Creativity

"How to Kill Creativity."

This article argues that more often than not creativity is not a high priority in most organizations and therefore it suffers. The author points out that most people want creativity to flourish; however most businesses tend to undermine creativity to maximize business imperatives such as coordination, control, and productivity. The author’s research has shown that it is possible to develop the best of both worlds: organizations where business needs are attended to and creativity is allowed to flourish. Amabile defines what business creativity is through three components: expertise, motivation, and creative- thinking skills.

1.  Amabile, Teresa M. "How to Kill Creativity." Harvard Business Review (1998).

"Creative Leadership: Be Your Teams Own Innovative Officer."

The author of this article states that “creativity is an organizations bloodline.” She claims that leaders have the ability to either enhance or completely strip away the creativity of a work team. Furthermore, the piece offers four specific tips to encourage teams to think innovatively and effectively. The first suggestion is to establish clear goals and then let your people find their own way to them. The second is to monitor their work, but only at a distance. The next suggestion is to facilitate your teams work. Lastly, the author claims that leaders should create fruitful idea generation and idea evaluation processes.

2.  Ross, Judith A. "Creative Leadership: Be Your Teams Own Innovative Officer." Harvard Management Update (2007): 1-6