In 1950 J. P. Guilford, then President of the American Psychological Association, urged a greater emphasis on creativity.  When I began my business in 1994 it seemed the pendulum had swung the other way.  My practice focused on ‘creativity in business” and I was told that creativity was fairly discretionary.  I often used the word ‘innovation’ because it sounded more corporate.  My potential clients wanted performance management and leadership execution development more than leadership creativity.

Now, on the heels of the IBM CEO study citing Creativity as the top desired leadership skill we have new research suggesting that American creativity is on the decline.

Oh dear.

(Thanks to my dear buddy, Doug Brockbank, for alerting me to this article in Newsweek.)

The most exciting part of the study for me was this:

About 60% of CEOs polled cited creativity as the most important leadership quality, compared with 52% for integrity and 35% for global thinking. Creative leaders are also more prepared to break with the status quo of industry, enterprise and revenue models, and they are 81% more likely to rate innovation as a “crucial capability.”    (source: Fast Company)

That’s right.  Sixty percent of the CEOs surveyed felt CREATIVITY is a crucial skill.  Leadership is not all about operational excellence and squeezing the budget.  It’s more about creative problem-solving.  Leadership is about challenging the status quo.  It’s about doing the creative thinking to innovate.

The challenges of leadership today, and, especially, in the future REQUIRE creativity.

So what might that suggest?  I can think of a few things:

• Assess the composition and creative strengths of your leaders and leaders-to-be.
• Invest in development that builds 1) capacity to do collaborative creating (versus competing and evaluating) and 2) skills to use tools and techniques beyond brainstorming
• Reward creativity (as uncomfortable as that might be when compared to compliance)
• Assess your culture for how well it supports creativity

Even if you’re not all convinced we can well imagine that CEOs are looking ahead.  The fact that they recognize the value of creativity is good news for us all.

You can read a summary of the report in Fast Company.  You can access the entire report here.

Foment the Revolution.

Here is Sir Ken is concern: schools today are over-focused on a narrow definition of intelligence.  Standardized tests determine everything from school funding to who gets into elite programs and colleges.  Perhaps you’ve read A Whole New Mind or Five Minds for the Future.  Perhaps you believe that employers are seeking creativity, the ability to solve complex problems and do more than simply provide the ‘right’ answer.

The world needs flexible, generative minds alongside the analytical, logical minds.  And our curricula and assessments do not reflect that, sadly.

For many years my Element has been dance.  For many years I studied ballet (and tap, and jazz and even baton twirling!).  When I studied dance technique I was definitely not in Flow.  It was painstaking learning.  But eventually, I got better and became a trained dancer.  I haven’t performed in years but I still seek opportunities to dance.  I do lose track of time and enter ‘single-minded immersion’.   What a gift to have found something for which I had some aptitude and loved so much.  I also believe that my training in the arts prepared me to make a broader contribution professionally.  I studied math and science.  I took ballet lessons.  Both improved my brain.

What is your Element?  What have you pursued with passion and aptitude?  If it’s been a long time since you’ve found yourself in Flow may I suggest that you find a way to get back to what you love?  You and the world will be better for it.