Lifelong Learning Series

Creativity Is Social

Sneak peek of guest speaker and Dale Carnegie executive Allyn Walker’s latest talk:

The Interpersonal Dynamics of Innovation in the Workplace

Creativity is the precursor to all innovation. How can we encourage and nurture creativity in the workplace?

In a survey by Adobe, respondents globally said businesses that invest in creativity are more likely to enjoy the advantages of having satisfied customers, increasing employee productivity, fostering innovation, and being financially successful.

Dale Carnegie conducted a global study this year on creativity, including a survey of more than 6,500 employees from 21 countries and territories, to better understand how employees feel about support for creativity in their workplace and how well those organizations are performing in terms of some of the drivers our company identified as crucial through research.

In our survey, 82% of respondents said there are creative people on their teams. While scientists are still at the beginning stages of understanding the neuroscience of creativity, the myth of the “creative right brain” has been disproven. It is now generally accepted that the capacity for creativity—at least to some extent—is common to all of us.

Humans inherently have a lot of creative intelligence, but creativity is the result of more than just individual traits and skills. It also depends on the situation or environment, and the transformation of creativity into innovation is the result of a process.

Many organizations would like to more effectively harness their employees’ creativity.

Allyn Walker, managing partner, Dale Carnegie Tennessee and Georgia

The Dale Carnegie study revealed that highly creative organizations with a reputation for innovation and success shared 10 traits:

1. They protect intrinsic motivation.

2. They help people gain knowledge and expertise.

3. They encourage people to build networks.4. They tend to their employees’ well-being.

5. They make connections between team tasks and the purpose.

6. Teams create and maintain psychological safety.7. Teams learn and use creative techniques.

8. The organization’s purpose is clear and compelling.

9. They encourage and appreciate initiative.10. They cultivate sustained (deep-level) diversity.

Watch the full talk on the Jones College YouTube channel

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