“The role of a creative leader is not to have all the ideas; it’s to create a culture where everyone can have ideas and feel that they’re valued” – Ken Robinson – the New York Times best-selling author of “The Element”, TED speaker, education and creativity expert.
As a business leader, cultivating creativity in your team or organization might be one of the most difficult aspects of your job. Far less tangible and quantifiable than production and processes, creativity is undeniably as important as both, yet research cited in the HBR article below suggests that up to 80% of American and British workers feel pressured to be productive rather than creative at work. Yes, it’s hard to measure creative success in the same way we measure widgets but, in the long-run, we all know that collective creation is necessary to progress and, therefore, must be worth the time, energy, and space to make sure it happens.
This article provides a useful path towards creating an environment in which structured creativity can yield constructive results. Author Ron Carucci suggests that it takes intentional, thoughtful leadership to foster a creative culture, as well as great self-awareness of your role in enhancing or hindering the creative process of your team. Knowing when to participate and when to step back is key. Understanding that creativity is messy, and yet needs to be defined and balanced, is also critical.
This is a great read and highly recommended.
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Harnessing Opportunity – Vol 4
We are living in increasingly complex times. As business leaders, we are being expected to balance financial insecurity, remote workplaces, rapidly changing health protocols, racial injustice, gender inequity, climate change…
