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Unit Outline Creativity in the Organization Characteristics of a Creative Organization 1. What types of communication influence creative organizations? * Horizontal * Vertical 2. How does the organization's distribution of authority affect creativity? 3. How does the organizational culture affect creativity? 4. What are the characteristics of the leader of a creative organization? Building a Creative Workforce 1. What can I do to foster a climate of creativity? * Keep an open mind * Have a reward system for creative ideas * Do not equate new ideas with trouble * Share information * Support risk taking Developing Creativity 1. How can I use creative thinking in different management functions? 2. How can I use creative thinking when solving problems? * Brainstorming * Simplifying * Exaggerated objectives * New perspectives 3. How can I use creative thinking to help me manage change? * Remain open-minded

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* Encourage participation 4. How can creative thinking help me in negotiations? 5. How can creative thinking help me resolve conflicts? * Build trust * Stress unity and cooperation 6. How can creative thinking help me be a better coach? Unit Content Creativity in the Organization Characteristics of a Creative Organization What types of communication influence creative organizations? A creative organization allows ideas to flow in all directions by providing clear channels of communication. Information flows in two directions:
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Horizontal Vertical

Horizontal Horizontal communication is the discussion that occurs between peers. When employees interact and stimulate creativity within their department, or between departments, they generate greater opportunities for their co-workers to see situations in new ways. Looking at a situation from different points of view allows employees to develop creative ideas that may not have developed otherwise. Vertical Vertical communication is the ''chain of command'' in the organization. Make sure that individuals with creative ideas can use communication channels that flow vertically within the organization. All ideas should be formally acknowledged and follow-up communication should be made outlining the steps taken to implement, or reject, the suggestion. Employees who generate useful creative ideas should be given time away from routine work to develop these ideas. Unless upper management is aware of the need for this time to be set aside, creative ideas will not flourish. How does the organization's distribution of authority affect creativity? Some organizations greatly encourage creative thinking while others discourage it. The structure of an

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organization greatly affects the mind-set of its employees and its acceptance of creativity: Centralized decision making. A centralized organization makes all its decisions at one location and with high-level managers only. This practice limits the organization in any efforts to be creative, since only a few individuals generate and consider ideas. The result is little opportunity for employees lower in the hierarchy to make creative and innovative decisions. Decentralized decision making. Decentralized organizations allow employees to make some decisions themselves. Employees closest to a situation usually have the most creative ideas on how to make improvements. Upper management benefits from these creative ideas, especially since they may be applicable throughout the organization. How does the organizational culture affect creativity? The culture of an organization determines how employee creativity is affected: Not willing to tolerate errors. Tightly-run organizations do not have the flexibility to recover quickly from the errors possible with new ideas. These companies value established routines and efficiency. Creativity tends to be less encouraged in this kind of environment. Willing to tolerate errors. An organizational structure that allows and expects the possible errors that accompany new concepts will tolerate a percentage of unproductive ideas. These companies are flexible enough to incorporate beneficial ideas, expect risk-taking by managers and reward creative thinking. What are the characteristics of the leader of a creative organization? The leader must have a dynamic personality. The successful leader of a creative organization needs a strong emotional commitment to the product or concept. A leader with a confident and persuasive personality will be successful in persuading others to support the organization. The leader must have the respect of employees. Employees will work harder to support a leader they respect than one they do not. A respected leader is able to inspire creativity in managers and employees by demonstrating the benefits creative ideas can bring to the organization and to the individuals working for it. The leader must be popular within the organization. Employees may respect their leaders without necessarily liking them. However, the production of creative ideas will be greater when employees feel that someone they admire appreciates their accomplishments. Building a Creative Workforce What can I do to foster a climate of creativity? Building a creative workforce takes time, effort, and the willingness to modify the organization's culture. There are five ways in which your actions will increase the creativity of your employees:
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Keep an open mind Have a reward system for creative ideas Do not equate new ideas with trouble Support a free flow of information

