Innovation in all things!

Developing creativity in the

workplace
Sharman, Dave; Johnson, Almeric

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摘要
This study states the need for all managers into the next millennium to innovate and respond in new ways. Sets out
a way in which managers can act differently in order to create a creative climate within their work groups. It sets this
practical approach in the context of research carried out by Goran Ekvall on the creative climate of groups. And, it
describes a sequence of activities, discovered by the authors, that was effective in stimulating the group problem-
solving climate and a technique for bringing back this atmosphere. The study outlines this sequence, called
"RAJiMAR" as the letters stand for the various stages of the group problem-solving process: Reversal-Absurdity-
Jokes-incubation-Metaphor-Anchoring-Recall.

全文文献

Dave Sharman: Organizational Development consultant, a personal performance coach and an Associate Lecturer
on the Open University's Creative Management module, part of the MBA. He can be contacted on 0181 305 2196

Almeric Johnson: Chartered Mechanical Engineer, an Organizational Behaviourist and a personal performance
coach

Why do we need to innovate?

Many books and management experts have predicted a world into the next millennium of rapidly increasing change
and the need for managers to be able to respond in ways that have not been previously imagined. In this article we
set out a way in which both managers and trainers can act differently in order to create a creative climate within their
organization. In addition, this practical and insightful technique, partly based on neuro-linguistic programming, is set
in the context of research carried out by Ekvall (1991) on the creative climate of a work group.

We assume that a good test of any organization's current ability to innovate would be to ask such questions as:

- who is responsible for systematically collecting information on the external business environment?

- how is it then distributed to those managers who can use it effectively in their work (and modify their current
assumptions)?

- how many departments besides R&D are judged on their ability to introduce innovations in their policies and
procedures?

- does the organization provide training programmes in both organizational leadership and creativity?

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What do managers need to do differently?

Into the next millennium competitive advantage is likely to arise from organizations that can demonstrate to the
customer such things as:

- speed of response;

- choice;

- rapid improvement in products and services;

- "service added on to products";

- lifelong learning for their staff;

- distinctive competence.

In summary, the key challenges facing management into the next millennium are:

- how to stimulate continuous innovation and change;

- how to adopt radical innovative approaches to organizing and managing;

- how to attract and retain people's know-how.

How to develop a creative climate in the work group

Ekvall (1991) in Sweden noticed in the early 1980s that the level of involvement in suggestion schemes changed in
different parts of the same company. One of the strongest factors influencing people's involvement in idea
suggestion schemes was their perception of the working climate. This was termed organizational climate by Ekvall.
He then began to focus his research into climate variations associated with creativity and innovation. As a result he
developed a 50-item multiple-choice questionnaire which measures people's perceptions of their organizations. He
has now completed over 25 studies on the validity and reliability of this measure and has found a great deal of
support for the use of the measure.

He has completed research into what is a creative climate for the management of ideas. This is a much broader
concept than R&D management, as ideas are sought from all quarters. Idea management has two sides. One
concerns general features of the organization which stimulate or hamper innovation, the other includes special
formal systems and procedures for idea finding and use.

Climate has to do with behaviour, attitudes and feelings which are fairly easily observed. The 50-item questionnaires
set out to measure ten main dimensions of a creative climate such as:

- (1) challenge;

- (2) freedom;

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- (3) idea support;

- (4) trust;

- (5) dynamism;

- (6) playfulness;

- (7) debates;

- (8) conflicts;

- (9) risk taking;

- (10) idea time.

In general the innovative organization scores more highly on these ten dimensions than the stagnated one.

Ekvall concludes from his research that:

- (1) no idea-handling system can work successfully without a supportive climate in the dimensions just listed;

- (2) an idea-handling system can make a good climate even better;

- (3) if the climate is already bad, then an idea-handling system will simply make it worse.

Practical experience - a new creative process for use with groups?

At a recent residential workshop on creativity and problem solving, we discovered a sequence of activities that was
both effective at the time in stimulating the right climate as well as a technique for bringing back this atmosphere.
We have called it "RAJiMAR" as the letters stand for the various stages of the group problem-solving process.

"R A J i M A R" - a way to bring back a creative climate

- R for reversal. A group of people are at the problem definition stage, at an appropriate moment, suggest a
technique known as reversal, in which the problem is turned on its head. e.g. "How to increase the number of
complaints about the xyz company!" This leads everyone quite quickly into...

- A for absurdity! At this point people start to relax, can easily see the humour of the absurdity and start to invent or
think up even more silly situations, which then lead into...

