Why Creativity Matters

Increasingly, innovation drives our economy.   We are bombarded with messages about the need to innovate and create in order to be successful.  At the same time, we are all under increasing pressure to produce – to do more with less.  For me, these two workplace goals are almost diametric opposites.  How can any of us have time to create or innovate when we are so busy just keeping up with our day-to-day work? 

A 2010 IBM Global CEO Study surveyed more than 1500 CEOs in an effort to find out what it takes to be a great business person.  The most important trait identified for effective leadership was creativity.  Yet studies have shown a decline in creative abilities since 1990, even as IQ scores rose.  This may not bode well for the businesswomen and men of the future.  Have we become so focused on crossing items off of our to-do lists that we are teaching our children to be similarly focused, at the expense of developing creative abilities?

The good news is that it appears creativity can be learned, both by adults and children.  A quick way to evaluate where you fall in the creative spectrum is to take the Epstein Creativity Competencies Inventory at www.mycreativeskills.com or, to see whether you are able to foster creativity in others, www.mycreativeskills.com/managers.   The site also offers a variety of additional resources all ages.

-Kim