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Article Check - Managing Creativity
1. First of all, know who the company is and what they do. You’ll be asked, “Have you heard of us?” and it is better to be able to respond in the positive. You can use the Internet to find out something about them. You look unprepared if you haven’t even taken the time to look them up.2. Make sure that you can remember what you did on your last few jobs. It doesn’t look good if you are asked what the project was on a job you worked on recently and you can’t even remember what the project did, or the name of it (been there).3. Study up on the skills that you know that they are looking for. You may well be questioned or even tested on those skills. Sometimes it’s difficult to remember much about something you did two years ago, but you’re going to have to. You’ll have to brush up on it agai
- 1980’s – You must be intrinsically motivated to be creative
- 1990’s – Creativity exists only in the right climate
- 2000's - Innovation is a combination of skills, motivation and climate
The intrinsic motivation, or desire, of an individual to be creative is linked to both their personal values and drives, tempered by the environment in which t
So why do so many American Companies offshore overseas? You know the real problem is the over regulation and the over lawyering in the United States. It gets to the point with all the rules and regulations and government agencies screwing with you and people like Elliot Spitzer threatening to do a PR drive bye shooting on your company, stock valuations and such, that it is not really worth dealing with.It is not only about cheap labor, although shareholders equity and quarterly profits are king indeed. You see this is the Ayn Rand affect as much as anything else. It is also an issue of money flows and cycles, these issues have plagued civilization for thousands of years and cheap imported linen from Asia and Far Middle East nearly took down the UK. In the Deming years we got cocky too, over unioned and r
The ability of an organisation to create new products/services and innovate new processes is an essential skill providing a sustainable form of competitive advantage.
Given that organisations need to be creative, why are only a few really good at it and why are only a few individuals perceved as creative?
In this article we will examine the theories that underpin creative organisations and the attributes of the managers and individuals who work within them.
Individualism
Theories of why one individual may be more creative than another have changed dramatically over the last 50 years. In the 1950’s it was considered that individuals with creative flair were ‘born’ not ‘bred’ and as such the hunt was on for people with these elusive skills. This theory evolved during the 1960’s but the feeling was still that individuals could not be trained to be creative.
In the 1980’s and 90’s two new theories came to dominate the discussion surrounding creativity, these being ‘intrinsic motivation’ (how much the individual wants to be creative) and the ability of the working environment to either stifle or promote creativity, so called ‘climate’.
Table 1 – Summary of thinking on Creativity
- 1950’s – Creativity is an ability that you either have or don’t have
- 1960’s – Creativity is a function of how mentally flexible you are
- 1970’s – Creativity can only flourish if you have relevant experience
- 1980’s – You must be intrinsically motivated to be creative
- 1990’s – Creativity exists only in the right climate
- 2000's - Innovation is a combination of skills, motivation and climate
The intrinsic motivation, or desire, of an individual to be creative is linked to both their personal values and drives, tempered by the environment in which th
The gains we get from increased productivity come to us in two main ways: higher wages, or less expensive products. Let's take a look at one product that costs less and delivers more value because of higher productivity:When I grew up in the 1950s, everyone in the neighborhood took notice when a new television set arrived. The cost of a set represented a big portion of a family's income.And then there was upkeep. In those days, we could count on our TV sets to make a funny noise and go black just before the car chase came to a climax, just before the big wedding on a soap opera, or just before the championship game. So we called a TV repairman, who came to the house, replaced a tube or two, and gave us a bill for which we hadn't budgeted.On the other hand, when you go to a discount store an
Individualism
Theories of why one individual may be more creative than another have changed dramatically over the last 50 years. In the 1950’s it was considered that individuals with creative flair were ‘born’ not ‘bred’ and as such the hunt was on for people with these elusive skills. This theory evolved during the 1960’s but the feeling was still that individuals could not be trained to be creative.
In the 1980’s and 90’s two new theories came to dominate the discussion surrounding creativity, these being ‘intrinsic motivation’ (how much the individual wants to be creative) and the ability of the working environment to either stifle or promote creativity, so called ‘climate’.
