Creativity and innovation involve spotting new opportunities as well as the implementation, development and review of new ideas. Whereas creativity is about ideas, invention and breakthroughs by identifying things that are novel, original and unexpected, innovation is more about the process of bringing these creative ideas to fruition.
Creativity may come from an individual perspective and be influenced by personality, motivation and expertise but it can be greatly enhanced by the organisational culture. For example, how often are your employees given the opportunity to do something differently?
Innovation is more at the group and organisational levels when people work together to implement new products, services and processes and the focus is on teamwork and collaboration.
"The social environment can influence both the level and frequency of creative behaviour" (Amabile et al 1996)
In a literature review of how organisational culture can influence creativity and innovation (McLean, 2005) Kanter's ideas of what supports innovation were cited:
Develop integrative structures - which enable people to work together and share knowledge and ideas. With the growth in social media applications there is now a plethora of opportunities to enhance internal communication processes for greater collaboration across functions and departments.
Place the emphasis on diversity - organisations that actively encourage diversity benefit from greater innovation. In an article by Page (2007) it is argued that diversity powers innovation:
Innovation provides the seeds for economic growth, and for that innovation to happen depends as much on collective difference as on aggregate ability. If people think alike then no matter how smart they are they most likely will get stuck at the same locally optimal solutions. Finding new and better solutions, innovating, requires thinking differently. That's why diversity powers innovation.
Have multiple links outside of the organisation - innovation is not just about coming up with novel ideas but about looking at how existing ideas can be implemented in novel situations. Creative organisations and people look at how they can borrow ideas from another context and encourage their employees to seek knowledge from external sources.
Demonstrate collective pride and faith in people's talents - talk to people about the outcomes rather than the inputs and recognise their achievements. Angle (1989) believed motivation is key to creativity and innovation and found that power based on expertise rather than position was a contributory factor.
Emphasise collaboration and teamwork -provide tools and processes that enable frequent communication and information flows between people, teams and departments. Involve employees in the decision making process so it becomes decentralised.
Tesluk et al (1997) believed the following also had a positive influence on building a creative culture:
Goal emphasis - making it clear that creativity and innovation are valued organisational goals.
Means emphasis - developing methods and organisational procedures based on creativity and innovation.
Task support - providing the time, funding, equipment, materials and other resources required to develop creative and innovative solutions to problems.
Socio-emotional support - demonstrating a concern for the welfare and best interests of the individual so they feel more open to taking risks.
Freedom/autonomy - empowering individuals with the ability to make decisions.
From the other perspective, the literature review also highlighted a number of things that impede creativity and innovation including:
- Too much control
- Centralised decision making
- Lack of first line manager support or encouragement
- Hierarchical structures
- Blame cultures and an aversion to risk taking
- Lack of diversity
In summary, keep communications open, value diversity, allow people to take reasonable risks and provide support and acknowledgement for novel, interesting ideas.