Wilson 28 Jun Presentation

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CREATIVITY AND

MANAGEMENT

David C. Wilson

Warwick Business School



CREATIVITY – THE HYPE

A buzz word and recently incorporated into‘management speak’ (oed) …see also Ian Hislopand Ricky Gervais.

Many management texts abound with normativeviews characterised by …the assertion thatenhanced creativity is always beneficial to anorganisation…

At the level of management speak, this remainscontent-free.



CREATIVITY Nevertheless, the concept of creativity has been around long before

management speak in many disciplines (the term has16th centuryetymological origins). For example:

In Mathematics – as the art of making useful combinations from analmost infinite number of possible useless combinations

In Philosophy – especially connected with serendipity (which isnot pure luck or chance) but results from identifying 'matchingpairs' of events that are subsequently put to practical use.Baudrillard uses the analogy of the billiard game – playing off thecushion – to characterise the rebounding and richocheting natureof actions and ideas.

Business examples of such a process can be found under thetopic “innovation” and include the invention of the Swatch (newcombinations or “pairings” of technologies developed in other industries).



LEGAL DEFINITIONS

Creativity falls under the rubric of intellectual

property for the legal profession. For

organisations these concern outputs (rather than

processes)

For exampleNew Ideas (which are protected by patent laws)

New Products/Services (which are protected by

copyright laws)



CREATIVITY IN ORGANISATIONS AND

CREATIVE ORGANISATIONS

Creativity in organisations focuses on achievinginnovation, competitive advantage and socialbenefits by enhancing the ‘level’ of creativity inthe organisation.

This, typically, involves:Examining the personality traits and styles of individuals

Developing an organisational context in which creativitymight be fostered (organisational cultures etc)

Examining systems (collectivities of organised effortscoupled with the physical environment) to see how thesystemic tendencies toward stability might beinterrupted….to stimulate new actions and/or differentactivities.



Creativity….

Management theory typically assumes creativityis solely about the creation of new ideas. This isinnovation

Hence the breathless talk of improvisation, jazz and

unstructured music, commedia del’arte etc….

But creativity in the implementation of existing ideas and technologies is equally important.

Creativity is therefore a broader conceptincorporating both innovation as well as existingideas, structures and processes.



Creativity Involves……

Concepts: ideas and/or technologies

Competences: the repertoires of skills andabilities of individuals (and the opportunity to usethese skills in the organisation).

Connections: the relationships which individuals,teams and organisations create (networks).Sustained by collaboration and can be re-configured as new ideas emerge/are created.

(Kanter 1999)



Creative Organisations

Typically, advertising, media, music, arts and entertainmentorganisations.

Creative organisations survive by their ‘creative output’ bethat a magazine, and advertising campaign or a piece of music.

To achieve this, they need to employ professional creativeindividuals, but also professional managers to ensurebusiness success.

This can create tensions which have typically been called‘creatives versus suits’ (See Chapter 7 in Images of Strategy by Bilton et al).



Hierarchy, Power and Creatives….

Professional managers have to deal with creatives,many of whom feel they have been forced to the bottomof the organisation. (Silos, hierarchy and managerialism)

Many creative organisations have become“managerially” professionalized with the individuals whoactually produce the ‘creative’ product being at the‘bottom of the pile’.

Media organisations are just as full of structures, limitsand routines as any other type of organisation. Andcreatives are likely to feel constrained and alienated bythem.



Creatives and the Strategy Process

The disengagement of creatives from strategic decision processesin a range of creative organisations is striking.

To what extent would it make sense to involve creatives to a greater

extent in the strategy process?

There are countless conflicting arguments about this point. Kanter and others would argue that greater involvement would releasegreater levels of innovation and Hickson et al (2003) would arguethat implementation (and performance) would benefit

Managers of organisations might take the alternative view andargue that only ‘suits’ should be involved in decision making sincegetting creatives involved will be disastrous (they assume they don’twant to be involved and they are not skilled in strategic thinking).



Comparing Creatives and Knowledge

Workers…….

There are similarities in some of the above

dilemmas between organisations employing

creatives and professional service firms

employing knowledge workers.

In the same ways as creatives, knowledge

workers are the core competence of the

organisation. They both present similar

difficulties for management.



Retention is a Key Issue

Some creatives inhabit a fluid labour market. They cansell their skills freely and can move from job to job, fromcontract to contract and from organisation toorganisation (dangerous in a competitive market)…..

Some will leave at the slightest hint of dissatisfaction andseek a job elsewhere. Management’s role in maintaininga supportive context is therefore crucial.

Professional/knowledge workers display many of thesame characteristics.



The Knowledge Base and Performance

On the basis of empirical evidence, it would be

better to involve ‘creatives’ in the strategic

decision process rather than marginalise themand keep them away from the process.

They are the ‘knowledge-base of theorgansiation

(Hickson et al 2003; Kanter 1999; Miller et al 2004)



KNOWLEDGE BASE AND ORGANISATIONAL CONTEXT/

PERFORMANCE

KnowledgeBase

high

Low

highLow

O r

g a

n i s

a t

i o n a

l

C o

n t e

x

t

Carlsberg-Tetley

Nokia(very highperformance)

Nestle

Philips(high

performance)

National Grid

(moderateperformance)

Marks&Spencer

(poor

performance)



Selected References

Hickson DJ, Miller, S.& D. Wilson ‘Planned or Prioritised? TwoOptions in the Implementation of Strategic Decisions, Journalof Management Studies, 47 , November 2003.

Bilton C. (2003) Strategy as Creativity , In S. Cumming andD.C. Wilson ‘Images of Strategy’, Blackwell: Oxford.

Kanter, R.M. (1999) ‘Change in Everyone’s Job: Managing theExtended Enterprise in a Globally Extended World’Organizational Dynamics, 28,1, pp. 7-23.

Miller S., Wilson D.C & Hickson D.J (2004) ‘Beyond Planning’Long Range Planning.

Wilson 28 Jun Presentation

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