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Support risk taking

Keep an open mind Remaining open-minded encourages employees to share their ideas and thoughts freely. If you refuse to consider new ideas, you limit the amount of knowledge you can gain from your employees. Have a reward system for creative ideas You must reward creativity if you want to encourage it to continue. Develop a system of recognition for employees when you implement their creative ideas. Individuals who see their ideas acted upon become highly motivated to continue to think creatively. Do not equate new ideas with trouble Innovative ideas usually involve changes to the status quo and many individuals are uneasy about change. It is important that you see new ideas as opportunities to improve your efficiency and productivity. The benefits of the idea may far outweigh any initial inconvenience, so focus on the long-term advantages rather than short-term complications. Share information You need to share information with creative individuals so that their imaginations have the ''raw material'' to work with. Make sure that these employees understand that you want them to share their ideas with you as well. Support risk taking Identify the possible risks creative ideas may produce. It is beneficial to take well considered risks, but it is important to avoid selecting reckless or foolish options in order to avoid costly mistakes. Developing Creativity How can I use creative thinking in different management functions? The ability to think creatively is a skill that is applicable to many aspects of today's businesses. Obviously, some business functions require more creativity than others do in their actual execution. However, a creative individual will look for opportunities to make beneficial changes in the way they accomplish all their tasks. How can I use creative thinking when solving problems? Problem solving inspires creativity by generating new ideas. Numerous problem solving strategies rely on your creative thinking skills:
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Brainstorming Simplifying Exaggerated objectives

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New perspectives

Brainstorming Brainstorming is the process of thinking of as many ideas as possible in a short amount of time. This can be done individually or with a group. Keep the following points in mind: Involvement. It is important at times to be able to remove yourself emotionally from problems and consider the implications of possible solutions. You need to be able to stand ''outside'' the problem and view it objectively in order to generate creative solutions. Patience. Have the patience to generate as many ideas as possible. You are more likely to find a good idea among 10 or 12 than you are among only two or three. Speculation. Keep an open mind and wait until the flow of ideas slows before beginning to evaluate the ideas generated. You should not try to be creative and critical at the same time, as this will tend to stifle the generation of creative ideas. Simplifying If the problem is complicated, think of ways in which it could be broken into smaller components. This process may lead to ideas for modifying one component, rather than trying to solve the problem as a whole. Exaggerated objectives This technique requires you to visualize the ideal situation far beyond normal and reasonable expectations and then generate ideas as if there were no constraints to consider. Next, reduce the ideas slowly back to a manageable size, while identifying those that suggest feasible solutions. New perspectives Try approaching the problem from another perspective, such as increasing or reducing the importance of the problem. Another individual may also have a different perspective on the problem and combining their insights with yours may result in a creative solution. How can I use creative thinking to help me manage change? It is important to use creative thinking techniques to increase morale and motivation when your organization is experiencing changes. Fostering creativity in employees encourages ideas for handling change. There are two important ways to encourage creativity during a time of change.
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Remain open-minded Encourage participation

Remain open-minded It is important to stay open minded when you are looking for creative ways to manage change. You need to be open to a variety of creative ideas and suggestions for the best ways to manage the stress involved in a changing situation.

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Encourage participation Actively encouraging employees and co-workers to participate creatively in a change will increase the likelihood they will react positively to the disruptions the change may bring. How can creative thinking help me in negotiations? A creative outlook is vital to successful negotiation. Creativity and flexibility are necessary when developing agreements that will benefit both parties. When there seems to be no way to reach a consensus on an issue, creativity can help parties discover similar interests and work toward meeting common goals. How can creative thinking help me resolve conflicts? You must think creatively when addressing conflicts. There are two goals to keep in mind:
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Build trust Stress unity and cooperation

Build trust It is important to build trust in difficult situations, and thinking creatively will help you do so. When resolving conflicts your creative ideas are proof of your willingness to find an acceptable solution and will help emphasize the parties' similar interests. Stress unity and cooperation You must use creative thinking to develop feelings of unity and cooperation between the parties. Encourage them to see the issue from another perspective. Avoiding the issue and automatically giving in do not generate creative solutions. How can creative thinking help me be a better coach? Enhance creativity by giving guidance and support to your employees in their efforts. The best way to coach is to view workers as creative, self-sufficient individuals and provide them with coaching only when necessary. A coach should work with employees individually and as a team to help them develop creative goals. You should hold one-on-one conversations to assist your employees in making sure they reach those goals.

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