What a manager can do to build a creative culture

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When you think about why some organisations are more creative than others, you often identify culture as the driver.  But what is culture and how does it impact on an individuals’ willingness to do things differently?

Culture is a big and complex concept. It covers habits, behaviours,
processes, attitudes, artefacts, among others and is often described in a
nutshell ‘as the way that things are done around here.’ Organizational culture
can manifest itself in a variety of ways, including leadership behaviours,
communication styles and decision-making processes. While it can be hard to
describe, culture is something you can often feel after a short time within an
environment.

It’s hard to be creative at work if the culture does not support thinking differently and taking risks. In this blog, I’m going to discuss a few things managers can do to build a create a team environment, for new ideas to flourish. I’ll be touching on the importance of autonomy, time for play and experimentation and expectations. My thoughts are based on my experience inside organisations and from my PhD research.

Autonomy

Giving your team members freedom and autonomy in how they
undertake their work is very important for creativity. Resist the urge to
meddle or micromanage their activities and give praise and feedback to
encourage further exploration of new ideas.

Time

Having enough time to explore a problem and to consider
alternatives, supports for discovery of new approaches. If people don’t have
discretionary time, they will resort to doing things the way they’ve always
been done. People need time to experiment and play with ideas.

Time is a curious thing. If you have no time to think
broadly and to experiment, you will do an activity as you always have. However,
if you have too much time you may lack focus. My PhD research confirmed the
findings of others that there is a ‘sweet spot’ with regard to the right amount
of time to support creativity.

Expectations

If you’re a manager, your team will quickly pick up on your interest in and desire for new ideas. Giving permission to challenge assumptions, creating openness to new ideas, and giving freedom to experiment and learn all build a creative culture, as does an acceptance that failure is a component part of the exploratory process.

As a leader you should model creative behaviours such as being curious and taking time to consider different ways of doing things. Allowing times for discussion of new ideas and reflection on past activities in team meeting will reinforce a learning culture. I’ll talk more about processes  you can use to support a culture of innovation in a future article.

References

Creativity
Cycling: Help your team solve complex problems with creative tools by
Barbara Wilson and Tracy Stanley 2018

Work environments, creative behaviours and employee
engagement (Doctoral dissertation, Queensland University of Technology).

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