Why You Secretly HATE Creativity
Visual summary for "Creative Change" by Jennifer Mueller (Part1)
Hi there!
I have been enjoying the summer and been less online these days, but today I come back with one of my favorite business book of all time: Creative Change by Jennifer Mueller. It is not as much known as some of the other books I have visually summarized previously, but it's full of surprising insights.
So let’s jump in!
The Creative Death Looming
Most companies claim to love innovation, yet creative ideas have a hard time being accepted and implemented when they present themselves. Why is that?
You've probably heard how Kodak invented the first self-contained digital camera but decided not to commercialize it, and how, just a few years later, they were filing for bankruptcy, disrupted by that very technology.
For Jennifer Mueller, this "Uncreative Destruction" or death by the status quo is not brought by a lack of ideas being generated, but by our reactions in the face of uncertainty.
Look at the 2 jars above and imagine you had to pick a white ball from one of them to win $100; even if both jars give you a 50% chance, most people will choose the left one.
Given two alternatives, we pick the one that feels less uncertain.
Creative ideas are, by definition, more uncertain than gradual improvements. Jennifer Mueller's own research shows that when given only a few seconds, the word "Creativity" is more often associated with negative words such as "vomit" compared to the word "practicality." This was the first surprising insight for me:
You may say you LOVE creativity and at the same time unconsciously HATING it.
Our fear of uncertainty and the related hidden "hatred" of creativity explains why it's so hard to get a creative idea implemented, but let's explore how that works inside corporations:
The Problem of Experts
In a corporate environment, ideas will typically need some approval and support in order to get implemented, and this is the first challenge for creative ideas and the second surprising insight for me:
Experts and Decision makers are worse a selecting Creative ideas!
To be clear, being an expert doesn't make you worse at selecting familiar ideas or incremental improvements, but when it comes to creativity, your expertise becomes a disadvantage for two main reasons:
You have more to lose by selecting a creative idea
You risk losing credibility if the idea fails
Fear of what other experts or higher-level approvers may think
Research shows that rejecting ideas can make you look smarter
Your expertise leads you to familiar ideas
You can more easily find flaws and risks in the creative ideas
You want ideas that you can vouch for
The problem of experts (and deciders) cannot be avoided by simply asking them to look for creativity specifically; they will simply reframe the ideas and still rate the familiar ones higher.
So what can be done? Is there a way to still give creative ideas a chance?
The Unfair Comparison
Creative ideas require more effort, refinement and incubation; they also involve higher risks and uncertainty. If they stand next to familiar ideas with their immediate, well-documented benefits, they don't stand a chance… which is why they shouldn't be compared!
Jennifer Mueller suggests:
Use the wisdom of the crowd - Large groups of consumers or employees are better judges of the creativity of an idea than experts
Evaluate creative and incremental ideas separately - You will need different criteria for the two types of ideas
Ask deciders to pick ideas that others judged creative - This removes the fear; the decider can always refer to the initial selection if things go wrong
Avoid multi-gate approvals - Each additional approval level reduces the chance of a creative idea being implemented
The Two Mindset
A useful framework provided in the book is the distinction between a "How Best" mindset and a "Why/Potential" mindset.
How Best mindset - Asks "What's the best way to do this?", "What are the risks?" It is great at evaluating familiar ideas.
Why/Potential mindset - Asks "Why might this idea be valuable?", "What potential does this idea hold?" It is the mindset you want when evaluating creative ideas.
The two mindsets complement each other: one is great at understanding the potential in an idea, and the other is good at implementing it in the real world.
The way ideas are evaluated in most organizations pushes toward a How/Best mindset, producing very few breakthrough or disruptive ideas. Recognizing the role of our mindset can help us avoid stagnation and truly embrace creative change.
That will be it for today, but you can expect a part 2 discussing the concrete advice from the book on how to present a creative idea and get it implemented as an individual.
Looking forward to your thoughts in the comments :).
Good post Lud! I like the "Experts and Decision makers are worse a selecting Creative ideas!" section so much
Great text, it made me reflect on the subject.