Individual Creativity and Innovation in Workplace: Analysis & Plan

This report examines individual creativity and innovation within the workplace, identifying barriers such as social comparison, leadership styles, and lack of confidence. It explores methods to promote creativity, including transformational leadership, inclusive work environments, multiculturalism, and collaborative efforts. The analysis highlights the importance of fostering a supportive work climate and recommends strategies like creative thinking workshops and inclusive practices to boost employee creativity. Skill development and knowledge sharing are also emphasized as key factors in enhancing individual and team innovation. The report concludes by advocating for organizational changes that prioritize and nurture creative potential among employees.

Individual Creativity and Innovation in the workplace 1
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Individual Creativity and Innovation in the workplace 2
Executive Summary
The following paper aims to look at individual creativity in the workplace, and for barriers to
creativity, as well as methods by which the creativity in the workplace can be promoted.
Some of the main obstacles that are discussed here would be a social comparison, type of
leadership, work climate and lack of faith in individual talent, as well as the leader's lack of
confidence in the expertise of the individual. Thus, some of the ways in which creativity can
be promoted would be using the right type of leadership and having inclusivity promoted in
the workplace as well. Social media multiculturalism has also been found to help boost
creativity. This, along with collaboration, can positively impact creativity as well. Based on
the analysis that has been done, there are recommendations that have also been provided on
ways in which creativity can be boosted as well.

Individual Creativity and Innovation in the workplace 3
Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................4
Analysis......................................................................................................................................4
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................6
Recommendations......................................................................................................................7
References..................................................................................................................................9

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Individual Creativity and Innovation in the workplace
Introduction
Innovation can be described as the main process by which new items are created, and new
ideas are brought in (Amabile, 2017). Creativity is also a similar process. Both of them are
extremely important in order for continued growth to occur in an organization. There must
constantly be innovation, and creativity for the company to move forward.
This innovation can be from the end of the organization, but often it has to be from the end of
the individual employee as well. Promoting individual creative thinking is essential for the
organization since it could lead to better productivity and thus, more profits for the
organization itself (Sawyer, 2017). Thus, for the company to increase their profits, they must
ensure that every individual employee is creative.
The following report aims to look at some of the literature that surrounds Individual creativity
in an organisation and look for methods that can help in increasing for promoting individual
creativity as well. It looks at how alternative techniques can help in the innovation process
and how it can help in promoting creativity.
Analysis
There are significant blocks to the creative process. One of the biggest blocks would be a
social comparison. In the workplace, it could even be peer comparison. When there is a
comparison made between two individuals, one or both of them would be left feeling
inadequate (Michinov, Jamet, Métayer and Le Hénaff, 2015). This could be one of the main
reasons that individuals who are highly creative do not prefer to work in environments where
the peer comparison is high. However, due to the way that feedback is structured in most
organizations, peer comparison is often something that keeps happening, even though it is a
significant block to individual creativity and innovation in the workplace.

Individual Creativity and Innovation in the workplace 5
Another block to creativity would be the lack of faith in one’s own talent. This is primarily
due to the way that society is structured, but many individuals do not have faith in
themselves. This often promotes as nervousness to the employer, who would also tend to lack
faith in the individual (Bilton, 2015). This often-vicious cycle is one that keeps turning and
would have a significant impact on the creative process. Thus, for a creative individual, it is
often necessary to be in an environment where they are surrounded by people who have faith
in them so that the creative process and spirit is nurtured.
There are also significant relations that exist between work climates, individual motivation
and creativity. The work climate, because of significant reasons can have a positive effect on
creativity, and the motivation of the individual is also one of the main reasons that creativity
in the organization is paid attention to (Zhu, Gardner and Chen, 2018). If an individual is
motivated, they are more likely to come up with unique solutions to the issue. However, if the
work climate is not conducive to the individual, then the creativity flow might be reduced,
even though the individual is motivated. Thus, both motivation and work climate can have
significant effects on creativity and could be both a hindrance and a stepping stone,
depending on the situation.
Leadership could also be one of the major blocks to creativity. Certain types of leadership,
such as autocratic leadership, are not conducive to creativity and can cause significant harm
to the creative process as well (Zhang, Ke, Wang and Liu, 2018). Thus, it should be noted
that an essential part of the creative process is ensuring that the type of leadership in the
workplace is conducive to the creative process, which is why it is often thought that
transformational leadership or democratic style of leadership can help the creative process,
and why these styles of leadership are often preferred in areas or fields where there is a
significant need for creativity in the workplace.

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According to Chua, (2018), multicultural social networks have become of the biggest ways in
which creativity of the individual, within the organization, can be increased. Social networks
play a significant role in almost every modern individual’s life, and multiculturalism has been
known to have a significant positive impact on creativity. This is also, often because of the
exposure to a diverse range of information can help increase creativity as well (Chua, 2018).
Thus, it would be extremely beneficial as a technique that can promote creativity in the
individual and can have a significant positive impact on creativity and innovation, and thus,
should be one of the techniques that can help in promoting creativity.
One of the other factors that can help in promoting creativity would be individual skill
development and enhanced knowledge sharing. Team knowledge would consist of different
types of opinions and knowledge, and when shared, it would mean that creativity for the
overall team increased as well (Dong, Bartol, Zhang and Li, 2017). Thus, it can be seen that
there is a significant relation between team knowledge and innovation. Skill development
would help individuals find the best skill that they have, which has also been proven,
according to Dong, Bartol, Zhang and Li (2017), to help in increasing creativity as well.
It has also been proven that collaborative work often does not lead to creativity in many
cases. However, in some cases it does. Collaborative work and its linkage to creativity often
depend on how well the collaborators are able to mingle with each other. If the collaborators
are not able to mingle with each other and do not get along well together, then it could cause
issues (Boysen and Larsen, 2019). However, if they do, it could be one of the biggest boosts
to creativity. Collaboration is an essential part of many work environments, and thus, can
increase the creativity of the individual as well in most cases.
Conclusion

