - Wall Street Journal - MarketWatch all 624 news articles Publ.Date : Tue, 07 Oct 2008 22:03:58 GMT Datafeeds For Blogs Amazon Content

PARLOT::Ebooks, Scripts, Websites, and more...

Adsense websites

Know the Source of Business