In my quest to read up on creativity in the workplace while writing this month’s articles, I found a few tidbits of information I thought would be great to share.

What are the experts saying about creativity in the workplace? It is the responsibility of leadership. Wow!  Is this surprising to you?

Reiter-Palmon (2011) wrote it is the leader’s role to facilitate creativity.

DiLiello, Houghton, and Dawley (2011) found training which supports creativity can be more effective than broad efforts which lack focus.

It is being predicted that creativity will be THE top leadership quality needed within the next five years.  An article in the September 2010 issue of Training + Development magazine cited a study published in 2010.  The study included 1,541 high level leaders from 60 countries and 33 industries.  “One of the three major findings from the study was that standouts tend to rely on creative leadership; that is, experimentation in the form of calculated risks and innovation, both in terms of finding new ideas, as well as leading and communicating dynamically.” (p. 26)

So, if you aren’t convinced yet that creativity is important in every organization, well … let’s see what the future holds.

 

DiLiello, TC, Houghton, JD, Dawley, D. (2011).  Narrowing the creativity gap: the moderating effects of perceived support for creativity. Journal of Psychology, 145(3), 151-172.
 
Nancheria, A. (2010). Creative leadership for the win. Training + Development, 64(9), 26.
 
Reiter-Palmon, R. (2011). Introduction to special issue: The psychology of creativity and innovation in the workplace. Psychology Of Aesthetics, Creativity, And The Arts, 5(1), 1-2. doi:10.1037/a0018586