Creativity Matters
This is the official blog of the Creative Leadership Forum written and edited by Ralph Kerle, Chairman, the Creative Leadership Forum. The views expressed are his own and do not represent the views of the International or National Advisory Board members. Tweet ______________________________________________________________________________________
Monday, January 9, 2012 at 10:24AM A pair of Johns Hopkins and government scientists have discovered that when jazz musicians improvise, their brains turn off areas linked to self-censoring and inhibition, and turn on those that let self-expression flow.
Friday, November 18, 2011 at 04:16PM CEOs, teachers, and leaders claim they want creative ideas to solve problems. But creative ideas are rejected all the time. A new study, which will be published in an upcoming issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, finds that people have a hidden bias against creativity. We claim to like creativity, but when we’re feeling uncertain and anxious—just the way you might feel when you’re trying to come up with a creative solution to a problem—we cannot recognize the creative ideas we so desire.
Thursday, September 8, 2011 at 02:58PM A few years ago, I was on a small regional jet when we smelled smoke. The pilot barked orders into the speaker to put out any lighted cigarette immediately. As it turned out, no one was smoking — the alarm was the result of a faulty smoke detector. But the pilot's tone transmitted fear, and that fear spread through the cabin. On another flight, the pilot announced that there was a problem with the plane's hydraulics and that they had to consult with Boeing to decide the best way to get us on the ground. The second situation was far more serious and involved two failed landing attempts before we finally touched down safely. But I will never forget how calm everyone was because the confidence in our pilot's voice was contagious.
Thursday, September 8, 2011 at 11:13AM Let’s look at the 2nd letter – C: Collisions. It originated in the early 15th Century as the Middle French collision from the same period of Latin collisionen, “a dashing together”. The definitions imply a variety of outcomes: 1) the act or process of colliding; a crash or conflict; 2) Physics: a brief dynamic event consisting of the close approach of two or more particles, such as atoms, resulting in an abrupt change of momentum or exchange of energy [emphasis mine]. While the first definition is rather violent, and innovation can arise from major clashes and conflicts, the 2nd definition is closer to type of Collision in #RCUS.
Saturday, August 27, 2011 at 04:48PM Drawing on and extending prototype theories of creativity and leadership, Jennifer S. Mueller, University of Pennsylvania, Jack A. Goncalo Cornell University, ILR and Dishan Kamdar Indian School of Business theorize that the expression of creative ideas may diminish judgments of leadership potential unless the charismatic leadership prototype is activated in the minds of social perceivers. Study 1 shows creative idea expression is negatively related to perceptions of leadership potential in a sample of employees working in jobs that required creative problem solving. Study 2 shows that participants randomly instructed to express creative solutions during an interaction are viewed as having lower leadership potential. A third scenario study replicated this finding showing that participants attributed less leadership potential to targets expressing creative ideas, except when the “charismatic” leader prototype was activated. In sum, we show that the negative association between expressing creative ideas and leadership potential is robust and underscores an important but previously unidentified bias against selecting effective leaders.
