Organizational creativity can be defined as the creation of valuable and useful new products, services, ideas, processes, or procedures by individuals working together in a complex social system. Creativity leads to innovation, which is the successful implementation of creative ideas at the organizational level and provides competitive advantage. To build a culture of creativity and innovation, organizations must identify and mobilize the creative resources of their members through transformational leadership that inspires and supports creativity. Leaders should nurture creativity by managing for it rather than suppressing it, and organizations can measure progress through tools like performance dashboards and benchmarking.

2.  Many different professionals and researchers give many different
definitions but according to Woodman (Ref.7) organizational creativity
can be interpreted as the creation of a valuable, useful new
product, service, idea, procedure, or process by individuals working
together in a complex social system.
 Creativity does not only concern thoughts/ideas, but also action,
innovation, and progress (Vicari, 1998) (Ref.7) . Innovation is a defining
feature of organizational creativity. New ideas should be
implemented in order to achieve competitive advantage through
innovation
 It is also important to remember that although the terms are at
times used interchangeably creativity is an individual or team level
process, while innovation is the successful implementation of
creative ideas at the organizational level.

3.  Creativity is a powerful tool to use in business. Bennis & Biederman
are quoted as stating (Ref.1) “The organizations of the future will
increasingly depend on the creativity of their members to survive.
Great groups offer a new model in which the leader is an equal
among Titans. In a truly creative collaboration, work is pleasure,
and the only rules and procedures are those that advance the
common cause"
1. Creativity leads to competitive advantage which research has
already established causes growth in revenues, profits, and ROA.
2. Creativity encourages learning. Through learning employees retain
and improve competitiveness, productivity, and innovativeness
3. Unsworth, 2005 Creative people, managers and employees, may
become more committed with their work and organization if top
management values their work and ideas (Ref.2). This leads to better
employee retention, higher quality applicants, and a more content
workforce.

4.  Any change to a business culture requires three elements to be
successfully implemented-
1) Organizational support- When members perceive work environments that
restricts or fails to encourage creativity, a gap may exist between the level
of individual creative potential and the actual amount of individual creativity
practiced within that organization.
2) Supportive Leadership/Management- The organizations of the future will
increasingly depend on the creativity of their members to survive. Great
groups offer a new model, in which the leader is an equal among Titans. In a
truly creative collaboration, work is pleasure, and the only rules and
procedures are those that advance the common cause" (Bennis & Biederman,
1997) (Ref.1) .
3) Education- The greater the available knowledge and level of codification (the
process of standardizing and developing a norm), the greater the probability
that this will spread within the organization, leading to the definition of
shared mental models that favor group work and the integration of
competences.

5.  In order to build and sustain a culture dominated by creativity and
innovation, organizations must effectively identify and mobilize the
creative resources of their members. This is where “Transformational
leadership” comes in.
 TFL is a style of leadership that helps to generate positive change or
"transform" organizations through mutual engagement of both
leaders and employees (Ref.1) .
 To be a Transformational leader requires four important components-
1. Idealized influence, being a charismatic leader.
2. Inspirational motivation, the ability to articulate and share a vision.
3. Intellectual stimulation, the ability to encourage and stimulate their
followers.
4. Individualized consideration, which is a leader who takes their
followers needs into account.

6.  Obviously we cannot incorporate anything into our
organization without knowing if it is benefiting or disrupting
our business. So we must be able to monitor and measure its
progress. In this case we are already equipped to do these
tasks with things such as the Balanced scorecard, Performance
Dashboard, and Benchmarking. See examples below.
Production line Industry Average Company Goal Line production Status
Production Performance Dashboard
Line 1 Tabs 30,000 units 30,500 units 29,300 units
Line 2 Tabs 30,000 units 30,500 units 30,165 units
Line 3 Bottles 10, 000 units 11,000 units 7,050 units
Line 4 Caps 20,000 units 21,000 units 23,010 units

7.  Anyone can successfully contribute creativity and innovation to their
organization. Here are some ways how-
1. Richard Brynteson writes “Hunting for trends is one of the first steps
in innovation work. Trend hunting should not be limited to a person
in marketing research. Because of the web, anyone can and should
be a trend hunter. Besides, trend hunting can be fun” (Ref.4).
2. If you’re a leader of a team remember “One doesn’t manage
creativity. One manages for creativity” (Ref.6). Do not suppress or
try to force creativity, support it and nurture it.
3. Believing in one self's ability to successfully engage in creative
behaviors is considered an important part of the creative process.
The more one believes in themselves , the more likely the individual
will be to perceive opportunities to actually apply their creative
potential in the form of creative action.

8. In order to build and sustain an organizational culture
dominated by creativity and innovation, organizations
must effectively identify and mobilize the creative
resources of their members (Ref.5). The future has
always been built on the ideas and creativity thinkers
and doers, those who do not utilize such resource fall
to the winds. I thank you for your time.

9. References
• (Ref.1) HOLDING THE HELM: EXPLORING THE INFLUENCE OF TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP ON GROUP CREATIVITY, AND
THE MODERATING ROLE OF ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING CULTURE Phipps, Simone T A; Prieto, Leon C; Verma, Satish .
Journal of Organizational Culture, Communication and Conflict
• (Ref.2) CREATIVITY, INNOVATION AND COLLABORATIVE ORGANIZATIONS de Sousa, Fernando Cardoso; Pellissier, René ;
Monteiro, Ileana Pardal. International Journal of Organizational Innovation (Online) 5.1 (Summer 2012): 26-64.
• (Ref.3) Creativity and Firm-Level Performance: The Mediating Effects of Action Orientation Weinzimmer, Laurence GView
Profile; Michel, Eric JView Profile; Franczak, Jennifer LView Profile. Journal of Managerial Issues23.1 (Spring 2011): 62-82,7.
• (Ref.4) Innovation at Work : 55 Activities to Spark Your Team's Creativity, by Brynteson, Richard, September 2012
• (Ref.5) Leadership development: the key to unlocking individual creativity in organizations Houghton, Jeffery D; DiLiello,
Trudy C. Leadership & Organization Development Journal 31.3 (2010): 230-245.
• (Ref.6) Creativity and the Role of the Leader, Teresa Amabile Mukti Khaire FROM THE OCTOBER 2008 ISSUE
• (Ref.7) Organizational creativity: breaking equilibrium and order to innovate Borghini, Stefania. Journal of Knowledge
Management 9.4 (2005): 19-33