Everyone has a spark of creativity that
inspires new ideas, solutions to problems and new ways of doing things that are
better than the old in some way, shape or form. Many particularly in the field
of Psychology have tried to learn more about creativity and measure it. There
are a number of tests that have been designed to measure creativity, however,
they are limited in measuring only a few aspects of creativity. Tests are
unable to measure the entirety of creativity.
The closest study as it pertains to
learning more about creativity was provided by Ronald Finke in his book The Creative Cognition Approach. In his
work, Finke offers four general conceptual domains where we may classify new
ideas. The domains are creative realism, conservative realism, creative
idealism and conservative idealism. Creative realism falls under realistic and
creative scope where ideas are of a more creative nature and very outside the
box however they are tied to the ideas known to the person conceiving the idea.
Conservative realism falls under realistic and conservative scope where ideas
tend to fall under the constraints of the ideas the person has been brought up
into. Creative idealism falls under the creative and idealistic scope where
ideas are extremely outside the box, however ideas are often unachievable.
Finally, conservative idealism falls under the conservative and idealistic
scope where ideas are not creative or outside the box and are not helpful in
any way toward leading a team to success.
Although there are many inconclusive
tests and research pertaining to creativity, we are more prone to learning
about creativity from experiences and the people surrounding us. When in a
team, there are threats that menace the creativity that team members can offer,
either by stronger and more dominant personalities within the group or simply
because of team members that far outrank others in the group. For example, when
there are executives or supervisors within a group and employees under these
executives, this can limit the creativity of employees for fear of offering
better and more innovative ideas than their superiors or they could limit
themselves for fear of seeming to oppose the ideas of the executives in the
eyes of said superiors. Among other factors that threaten creativity are budget
constraints, the idea could be great and very innovative but limited by the
budget provided or even lack of technology at the team’s disposition. Finally,
the team could very well agree on a great idea and yet the stakeholders could
turn it down.
Creativity is a great factor to
projects thriving, it is the drive that assists in providing results that
exceed the expectations of team members and stakeholders alike. It is therefore
important for companies to seek for the enhancement of creativity. Among the
ideas that enhance creativity, team members could take part in dynamics that
encourage everyone to speak their ideas. For example, opening the forum for
each team member to speak their ideas and opinions on a matter of the project
allows team members to put their ideas on the table and it creates a sense of
ownership for each team member where they feel as the valued team members they
are. There is also the idea of changing the environment where team members meet,
this can uplift team members and inspire creativity. In contributing to the
enhancement of creativity, recognitions should be provided for those who put
forth an effort to offer creative and innovative ideas. Many companies also
recruit younger employees in the hopes of sparking new ideas from employees
that come from other creative environments and bring new perspectives.
There are a number of ways in which
to encourage creativity in a team setting. Creativity is the innovative drive
that will push projects forward and it is important for team members to be
recognized and acknowledged for their efforts and this in turn will motivate
team members to continuously go the extra mile and be proactive. As technology
and the world moves at such a fast rate, it is imperative companies are
diligent in encouraging creativity in order to thrive in an ever changing
world.
References
Finke,
R. (1995). Creative realism. In S. Smith, T. Ward, and R. Finke (eds.), The Creative Cognition Approach, Cambridge
University Press.
