It could be argued that innovation is urgently needed in almost every business sector and industry today. However, innovation does not simply happen. It needs to be cultivated and promoted. It requires a creation of an organizational culture that can support and encourage creativity. For this to occur, suitable leadership is needed. We call this creative leadership. This is a type of leadership that involves using creative ideas to solve complex problems in changing situations. Since almost every business sector and industry experiences rapid and turbulent change in these modern times, creative leadership has become more important than ever. Fluctuating markets and changing competitive landscape require leaders to raise employee morale and job satisfaction. Innovative practices tend to make employees’ jobs easier and more fulfilling. Employees tend to also be more engaged in creative jobs that provide them intrinsic motivation.
Developing a culture that promotes creativity and innovation is not easy. Peter Senge, a well-known management scholar, introduced us to the concept of the learning organizations in his book Fifth Discipline. These are organizations that are tolerant towards mistakes and are willing to take risks to learn new ways of doing things. They encourage risk taking and learning from them. Learning organizations tend to be more creative and innovative because people are not afraid of being penalized for mistakes and are therefore willing to think “outside of the box.” Learning organizations promote personal mastery, mental models, building shared vision, team learning, and systems thinking. These are known as the disciplines to be followed. Personal mastery is considered as an internal proficiency cultivated and fueled by a strong vision that a person chases and actualizes tenaciously. Everyone has their own personal skills to master. Organizations should support and train people so that they can continuously improve their personal mastery. Mental models, in turn, are deep-rooted pre-existing believes that people have. To be creative, people need to challenge these mental models through self-reflection and open conversations. Organizations should encourage these activities. Shared vision, on the other hand, refers to a well-executed and authentic vision that binds an organization’s members to take collaborative and meaningful action for the greater good. This helps people to innovate together towards the same vision. After all, creativity without a collective direction is chaotic and not necessarily useful. Team learning, as a discipline, refers to collaborative thinking in the absence of assumptions. Learning happens with open and productive and free flowing dialogue. When people participate in open dialogues, they set aside their assumptions, prejudices, and static thinking. Finally, systems thinking is the glue that holds all the above disciplines together. It is a traditionof thought in which the world is understood as distinct but interrelated and interconnected parts. These parts, although separate, function together but are affected by each other. Systems thinking helps us to understand organizations as complex systems that are organic and constantly evolving. Innovation and creativity are the ways to evolve and grow organizations organically and continuously.
Creative leaders are often servant leaders who focus on developing learning organizations. Their focus is on people and the growth of the organization by the people. They are usually authentic individuals with intellectual curiosity and great critical thinking skills. These creative leaders are also highly intuitive and have good imaginations. They have an internal locus of control and they believe in continuous improvement. In addition, they are good active listeners. Creative leaders naturally surround themselves with creative individuals. Innovation comes from the synergies developed by the leader and these creative individuals. Creative leaders also promote double loop thinking. That is, thinking about our thinking and challenging old mental models with constant reflection and introspection.
There are generational differences in how we learn and how we create. In today’s diverse organizations, there are four generations working together. This can bring forth some challenges and conflict. However, when well-managed, conflict can be a force for creativity. People learn to know each other better through conflict and find new ways to work together. Conflict itself is not bad. It is neutral. However, the way we perceive it and manage it is what truly matters. It is not always easy, but with an attitude of respect towards others, we can learn to be creative and resolve our conflicts productively.
