Many employers nowadays see creativity as one of the main requirements to a good specialist. But what is creativity actually, and whether everyone understands where it comes from?
Dispell all the myths with JiJi.ng
Myth#1 – Creativity is being generated by imaginative people
While conducting researches, managers were asked questions like ‘Where in your company creativity is necessary most of all?’, and the answer was ‘R&D, marketing, and advertisement’. And when they were asked about the necessity of creativity least of all, they laughed and said it was Accounting Department. Yes, a ‘creative accounting’ evokes ironical feelings and seems to be not serious at all. But in fact, every employee possessing intellectual abilities can perform a creative work.
Along with that, creativity depends on such aspects as experience, technical knowledge, talent, and out-of-box thinking. Yes, employers devote much attention and time to development of creative skills among their employees, creating comfortable working atmosphere in R&D and marketing departments. But very often they pass by such employees who do the routine work like accounting, ignoring the fact they actually need to be treated the same.
Myth#2 – Money is the creativity motivator
Money is far from being the true motivator of human creativity. Truly creative people don’t think about the compensation they will get after the work is done, they let their creativity fly and generate completely innovational ideas. For those who care about bonuses they will get after conducting a new project, there are some mind restrictions appearing that stop the process of free creativity-generating as they are afraid to do something wrong.
Of course , it’s essential for everyone to feel that their labor and hard-working is praised well enough. Nevertheless, much depends not on the compensation they get, but on the atmosphere they work in. So the best way out for creating a favorable working atmosphere is to find the balance. Sometimes there might be tasks which are too difficult for execution and so the employees will feel their useless. There are also too easy tasks, so the employee might get bored. A good manager will skillfully assess the qualification of his subordinates and will give them tasks in accordance to their abilities.
Myth#3 – Lack of time boosts creativity
Undoubtedly, it’s a proven fact that when in danger or in a stressful situation people may come up with the most incredible ideas ever. But such stressful situation as restricting a person in time is not among them. When a person is forced to watch the clock all the time, their productivity significantly decreases. The deadline problem is the problem of not letting one dig deeper into the issue he/she is facing. So the work is being done superficially. And of course, that the creativity doesn’t have the time to be present in such occasion.
People can be creative even at the point of a gun, but still they need a possibility to fully concentrate on their work. In many organizations employees just don’t understand the reason of urgency, except that one that there is someone who wants to get results right on this day.
Ineresting to know what are other myths about creativity? – Move to the next page to find out!
Myth#4 – Fear evokes breakthroughs
There is a widespread persuasion that the feelings of fear and depression are directly-proportional to creativity. There are also psychological theories existing that the percentage of depression is slightly higher in those people who are engaged in creative occupation. But at the same time it’s been researched that the feelings of love, joy and happiness are much stronger stimulants to creative activity than the contrary ones. People who like their job and are surrounded with a positive working atmosphere are much likely to generate fresh creative ideas. If people are into their work, there are more chances that they will make cognitive associations the result of which will become a creative idea for the following day. In this way, one can say that the day of happiness foresees the day of creativity.
Myth#5 – Competition is better than collaboration
There is another silly persuasion, especially in the sphere of finances and high-tech, that internal competitions increase creativity. But the researches prove that creativity suffers in the group of people where there is no collaboration, but competitiveness instead. The most creative employees are those who are free to share their ideas and discuss new solutions. But when people are fighting for their recognition, they stop sharing information. This works destructively for the company as no one possesses enough amount of information to comprehend the situation.
Myth#6 – Staff reduction is a good method to increase creativity
Expectation of being dismissed is more harmful than the dismissal itself. The fear of unknown makes people lose their concentration on the work they should be executing at all, not to speak of creativity. While dismissal process the level of communication and collaboration is being significantly decreased as well as the feelings of personal independence and self-esteem. As a result, employers need to spend much efforts and resources to stabilize the atmosphere at the working place, therefore making it more favorable for generating new creative ideas.
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