When it comes to creativity, organizations are in a tough spot.
It starts with the realization that innovation is essential to the success of almost any organization. Even if your organization is not at the cutting edge of technology, and even if it operates in a more or less traditional domain, innovation, in its broadest sense, is a key to achieving even more challenging targets.
Innovation is its broadest sense covers all aspects of the organization, from the products or services it offers, to its internal operational processes.
When this realization becomes apparent, the next logical step is to set a target for you employees. Creativity is leading the “required skills table” for quite some time, and together with critical thinking and complex problem solving it will continue to rule it in the future. At the same time, you already have valuable people working in your organization. You expect them to be creative and innovative as well. You might wonder if they really are.
And here lies the greatest challenge to the organization: overcoming the myth that we are either creative or not. Before you give up on your allegedly non-reactive employees, you should ask yourself what have you done to help them develop their creative skills. Have you given your most valuable assets a fair chance to catch up and make the most of their creative potential? Have you created the right setup to support and promote creativity? Did you even define what creativity and innovation are in the context of your organization?
[clickToTweet tweet=”It’s your responsibility to provide your emp the tools and the setup to master their #creativity” quote=”It is your responsibility to provide your employees the tools and the setup to develop and master their creative potential”]
Creativity is essential to your organization. The future of your organization relies on its ability to innovate in one way or the other. And surely you need creative people to achieve that.
But creativity is not something you either have you don’t. It can be developed and improved. Assuming you already have good people in your team, it is your responsibility to provide them the tools and the setup to develop and master their creative potential. Expecting them to just “get the message” and be more creative ASAP is not realistic. It’s also not fair play. It’s like asking someone to get in shape by tomorrow, or else…
In many senses, creativity is magic. It sure looks like one when you see it. But as any good magician knows, behind any magic there’s a lot of hard work. Don’t just expect magic to happen. Make it happen!