Creativity Management

However, despite differences, there is also a great deal of crossover between creativity at work and entrepreneurship that businesses can benefit from. Like innovators, creative people often come with a vision and a conviction to make the vision real. They both excel at reconfiguring worn-out ideas and sharpening new approaches to how the company is perceived through engaging ‘signals’ and processes. Creativity in the workplace certainly adds value and gives it a precise positioning in a busy market.

Creative people running a business selling their creativity and innovation must figure out the balance between output and input. It begins with valuing their creativity—whether as a product or service.

Creativity and innovation are resource-intensive practices. Too much attention is often spent on creating singularly impressive projects, with little thought to where the next job comes from. This is a mistake that considerably slows business growth. Creativity management involves spreading creativity and innovation over a more extended period, planning for efficient economies of scale rather than single project jobs. Getting the price right is also vital for maximising and sustaining interest.

Creative people need to prioritise and manage their workloads. Rather than focusing exclusively on creativity at work, they must balance their schedule with marketing, admin, and personal development responsibilities if they want to build a rounded business and a profile. Spending time on one single aspect of work will not produce decent rewards.

Creative people must learn to relinquish ownership of their creativity in organisations. Too often, they try to protect it by doing everything themselves, yet this only leads to early burnout. Creativity in organisations is better served by drawing on a pool of expertise to get things done, allowing other people to lead specific areas of the business based on their skills and experience.

Creative thinking at work adds value to a business, opening businesses to new approaches and methods allowing maximum creativity and innovation.