Table 1 – Summary of thinking on Creativity
- 1950’s – Creativity is an ability that you either have or don’t have
- 1960’s – Creativity is a function of how mentally flexible you are
- 1970’s – Creativity can only flourish if you have relevant experience
- 1980’s – You must be intrinsically motivated to be creative
- 1990’s – Creativity exists only in the right climate
- 2000's - Innovation is a combination of skills, motivation and climate
The intrinsic motivation, or desire, of an individual to be creative is linked to both their personal values and drives, tempered by the environment in which t
For small business owners, an enthusiastic vision for smooth, steady growth can become nothing more than a mirage once company cash flow problems begin to heat up. Most will struggle with the timing of payment from clients or customers at some point, all while attempting to pay their own bills in a timely fashion. With all of the best laid plans for rapid flowing cash streams evaporating down to just a gurgle in the ditch, the potential risk of joining the ninety-percent of businesses that fail within their first three years of operation becomes a very sobering possibility.Many of us would like to operate our companies the same way we do our personal lives. If we need a new lawn mower, we simply pull out the trusty credit card, sign on the dotted line and put off worrying about it until next month. Meanw
In the 1980’s and 90’s two new theories came to dominate the discussion surrounding creativity, these being ‘intrinsic motivation’ (how much the individual wants to be creative) and the ability of the working environment to either stifle or promote creativity, so called ‘climate’.
Table 1 – Summary of thinking on Creativity
- 1950’s – Creativity is an ability that you either have or don’t have
- 1960’s – Creativity is a function of how mentally flexible you are
- 1970’s – Creativity can only flourish if you have relevant experience
- 1980’s – You must be intrinsically motivated to be creative
- 1990’s – Creativity exists only in the right climate
- 2000's - Innovation is a combination of skills, motivation and climate
The intrinsic motivation, or desire, of an individual to be creative is linked to both their personal values and drives, tempered by the environment in which t
When it comes to metal fabrication equipment, you may have heard of an angle roll bending machine. Some may refer to it as a section bending machine, but its purpose is still the same - form raw pieces of metal into desired shapes and sizes.If you have ever seen an angle roll bending machine, you would agree that most are constructed in a vertical steel frame. It is common that the bending portion of the machine is located on one side, with the power and drive of the machine on the opposite side.This writing is intended to educate and help the purchaser of Angle Bending Machines to ask the right questions when considering a purchase.Power source:Small units are powered by an electric motor with a reducer. The power transmission is accomplished by gear trains and or chains / sprockets
Table 1 – Summary of thinking on Creativity
- 1950’s – Creativity is an ability that you either have or don’t have
- 1960’s – Creativity is a function of how mentally flexible you are
- 1970’s – Creativity can only flourish if you have relevant experience
- 1980’s – You must be intrinsically motivated to be creative
- 1990’s – Creativity exists only in the right climate
- 2000's - Innovation is a combination of skills, motivation and climate
The intrinsic motivation, or desire, of an individual to be creative is linked to both their personal values and drives, tempered by the environment in which t
Standardize your processes! You can save time, money and prevent errors. Things you do over and over should be done the same way every time, if indeed you do the task the best way. They say variety is the spice of life, but for healthcare processes it certainly isn’t most of the time. Consider this, if you would. Would you buy your favorite brand of soda if sometimes your 12 ounce can were 3/4 of the way full and sometimes almost overflowing. Certainly not. You expect there to consistently be nearly 12 ounces every time. How would a patient behave if the results of a healthcare visit varied wildly? The patient would probably find a new provider. The best healthcare providers deliver a consistently good service; it helps attract new patients and keeps the old ones coming back.S
- 1980’s – You must be intrinsically motivated to be creative
- 1990’s – Creativity exists only in the right climate
- 2000's - Innovation is a combination of skills, motivation and climate
The intrinsic motivation, or desire, of an individual to be creative is linked to both their personal values and drives, tempered by the environment in which they work and we need to examine the drivers of the organisational environment next.
Environmental Trauma!
Research undertaken by Ekvall defined 10 dimensions, or characteristics, of a creative working environment. Each dimension has a scale that extends from very uncreative through to very creative and the aim is that through both observation and questionnaires the climate of a business is plotted against each of these 10 categories.
Table 2 shows what each of Ekvall’s 10 dimensions would mean in an extremely creative and a powerfully uncreative climate:
-Dimension: Creative Organisation-->Uncreative Organisation
-Challenge: Energetic-->Indifferent
-Freedom: Independent Initiative-->Rule-Bound
-Dynamism: Excitedly Busy-->Boring/Slow
-Openness: Trust & Failures Accepted-->Failure Punished
-Idea Time: Off Task Play-->Little Off Task Play
-Playfulness: Happy & Humorous-->Dull & Serious
-Conflicts: Debated with Insight-->Warfare
-Support: People Listen-->Negative/Critical Comments
-Debates: Contentious Ideas Voiced-->Little Questioning
-Risk Taking: Act on New Ideas-->Detail & Committees
From experience, few businesses define themselves as having a highly creative environment as many of the characteristics in this area go against cultural norms for business in many Western cultures, but the best are working toward the creative end of the scale, whilst the norm tends to
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