Creativity provides incredible competitive advantages for individuals and organizations. Creativity enables the delivery of new products, services, and solutions and enhances decision making around ill-defined challenges. It also promotes personal resilience because it brings a sense of possibility and heightened self-esteem. Being creative is thus essential for personal and organizational prosperity.

Yet despite an increased focus on creativity, there is much confusion about its nature and ways to nurture it in the workplace. One explanation for this dilemma lies in several tensions, or seemingly contradictory choices, inherent in creativity. This entry addresses these tensions and provides steps that individuals, organizational leaders, and business schools can follow to take full advantage of the power of creativity.