Analysis of Workplace Creative Culture - Essay Sample

Introduction

To analyze the workplace creative culture, three scenarios will be taken into consideration. These include the informal breakfast discussion, E-mail exchange, and formal company meeting. The informal discussion involved the deliberation between the marketing director and the general manager of the Latin Division. Both positive and negative attributes can be cited in this discussion. Among the positive attributes include compromise between the leaders and resources. The ability of the leaders to compromise enhances creativity in an organization by allowing the participants to come to a common agreement and put in place appropriate follow-up and implementation models. Adequate resources such as the virtual message boards enable all the departments to take part in the organisational discussions hence a wide pool of ideas.

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On the other hand, negative attributes from this discussion included idea time and inadequate knowledge about different leadership styles. The discussions were conducted within the organisation's working time hence stifling creativity and the emergence of fresh ideas from the participants. Further, the mode of conducting the discussions should have been facing to face for more productivity as should have been proposed by the leadership.

Secondly, there is the issue of an e-mail exchange between the Global Vice President of Human Resources, Robert Engleton, and Global Vice President of France, Johann DeGroot. The positive attributes of this communication cycle included the display of trust and openness and the availability of the supporting resources. Maintaining a high level of trust between the communicating parties enable the open presentation of open ideas by the participants that enhance the creative solution of various emerging issues. Availability of various resources used in the sending of e-mails within and without the organization promotes the seamless exchange of ideas from various participants who bring in fresh points of view into different issues. On the other hand, the negative aspects included poor idea support and lack of teamwork. Robert finds it hard to accept the new ideas pitched by Johan, and this hinders incorporation of the innovative ideas into the organisation. The leaders do not support their ideas appropriately hence giving room for misinterpretations of their ideas, and this hinders creativity in the organization.

Finally, there is the scenario of the formal company meeting that takes place between the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), general manager, and the various operational leads for different divisions of the company. The positive attributes from this scenario included the empowerment of creative by the leaderships and the responsibility of the ideas. During the meeting, the CEO recognized the efforts of the leads in Europe, and this enhances the creativity of the various participants as they feel appreciated to give their contributions. Further, the members were allowed to explain their ideas, and this prompted all to give their ideas during their creative views that enhance organizational growth. On the other hand, the negative aspects of the meeting included the unapproachability of the leaders and the inability to provide appropriate feedback from various participants. The leaders should be approachable and polite during such meetings to allow all to give their views, failure to which open deliberations are hampered; hence, creativity is stifled. Also, proper feedback leads to coming up with consensus among the various parties involved in various organizational meetings. If appropriate feedback is not given on various issues, creative ideas will not be inculcated into the business, and this stifles not only creativity but also the growth of business in general.

Creativity Crowded Out

In the scenario of the informal breakfast discussion, the identities of negative aspects included idea time and misunderstanding of different leadership styles. The meeting took place during the normal working times and did not allow adequate brainstorming time for the participants; therefore, hindering the creativity of the participants. Further, the general manager offered the virtual message board as the medium for the discussion, which is not an effective method. To enhance the exchange of ideas and creativity, methods such as face to face deliberations should have been used.

Secondly, in the scenario of the e-mail exchange, the negative aspects were poor support of the ideas by the individuals and lack of teamwork. In particular, Robert hesitates to compromise on the new ideas raised by Johann in the conversation, and this creates a rift between them in a bid to bring forth creative ideas. Also, Johann is receiving poor feedback, and this can make his ideas subject to misinterpretations and, therefore, not to be implemented to help in driving the organisation forward.

Thirdly, in the scenario of formal company meeting, the identified negative scenarios include the unapproachability of the leaders and the provision of improper feedback by the participants of the meeting. The leaders of the meeting are seen to be inconsiderate of the views given by the participants, especially when such views are seen to point to the top leadership's weaknesses. This hinders free expression by the participants hence creativity in the organisation. Further, it is notable that proper feedback and criticism can help build stronger organizational teams in the case of the CEO and the leads. However, the lack of such structured feedback avenues not only deny the participants a chance to know why their ideas are right or wrong but also discourage their open and free participation in giving ideas. Finally, it is essential to state that a creative environment is more important to business operation as compared to other business priorities. While negative attributes are the root cause of conflicting business priorities, businesses should endeavor to move towards their elimination to generate ideas for growth.

Initiatives

To begin with, the negative attributes arising from the scenario of informal breakfast discussion can be solved by individual initiative such as exchange of various ideas that promote knowledge of management methods and organizational initiative such as allocating time for training the employees on creative exercises. On the scenario of the e-mail exchange, an individual initiative such as enhancement of teamwork and organizational initiative like ensuring that all leaders are approachable and open to new ideas can be instituted to solve the identified negative attributes of the communication experience. Lastly, for the formal company meeting scenario, an individual initiative like establishing a positive environment by keeping a positive attitude and welcoming new employees with open arms, and organizational initiatives such as creating opportunities to express recognition of different departments or employees to keep everyone on their toes while allowing friendly competition should be implemented. Such initiatives will always encourage fast adoptability of the employees in the organisation and also their open contribution of creative ideas to better the organisation.

Conclusion

In conclusion, creativity should be encouraged in the business by allowing for open expression by the employees. If this is done, higher levels of innovation will be realized in the organisation while alleviating the conflicting business priorities. The priorities have been addressed in other sections, as noted herein.