- J for jokes, or "funny phrases" to sum up the situation. The facilitator now needs to accentuate this feeling or
atmosphere by encouraging even funnier words or phrases to sum up the situation, e.g. "lager man" or "bar-stool
man".

- I for incubation. At this stage it is possible to move on to another topic, go for a walk or break off your activity to do
something completely different, thus putting the ideas into everyone's unconscious minds for a period.

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Next time you get together to work on a group problem, remind the group of the "funny phrase" and with their help
develop an...

- M for metaphor - for the absurd, jokey and creative atmosphere previously experienced, e.g. "stirring up a hornet's
nest". Sometimes you can have a friendly competition to generate ideas; and a consensus exercise to choose the
most appropriate metaphor for the experience. Now...

- A for anchor - those memories of that specific creative climate by briefly taking participants back to the pictures,
sounds and feelings, and repeating the key phrase again, e.g. "bar-stool man", etc.

- R for repeat the metaphor.

- R for repeat the sounds again.

- R for recall the visual picture.

- R for reactivate the feelings.

Thus you have completed the RAJiMAR sequence!

Problem-solving workshops in organizations

After reflection on these experiences, we have designed a two-day workshop for use in organizations that is flexible
and relevant to the needs of the participants.

A typical two-day workshop

- (1) Establishing rapport with the group. We use quite rapid and unusual ways of getting into rapport with the group
with a focus on "What is creativity?" and an emphasis on the fact that anyone can learn to be more creative. It is not
just for artists and writers.

- (2) Challenging the barriers to creativity. This flows quite naturally on from the first period and involves everyone in
a series of simple and challenging puzzles or problems, which quite often include reversal in order to stimulate the
creative climate as early as possible. At some stage we introduce the "six-step model of creativity" as a way of
explaining that everyone does use it as a normal part of everyday reality.

- (3) Sharing of problems/issues. This stage flows quite naturally as the group is now beginning to be more open,
energetic and creative.

The next steps then follow a logical sequence as follows:

- (4) Select and then use a creativity technique. Usually for a minimum of 2.5 hours to ensure that real progress is
made.

- (5) Develop a solution. Sometimes this will only be reaching agreement on the next steps to be taken on the
problem.

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- (6) Review the process used. This is a key and often neglected stage in which lessons or principles about the
group are clarified and agreed so that criteria for the problem-solving process can be brought forward next time that
the group works together. Thus we focus on "learning to learn" from experience.

Outcomes

It is the organizations that are already coping with massive rates of change that will appreciate the value of this
approach to solving problems and developing a more creative climate at work. In our experience a company facing a
situation confronted by the possibility of big redundancies managed to turn round their perception and take action so
that they saved Pounds 1.2 million on computerization and no redundancies whatsoever.

Reference

1. Ekvall, G. (1991, "The organizational culture of idea-management: a creative climate for the management of
ideas", in Henry, J. and Walker, D. (Eds), Managing Innovation, Sage..

Further reading

2. Lauer, K., Isaksen, S. and Dorval, B., "Exploring the relationship between creative climate and leadership: a
preliminary report", Communique - The Creative Problem-Solving Group, Vol II, July 1996.

3. O'Connor, J. and Seymour, J., Introducing Neuro-Linguistic Programming, Crucible, 1990.

索引

主题: Studies; Managers; Creativity; Problem solving; Competitive advantage; Workshops;

Innovations; Research &development--R &D

业务索引编制术语: 主题: Competitive advantage Workshops

分类: 9130: Experimental/theoretical; 6200: Training &development

标题: Innovation in all things! Developing creativity in the workplace

作者: Sharman, Dave; Johnson, Almeric

出版物名称: Industrial and Commercial Training; Guilsborough

卷: 29

期: 3

页: 85-87

页数: 0

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 出版年份: 1997

出版日期: 1997

出版商: Emerald Group Publishing Limited

出版地: Guilsborough

出版物国家/地区: United Kingdom, Guilsborough

出版物主题: Business And Economics--Management, Business And Economics--Personnel

Management

ISSN: 00197858

e-ISSN: 17585767

CODEN: ILCTAU

来源类型: 学术期刊

出版物语言: English

文档类型: Feature

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/00197859710165074

ProQuest 文档 ID: 214108534

文档 URL: https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/innovation-all-things-developing-
creativity/docview/214108534/se-2?accountid=14511

版权: Copyright MCB UP Limited (MCB) 1997

最近更新: 2023-11-25

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