Innovation and Incentives

Last week at a leadership summit, a creativity expert says that 98% of us think creativity is important in our jobs. And this fits with other experts that some form of creativity (as opposed to jobs where mechanical routine occurs--and often those jobs have been automated). However, only 45% believe we're creative. (95% of us in the US think we're creative whereas western Europeans are between half and three-quarters and Asians are at 1 in 5 believing they're creative.)

Unfortunately, only 2% believe our organization helps us be more creative.  Daniel Pink reports that financial incentives don't help us be more creative. Teresa Amabile in an early study found students to be more creative without competition and more collaboration. Later, she and her co-author found that creative people are more motivated if they make progress on their projects. Recognition, goals, incentives and interpersonal support didn't help. Yet, managers don't see helping their associates make progress as important to being motivated and being more creative. In a different talk, Juliet Funt bemoans that many of our organizations don't allow the 'white space' needed for creativity. "Our days are filled with 100% exertion and 0% thoughtfulness," she says.

The creativity expert warns against adding creativity to your mission statement, or even buying everyone a creativity book. Help your teams be more creative by being creative yourself: taking time to think 'around' an issue, recognizing the world has changed, and merging experience and information into a new idea that moves progress.