Creative Inspiration

BADM 6713 – Residency PresentationBergstrom, Beverly, Mitchell, et. al

July 2013

Background

IS INNATE

BECOMES UNLEARNED

HOW DO WE RECAPTURE?

FOCUS: PROFESSIONAL CREATIVITY (“PRO – C”)

*

* (Land & Jarman, 1993)

Creativity myths *

* (Breen, 2004)

- Creativity comes from creative types- Money is a creativity motivator- Time pressure fuels creativity- Fear forces breakthroughs- Competition beats collaboration- Lean/streamlined orgs are creative

Impacts on creativity (prior research)

- Climate (Chang, Hsu & Chen, 2011)- Stress (Kudesia, 2010)- Location (Bainbride, 1998)- Environment (DeSalvo, 1999)- “Taking a Break” (Lubart, 2001)- Autonomy (Breen, 2004)- Groups (Mullen, et al, 1991)- Activities (Heslin, 2009)

Research Q’s: Recapturing creativity

- How is Pro-C perceived?- What contextual factors are present when Pro-C

inspiration strikes?- How is creativity fostered/promoted?- Does functional track impact contextual factors?

Methods• Interviews

– (8) one-on-one interviews– 30 minutes– In-person (at place of business) and over telephone

• Participants– Professionals with 10+ years of experience– Each team member will conduct two interviews

• One from output function (marketing, sales….)• One from throughput function (supply chain, acct., operations….)

Initial Findings/ThemesPro-C Perceptions

Creativity put to use in a business setting- Requires a base level of relevant

knowledge/expertise and the right motivation (intrinsic versus extrinsic)

- Nothing unique about this type of creativity other than the focus of the creativity (i.e., directed toward business versus other endeavors/activities)

Initial Findings/ThemesContextual Factors

Routinized Behaviors

• Morning rituals• Exercising• Nearing sleep

Removal from direct stress

• Meditation• Research• Take a break• Public setting

Provides the ability to …- Put mind on auto-pilot- Rise above the clutter of thoughts, - “It's not likely to be at work [where I find creativity]. If I need

to pay attention to the meeting, I'm not really leaving headspace to let my mind wander about.”

- CONNECT THE DOTS

Culture/climate that encourages …- Risk-taking- Relevant differentiation- Continuous experimentation- Fun - Psychological safety (i.e., is OK to make mistakes)- Interpersonal congruence- Trust- Autonomy- Customer centricity

Initial Findings/ThemesPromoting Creativity

Helps individuals to …• De-stress and• Connect the dots

In line with prior research

“There's a guy who is bringing the full force of creative energy at work, in large part because I gave him that opportunity and cleared his plate of a whole lot of things so that he would have the time and the resources at work to crack these hard problems and come up with really creative and innovative solutions.”

No significant functional differences were noted- Just the areas impacted by the resulting creativity

Initial Findings/ThemesFunctional Differences?

Implications to Practice/Future Research

Keys to ProC Creativity:– Staying relevant to the area of creativity– Having passion on a topic/area (intrinsic motivation)– Keeping an open mind– Continuous experimentation– Remaining agile– Taking planned risks

Keys to Creative Inspiration:– Not thinking about the problem/Getting distracted– Getting Isolated, possibly in a Vulnerable Way

An area of future research:– Effects of openness, relevance, experimentation, passion, agility, and planned

risk taking on ProC Creativity via a conjoint analysis– Vulnerability and Creativity, Pre-Sleep Creativity

Thank you!!!!!

ReferencesBainbride, J. (1998). Great ideas are not desk-bound. Marketing, 63.

Breen, B. (2004). The 6 myths of creativity. Fast Company, (89), 75–78. Retrieved from http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/users/p/padilla/www/435-Leadership/Creativity Myths Dec 2004.doc

Chang, C.-P., Hsu, C.-T., & Chen, I.-J. (2011). The relationship between the playfulness climate in the classroom and student creativity. Quality & Quantity, 47(3), 1493–1510. doi:10.1007/s11135-011-9603-1

DeSalvo, T. (1999). Unleash the creativity in your organization. HRMagazine, 44(6), 154–164.

Heslin, P. a. (2009). Better than brainstorming? Potential contextual boundary conditions to brainwriting for idea generation in organizations. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 82(1), 129–145. doi:10.1348/096317908X285642

Kaufman, J. C., & Beghetto, R. a. (2009). Beyond big and little: The four c model of creativity. Review of General Psychology, 13(1), 1–12. doi:10.1037/a0013688

ReferencesKudesia, R. (2010). Innovators love yoga and you should too. Leader to Leader, 11–16. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ltl.435/abstract

Land, G., & Jarman, B. (1993). Breakpoint and beyond: Mastering the future--today. Harper Collins.

Lubart, T. I. (2001). Models of the Creative Process: Past, Present and Future. Creativity Research Journal, 13(3-4), 295–308. doi:10.1207/S15326934CRJ1334_07

Mullen, B., Johnson, C., & Salas, E. (1991). Productivity loss in brainstorming groups: A meta-analytic integration. Basic and applied social …, 72(1), 3–23. Retrieved from http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1207/s15324834basp1201_1

Stroebe, W., & Diehl, M. (1994). Why groups are less effective than their members: on productivity losses in idea-generating groups. European review of social psychology, 5(June 2013), 37–41. Retrieved from http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14792779543000084