Thought Leadership Articles
Kenexa HR Thought Leadership™ articles are experience-driven pieces that discuss best practices in the Human Capital Management (HCM) space. These articles are written by skilled HR practitioners or technologists who initiate or provide new thinking on a specific component of HR. Kenexa HR Thought Leadership articles discuss strategies on new or existing HR topics and educate readers about future possibilities and considerations on those topics. The overall purpose of these thought leadership articles is to engage readers through original, innovative ideas that are supported by the knowledge and experience of the author.
Recognizing the Value of Creativity and Innovation in Organizations: Recognition is Not Enough
By Anne E. Herman, Ph.D., Kenexa Research Institute and Jeffrey M. Saltzman, M.A., Kenexa
Organizations have increasingly become interested in creativity and innovation, in part as a response to the pressures associated with globalization, competition, economic factors and technology changes. Many organizational leaders see creativity as an opportunity for gaining a sustainable competitive advantage.
An outcome or result is interpreted as creative if it is both novel and appropriate (Amabile, 1996). Though much of the early research on creativity focused on major breakthroughs or radical ideas in science and art (referred to as “Big C”), these kinds of creative activities would not be functional in organizations. In the context of an organization, we need creative output (e.g., solution, product) to have a suitable fit within the organizational vision and goals. Thus, the opportunity for most of us to be creative will be different. We are more likely to be presented with the opportunities to be creative in less extreme ways, such as the adaptation of a process or solving a problem (known as “little c”).