Creativity in Business

By: Bryan Smidt

As an English teacher, one of my
favorite things to teach is creative writing. I
love to put my own imagination onto a piece
of paper and explore my thoughts. Despite
the enjoyment I get from creative writing,
however, indefinitely I am always asked by
at least one student, When am I going to
use this in real life? The question is very
valid. If a student has to be in school,
shouldnt they focus on things theyre going
to use in the real world or for a future job?
Not all of my students will
become professional writers,
so whats the point? Although
creative writing seems to be
practice best suited for people
going into the fields of writing
and entertainment, it is
actually good practice for
people going into any
occupational field, including
business. Despite what many
people assume, creativity as
actually an essential quality
for todays business world and looking for
ways to develop peoples creativity is
crucial for success in almost any occupation.
Lets look first at why the business
world needs creative thinkers. One writer
for Forbes answers this question by
explaining that being successful in
business does not come from one good
idea, but many. He claims, Most aspiring
entrepreneurs believe their initial idea and
inspiration requires the most important
creative thinking. Experienced entrepreneurs
will tell you that the initial idea is the easy
part, and its the later implementation, and
the competitive business marketing that are
the real creative challenges
1
. Essentially,
being successful in business is not like
winning the lottery. Not everyone will have
a single brilliant idea like Velcro and coast
for the rest of their lives. Most success in
business comes from those that can
constantly think outside the box and use
creativity on a daily basis. Those who do not
develop a creative mindset will be left in the
dust by those that do. Unfortunately, a lack
of creativity is one of the biggest problems
facing companies today. A recent study at
Rice University made this
conclusion stating,
Creativity and innovation
are not sufficiently integrated
in either the business world
or academic research
2
. In
discussing the results of this
study, Rice University
professor Jing Zhou noted,
Companies focus too
specifically on current goals
and dont take the risks
creativity requires. . .Two
companies that have found a way to
incentivize, encourage, and institutionalize
employee creativity are 3M and Google,
which allow employees time to explore
creative ideas. Considering how successful
both of these companies are, it is easy to see

1
Zwilling, Martin. Entrepreneurs Need Creative
Thinking After the Idea. Forbes.com. Forbes, 25 Feb
2012. Web. 18 Jun 2014.


2
Falk, Jeff. Rice U. Study: Creativity and


2
Falk, Jeff. Rice U. Study: Creativity and
Innovation Need To Talk More. Rice.edu. Rice
University News & Media, 8 Apr 2014. Web. 18 Jun
2014.
how creativity can be crucial to jobs in the
business world.
So if creativity really is important for
being successful in business, how does one
obtain it? The good news is businesses
dont need to exclusively hire employees
with extremely high IQs in order to
implement creativity. Rather, businesses can
find success by recognizing their
employees diverse, individual talents.
Howard Gardner explains this idea in his
book Multiple Intelligences. His theory
explains that people naturally have specific
intelligences and talents that make them
good at certain things. According to
Gardner, the problem
with IQ tests is they
only measure one
type of intelligence
when real life has
many types of
intelligences
including musical
intelligence,
interpersonal intelligence, and linguistic
intelligence
3
(Gardner 8-13). The key then
to integrate creativity in business is to give
all employees a voice. By doing so,
businesses will integrate multiple
intelligences, talents, and perspectives that
will allow outside-the-box thinking to occur
and progress to be made.
Besides working with others to
promote
creativity, there
are things one can
do on an
individual basis to
improve their
creative mind.
Joan Marques
suggests in the
article Inventive
Minds,

3
Gardner, Howard. Multiple Intelligences. New
York: Basic Books, 2008. Print.
Groundbreaking Finds that there are
numerous things one can do in order to
become a more creative thinker including
meditating, exploring art, and trying new
things on a regular bases. Marques also
warns not be afraid of creative thinking
stating, The worst enemy of creative
thinking is lack of confidence because it
breeds fear, and fear restrains any project
4
.
Marques suggestion is that in order to bring
creativity into any occupation, a little
courage is involved. Sometimes venturing
outside the box can be scary, and thats why
creativity takes practice.
Creativity is also an important skill
for anyone looking
to be in any kind of
leadership role. In
his article The Art
of Creative, High
Performance
Leadership, Roger
Pater explains that
finding ones
creative ability is often about asking
yourself what you are good at. Pater writes,
Think about what youre passionate about
or accomplished in. This could run from
golfing to gardening to gaming to Googling.
Then think about how you might apply the
principles youve learned from these
activities toward leading change
5
This
idea brings us back to my original
discussion on creative writing. Although not
all of my students will go on to write novels
for a living, the principles that are gained by
practicing creative thinking can be applied
to nearly any occupation.


4
Marques, Joan. "Inventive Minds, Groundbreaking
Finds." Journal For Quality & Participation 36.3
(2013): 29-33. Academic Search Premier. Web. 18
June 2014.
5
Pater, Robert. "The Art Of Creative, High-
Performance Leadership." Professional Safety 58.9
(2013): 37-39. Academic Search Premier. Web. 18
June 2014.
The worst enemy of creative
thinking is lack of confidence
because it breeds fear, and fear
restrains any project
4


Creativity in todays business world
is a must. As businesses compete for fewer
and fewer dollars, and as more concrete
thinking jobs are sold to India and China,
the more businesses will be looking for
people that can be innovative and creative.
In the future it will not be enough to simply
know a single skill, but success will depend
on working with others to use a skill in a
new and creative way.









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By Ed Catmull