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Thus, it can be seen that one of the main barriers to the creative process in an individual
would be the type of leadership and work environment. An autocratic leadership might not
allow for much of the creative process, and this could have significant issues for the
individual. A work environment where the individual does not feel wanted, or one that does
not allow for the effective creative process, is not one that would be able to creativity in the
individual. Another barrier to creativity would be a social comparison. The social comparison
has also been known to harm the creative process, which is why it must be kept in mind when
looking at creativity and innovation. The lack of faith in one's own talent is also an issue for
most individuals when it comes to creative work and would thus, be another block.
Thus, some of the techniques that can be used to foster creativity and promote it would be a
transformational, or democratic style of leadership, and belief in one's own talents. A
workplace that promotes multiculturalism and diversity has also been known to promote
creativity as well. Social media multiculturalism is also one of the new techniques that have
been known to increase innovation in the workplace. Individual skill development and
knowledge sharing, along with collaboration in many cases, might also have a significant
impact on creativity in the workplace of the individual. Thus, it would be beneficial to use
these techniques as well, along with ensuring that the work climate is inclusive.
Recommendations
One of the most important skills that are required in every individual in most modern
organizations is creativity. However, there are many ways in which the organization itself can
help in fostering creativity in the individual as well. These are some of the recommendations
by which the organization can boost individual employee creativity.
The first recommendation would be to ensure that the work climate and environment, as well
as the type of leadership, is one that is beneficial to the creative process. This would mean

Individual Creativity and Innovation in the workplace 8
that any autocratic style of leadership must be removed immediately, and the employees
should feel comfortable in their work environment as well (Yunlu, Clapp-Smith. and Shaffer,
2017). This would have a significant impact on the creativity of the individual, as it would
mean that they would be in an area that they are familiar with, and have a leader that knows
the value of individual differences and creativity.
The second main recommendation would be to look at workshops or such that help in
increasing creativity (Kauppila, Bizzi and Obstfeld, 2018). Creative thinking workshops and
seminars could have a significant positive impact on the creativity of the place, and it could
mean that individuals who would not necessarily think creatively would do so.
One of the other factors that can have a significant effect on creativity is the work climate (Li,
Lin, Tien, and Chen, 2017). As mentioned before, an inclusive work climate, according to
research, can have a significant boost to the creativity of the individual and is one of the main
reasons why it is always beneficial to have an inclusive environment as well.

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References
Amabile, T.M., 2017. In pursuit of everyday creativity. The Journal of Creative
Behavior, 51(4), pp.335-337.
Bilton, C., 2015. Uncreativity: the shadow side of creativity. International Journal of
Cultural Policy, 21(2), pp.153-167.
Boysen, M. and Larsen, C. 2019. Does handoffs promote creativity? A study of a pass-the-
baton approach to the development of educational games. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 31,
pp.262-274.
Chua, R.Y., 2018. Innovating at cultural crossroads: How multicultural social networks
promote idea flow and creativity. Journal of Management, 44(3), pp.1119-1146.
Dong, Y., Bartol, K.M., Zhang, Z.X. and Li, C., 2017. Enhancing employee creativity via
individual skill development and team knowledge sharing: Influences of dual‐focused
transformational leadership. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 38(3), pp.439-458.
Kauppila, O.P., Bizzi, L. and Obstfeld, D., 2018. Connecting and creating: Tertius dungeons,
individual creativity, and strategic decision processes. Strategic Management Journal, 39(3),
pp.697-719.
Li, C.R., Lin, C.J., Tien, Y.H. and Chen, C.M., 2017. A multilevel model of team cultural
diversity and creativity: The role of climate for inclusion. The Journal of Creative
Behavior, 51(2), pp.163-179.
Michinov, N., Jamet, E., Métayer, N. and Le Hénaff, B., 2015. The eyes of creativity: Impact
of social comparison and individual creativity on performance and attention to others’ ideas
during electronic brainstorming. Computers in Human Behavior, 42, pp.57-67.

Individual Creativity and Innovation in the workplace 10
Sawyer, R.K., 2017. Creativity research and cultural context: Past, present, and future. The
Journal of Creative Behavior, 51(4), pp.352-354.
Yunlu, D.G., Clapp-Smith, R. and Shaffer, M., 2017. Understanding the role of cultural
intelligence in individual creativity. Creativity Research Journal, 29(3), pp.236-243.
Zhang, S., Ke, X., Frank Wang, X.H. and Liu, J., 2018. Empowering leadership and
employee creativity: A dual‐mechanism perspective. Journal of Occupational and
Organizational Psychology, 91(4), pp.896-917.
Zhu, Y.Q., Gardner, D.G. and Chen, H.G., 2018. Relationships between work team climate,
individual motivation, and creativity. Journal of management, 44(5), pp.2094-2115.