Enabling Creativity and Innovation

Abstract

[Excerpt] The capacity to harness intellectual and social capital and to convert it into novel and useful things has become the critical organizational requirement of the age. Organizations need to frame tools, methods, and approaches that boost creativity and innovation, particularly in the public sector. Creativity is as scarce as it is important—many organizations are simply short of it. In tandem with innovation, which creates unexpected value, creativity is now recognized as central to organizational performance. Creativity does not materialize exclusively in a person’s head but in interaction with a social context. It flourishes in organizations that support open ideas; the rest stifle creativity with rules and provide no slack for change. To be sure, most managers do not suppress creativity on purpose. Yet, in the pursuit of productivity, efficiency, and control, they frequently undermine it. The agenda for change is great.