Making garden variety creativity a strategic priority

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to outline a process for establishing and implementing strategic priorities to enhance worker garden variety creativity – a type of creativity that improves direct worker outcomes such as enhancing operational efficiencies and flexibility.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper presents process suggestions that are based on existing research and practical understanding of best practices for improving worker creativity in typical workplace settings.

Findings

The paper finds that organizations need to maximize worker creativity at all organizational levels in order to maintain the flexibility necessary for today's turbulent economic climate. Also, there are concrete steps organizations can take to develop this creativity.

Research limitations/implications

This process is not designed to increase high‐level creativity (such as developing new microchips), and is not appropriate for moving organizations forward in such a direction.

Practical implications

Most organizations are better served by increasing more prosaic outcomes that are improved through garden variety creativity. As such, the vast majority of organizations will benefit by finding ways to improve garden variety creativity.

Originality/value

This paper makes a contribution to the literature in terms of understanding how organizations can strategically focus on worker creativity improvements, and how this focus can be translated into managerial actions.

Citation

Mayfield, M. (2009), "Making garden variety creativity a strategic priority", Business Strategy Series, Vol. 10 No. 6, pp. 345-351. https://doi.org/10.1108/17515630911005628