Read a selection of your colleagues’ postings. Make sure to find posts where the organization presented was different in size (large vs. small) or where your colleague assessed the organization from a different organizational level (e.g., top level vs. middle level management). Compare your colleagues’ experiences and assessments with your own, giving careful thought to how these dimensions might have impacted the results. Respond to two or more of your colleagues in one or more of the following ways: · Compare the results of your colleague’s assessment with your own. What factors were ranked differently and what factors seemed to impact the climate of creativity the most. Explain why. · Based upon specific details in a colleague’s assessment, explain any additional insights about the influence of the size of the organization and/or the level within the organization from which the assessment was made. For example, how might the assessment change or differ if one is on the frontline versus upper management. · Analyze the importance of leading from all levels of the organization in fostering a creative climate. Template Responses to Your Colleagues Comparison of Colleagues Assessment with Your Own Additional Insights Analysis of Leading from All levels APA References 1st Colleague to respond to: Description of the Organization The selected organization is a large, global company with locations in over 14 countries. I currently work for the organization as a Marketing Manager and will be completing this assessment based on my experience in this role and access to varying levels of the organization. Description of factors that Contribute to Creative Climate Due to the size of the organization, there are varying levels of leadership and management. I have access to several, both in the America’s and globally due to the nature of our marketing department. I would say that the overall creative climate of our organization involves trust, openness and freedom. Of course, each department varies in creative climate due to the tasks at hand, however as an organization, the creative climate is very positive. Speaking specifically about the marketing department in which I work, I would say that individual and teams have a positive creative climate and push the boundaries where necessary. For teams, its important to “Match the right people with the right assignments, so employees are stretched but not stretched too thin” (Amabile, 2000). Our organization does a great job at doing so and also in giving “freedom within the company’s goals” (Amabile, 2000). Although there are goals to meet, we can achieve them however we feel is best. Fresh ideas are encouraged and often help achieve new goals. Areas that contribute to negative creative climate are often time and money. As an organization I think we can continually do better in creating realistic timelines. “Organizations routinely kill creativity with fake deadlines or impossibly tight ones. The former cr.

1. Read a selection of your colleagues’ postings. Make sure to find
posts where the organization presented was different in size
(large vs. small) or where your colleague assessed the
organization from a different organizational level (e.g., top
level vs. middle level management). Compare your colleagues’
experiences and assessments with your own, giving careful
thought to how these dimensions might have impacted the
results.
Respond to two or more of your colleagues in one or more of
the following ways:
· Compare the results of your colleague’s assessment with your
own. What factors were ranked differently and what factors
seemed to impact the climate of creativity the most. Explain
why.
· Based upon specific details in a colleague’s assessment,
explain any additional insights about the influence of the size of
the organization and/or the level within the organization from
which the assessment was made. For example, how might the
assessment change or differ if one is on the frontline versus
upper management.
· Analyze the importance of leading from all levels of the
organization in fostering a creative climate.
Template Responses to Your Colleagues
Comparison of Colleagues Assessment with Your Own
Additional Insights
Analysis of Leading from All levels
APA References
1st Colleague to respond to:
Description of the Organization
The selected organization is a large, global company with
locations in over 14 countries. I currently work for the
organization as a Marketing Manager and will be completing

2. this assessment based on my experience in this role and access
to varying levels of the organization.
Description of factors that Contribute to Creative Climate
Due to the size of the organization, there are varying levels of
leadership and management. I have access to several, both in
the America’s and globally due to the nature of our marketing
department. I would say that the overall creative climate of our
organization involves trust, openness and freedom. Of course,
each department varies in creative climate due to the tasks at
hand, however as an organization, the creative climate is very
positive.
Speaking specifically about the marketing department in which I
work, I would say that individual and teams have a positive
creative climate and push the boundaries where necessary. For
teams, its important to “Match the right people with the right
assignments, so employees are stretched but not stretched too
thin” (Amabile, 2000). Our organization does a great job at
doing so and also in giving “freedom within the company’s
goals” (Amabile, 2000). Although there are goals to meet, we
can achieve them however we feel is best. Fresh ideas are
encouraged and often help achieve new goals.
Areas that contribute to negative creative climate are often time
and money. As an organization I think we can continually do
better in creating realistic timelines. “Organizations routinely
kill creativity with fake deadlines or impossibly tight ones. The
former creates distrust and the latter cause burnout” (Amabile,
2000).
Description of the Creativity Assessment
Overall, the assessment was spot on in matching the creative
climate of the organization. Regarding the area of trust, I
believe that certain departments lack a high level of trust due to
varying management styles and the job at hand. The marketing
department has a very high level of trust and freedom to present

3. new ideas, methods and trial and error mentality.
This would be the same for the assessment of negative conflict.
I believe that areas of our organization can grow in this area to
be more supportive of disagreements and fluctuating input. On
the other hand, the marketing department is very supportive of
positive experience and tends to resolve conflict quickly.
Identify Dimensions of Creativity in the Organization
I ranked the dimension of freedom the highest and risk-taking
the lowest for the organization. Freedom tends to be an area in
which my organization highly emphasizes. I’ve worked for the
company for 5 years and this has not always been the case,
however after direction from a new CEO and reorganization, the
company is very focused on freedom. Employees have the
opportunity and are encouraged to offer up new ideas, manage
their own workload and time spend working as they choose. The
company empowers their employees to think outside the box
and test any new ideas.
On the other hand, risk-taking is an area in which I ranked the
lowest. Although I mentioned freedom of ideas is on the higher
side, as an entire organization, we need to take more risks. I
feel as though large decisions and ideas need to involve risks
and we are not quite there yet. Areas of the organization thrive
on risk-taking and implementing new ideas, however as a whole
company, we must do better to stay competitively aligned in
doing so.
APA References
Amabile, T. M. (1998). How to kill creativity. Harvard Business
Review, 76(5), 15–24.
2nd Colleague to respond to:
Top of Form
Description of the Organization

