Creativity Management And Why Creativity In Business Requires Specific Leadership

Creativity management is the management of creative employees in such a way that brings out their creative talents yet keeps them rooted in the day-to-day systems and processes of the workplace. Generally speaking, creativity and business do not go hand in hand. Creative people are often negatively portrayed as bad at business. Some of this is true, but a large part is complete fabrication.

Creative people are often publicly vocal in dismissing the idea of commercialising art and creative talent. Price tags and active promotion are frequently viewed as belittling the innovative spirit and integrity. Staff who practice creativity at work tend to avoid management and admin tasks. It is because they require convergent thinking instead of more creative divergent thinking. However, there are benefits of creativity in business, with notable examples: Google, 3M, and LinkedIn all allow a portion of employee work time to be devoted to individual work projects.

Why Is Creativity Important In Business?

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.

Managing Creative Teams

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.

Tempering Creative Thinking In Business

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.

Rebecca Young

Rebecca obtained her BA (Hons) degree from Manchester Metropolitan University and began her career in HR whilst working in the Private Healthcare Sector. It was during this time she went on to complete her Post Graduate Diploma in Human Resource Management at Manchester Metropolitan Business School and developed a very keen interest in employment law.

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Creativity Management FAQs

What are the elements of creativity management?

Creative workers need to be managed in a way that is different to non-creatives. Creativity management should bring structure to the workflow of creatives and inspire creativity and innovation. Managers should possess traits such as empathy (for their creative employees) and should have outstanding communication skills. Creativity management should mean being able to inspire and have the big-picture thinking that creatives can relate to. Finally, creativity management skills should include conflict resolution and the ability for detailed planning.

What is meant by creativity management?

Creative employees are not always the most attentive in a traditional work setting. Creativity in business often leads to straying from set guidelines and preferring their approach to work. As such, creativity in organisations requires a particular management style to get the most out of them. Creativity management aims to get the most out of creative employees in a way that keeps them on course and ultimately stimulates creativity in organisations.