Creative Organizational Climate

If creativity is the making and communicating of meaningful new connections, then what kind of environment promotes this kind of activity? This is a key issue for those who teach, train, lead, and manage; particularly due to the increasing demand for creativity and innovation.

Environment, or climate, is a measurable concept. It could be considered the state within which an individual finds him- or herself; the team or group situation; the conditions within a family, school, or community; the atmosphere within an organization; a national or cultural milieu; or even the global environment. The environment includes physical surroundings, the invisible force of history and tradition, and explicit and implicit values and norms. Many are finding it useful to define and differentiate culture from climate.

The following are general suggestions for establishing a creative climate:

• You can influence the climate. Realize that those who lead and manage others have an important influence on the climate. Many studies have found that leadership behavior exerts a profound influence on the perceptions others have regarding their working environment. These can be formal leaders in very visible positions, or others who are perceived as role models or opinion leaders.
• Create opportunities for challenge and involvement. Generally, the more opportunities people have to be involved in tasks, goals, and visions, the higher the degree of intrinsic motivation and energy. The more motivated people are, the more they are committed to making contributions to the success of the team, division, or organization. Lower levels of challenge and involvement breed alienation and indifference and can lead to apathy and lack of interest in work, interactions, and more.
• Provide appropriate levels of freedom. Freedom in the environment is characterized by independence in behavior or the degree of autonomy people perceive is available to them. In this kind of climate people are given autonomy to define much of their own work. People are able to exercise discretion in their day-to-day activities. They have the freedom to take the initiative to acquire and share information, and they make plans and decisions. In situations with low levels of freedom, people work within strict guidelines and roles. People carry out their work in prescribed ways with little room to redefine their tasks.
• Promote emotional safety in relationships. When there is a high degree of trust, individuals [Page 184]can be genuinely open and frank with one another. People have a sincere respect for one another and can count on each other for personal support. Where trust is missing, people are suspicious of each other, and therefore closely guard themselves and their ideas. People also find it extremely difficult to communicate openly with each other.
• Allow time for reflection and elaboration of new ideas. When people feel that they can (and do) use time this way, possibilities exist to discuss fresh suggestions that are not planned or included in regular or standard ways of working or thinking. There are opportunities to take the time to explore and develop new ideas. Flexible timelines permit people to explore new avenues and alternatives. In the reverse situation, every minute is booked and specified. The time pressure makes thinking outside the instructions and planned routines impossible.
• Encourage playfulness and good-natured joking. Playfulness and humor allow spontaneity and ease to be displayed within the environment. A relaxed atmosphere where good-natured jokes and laughter occur often is indicative of a light-hearted and easygoing atmosphere. People can be seen having fun and relieving tension in productive ways. The opposite climate is characterized by gravity and seriousness. The atmosphere is stiff, gloomy, and cumbrous.
• Reduce interpersonal conflict and tension. The presence of personal and emotional tensions in the team, organization, or situation can often result in gossip, slander, and even deliberate harm being done to others. When personal tension is high, individuals and groups may dislike or even hate each other. Interpersonal warfare can include setting traps for each other, plotting to diminish the value and dignity of others, as well as power and territory struggles. In the opposite case, people behave in a more mature manner; they have psychological insight and control of impulses. People accept and deal effectively with diversity.
• Treat people who share ideas with respect. People pay attention to the ways new ideas are treated. When ideas and suggestions are received in an attentive and professional way, people listen to each other and encourage initiatives. Possibilities for trying out new ideas are created. The atmosphere is constructive and positive when considering new ideas. When idea support is low, an automatic “no” prevails. Every suggestion is immediately refuted by a destructive counterargument. People focus on finding fault and on pointing out the weaknesses of new ideas or how and why an idea will never work.
• Encourage sharing different points of view. In general, creative environments tolerate idea tension (as opposed to personal tension). The occurrence of encounters and disagreements between viewpoints, ideas, and different experiences and knowledge often yields new associations that can be very valuable. When many voices are heard, people are keen to put forward their ideas for consideration and review. People can often be seen discussing opposing opinions and sharing a diversity of perspectives. Where debate is not allowed, people follow authoritarian patterns without questioning.
• Encourage appropriate risk taking. Appropriate risk taking allows people to make decisions and take initiative in the face of uncertainty and ambiguity. When there is an acceptable level of risk taking, bold new initiatives can be taken even when the outcomes or results are unknown. People feel as though they can take a gamble on some of their ideas. People will often go out on a limb and will put an idea forward. Quick learning from mistakes and failures is the aim. In a risk-avoiding climate there is a cautious, hesitant mentality. People try to be on the safe side. They make decisions by sleeping on the matter. They set up committees, and they cover themselves in many ways before making a decision.

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