4. The organization I chose for the organizational creativity
assessment is my current federal law enforcement agency. It is
a large agency with over 30,000 employees across the United
States and worldwide. My assessment is from the Executive
Management level; my team comprises seven supervisors and
about 75 analysts.
Being a law enforcement agency, the organization must operate
within certain legal boundaries. Nevertheless, there are pockets
of creativity and innovation at the Headquarters level, but
mainly in the field offices across the country. The creativity is
most apparent in the investigations; as criminals have become
more creative, the organization has had to adapt to meet the
challenges. Moreover, to do more with less, the agency has
become more creative and efficient with resource utilization--
both people and money.
Description of factors that Contribute to Creative Climate
One process that highlights the creative environment in the
organization is the threat prioritization process. After 9/11, the
agency shifted to a process where all offices go through a
systematic review of the threats in the local office’s area of
responsibility, based on defined factors and impact to the local
community. After the rankings are defined and the threat
priorities are established, the local office then creates a two-
year strategic plan to mitigate the threats. The strategic plan is
driven from the bottom up by the line agents, analysts,
linguists, computer scientists, and others assigned to the threats.
The teams are encouraged to take advantage of the diversity of
experience, thought, and specialties; Hoever, van Knippenberg,
van Ginkel and Barkema (2012) highlighted that diverse teams
perform more creatively than homogeneous teams when they
take advantage of the diversity. The teams are encouraged to be
as creative as possible in developing their plan to detect and
combat the threats in the local community. The strategy can
include informational and investigative actions, such as
traditional investigative techniques, undercover operations,
online activity, and proactive investigative activities to get

5. ahead of evolving threats. The only limitation for the teams is
staying within the Constitution. The teams can propose
operations and get funding from our Headquarters to carry out
the plans.
The teams present the plans to Executive Management, which
reviews the plans and requests for resources. Executive
Management challenges the teams, while also being mindful of
the need to hold the teams accountable for results. Executive
Management sets measurable goals for each team, the results of
which are reviewed on a quarterly basis. The strategy meetings
are held every two years; at the mid-way point, we revisit the
strategy to see if it needs to be adjusted or rewritten.
The strength of the process lies in individuals and the teamwork
between the various specialists. A well balanced, driven team
can produce outstanding results. A team of unmotivated
individuals who put in minimal effort, however, will have
minimal results. If anyone on the team does not do their jobs or
cannot work with the other team members, there is a ripple
effect on the rest of the team. This is where first line
supervisors, as well as the metrics become important. First line
supervisors have to check in with the employees periodically
and hold them accountable for their performance.
Description of the Creativity Assessment
The creativity assessment shows the organization is a good
place where there is a process for sharing ideas that includes
employees at all levels. According to Amabile (2000),
creativity includes three components: expertise, creative-
thinking skills, and motivation, which are all present in the
organization. The process includes the exchange of ideas and
there is an open environment to share and contribute to the
strategic plans. The atmosphere is good; there is camaraderie
and, for the most part, employees will go out of their way to
help each other.
The downside is that because it is a law enforcement agency,
there is some risk aversion at various levels throughout the
organization. When the risk aversion is at the Executive Level,

6. it can hamper creativity and stifle idea generation. Moreover,
the climate can be too structured and measured at times, which
does not allow ideas to percolate and mature. Additionally, we
have many self imposed deadlines, which can feel as if we are
rushing from one deadline to the next, which Amabile (2000)
notes can kill creativity.
Identify Dimensions of Creativity in the Organization
The dimensions of creativity that ranked the highest were
Challenge and Involvement, Trust and Openness, and
Playfulness and Humor. A majority of employees are
intrinsically motivated by service to the community and the
public safety mission (Amabile, 2000). The agency is built on
trust and transparency, as well as integrity, which is the
foundation of the law enforcement part of the organization.
Playfulness and humor become critical when dealing with
stressful situations. When not involved in high stress
operations, employees have their own team building events
throughout the year and exercise humor as a bridge between
people.
The dimension of creativity that ranked the lowest was Risk
Taking. The public profile of the organization, as well as the
legal implications means there are some employees who are
more risk averse than others. This becomes critical when
creating the right environment for creativity. The more risk
averse the Executive Management and first level supervisors,
the higher the chances the managers will be unwilling to
embrace the employees’ creativity.
APA References
Amabile, T. M. (1998). How to kill creativity. Harvard Business
Review, 76(5), 15–24.
Hoever, I., van Knippenberg, D., van Ginkel, W., & Barkema,
H. (2012). Fostering team creativity: Perspective as key to
unlocking diversity’s potential.The Journal of Applied
Psychology, 97(5), 982-996.
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