I entered the workforce about fifteen years ago. I was in high school, and I thought I knew how the world worked–I had my life plan figured out. I had a summer job that granted me nearly limitless creativity, and I loved it. In most ways, I performed excellently (in other ways, not so much).
My summer job essentially required me to decorate a campground for different summer events and design games/activities that coincided with them. These activities were mostly for kids, but we had some events for adults as well. I loved the freedom of creativity, of feeling like I could dream and implement anything. My creativity was generally looked well upon, and I was satisfied.
Fast forward to my life now. My current position allows no creativity at all. I work closely with two other individuals in an IT setting; the three of us support about 2,000 individuals. Our department in general has become extremely limited by the administrators above us; we can’t make any policies or utilize any resources to keep our jobs organized. We can’t change software because other software costs money, despite the fact that our current programs aren’t able to provide the features that are desperately needed. We are unable to change anything that we do.
I believe this is damaging to the human psyche. We are shrouded in feelings of unfulfillment. Though we are able to recognize problems and creatively consider solutions for them, we are still at an impasse because all solutions are deemed unacceptable. The corporation we work for forbids change of any kind; it leads to customer and user dissatisfaction with us, and it seems unfair because we are entirely forbidden to address problems. If a lack of support and openness is driving the ongoing issues, it shouldn’t reflect poorly upon our department. The root causes of the problems could be handled appropriately, but the support simply isn’t there. Any change is met with resistance and, ultimately, is rejected.
So, where does that leave us? This isn’t just my story. It could be yours, too–how are you creative at work? Are you “allowed” to be? What comes from your ideas–do any of them come to fruition? And if they don’t, do they mean anything? If every idea you have is immediately scrapped without even being considered, it doesn’t matter why; your sparks of creativity are being snuffed out.
Creativity in the workplace is suffering. The greatest technological advances of our time were born from someone’s creativity–iPhone, for example. It revolutionized the mobile phone industry. Arguably, the first iPad didn’t even change things as much as iPhone did. The closest we’ve come since then was the release of the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil. Aside from that, what has changed since iPhone launched?
The last several years’ worth of iPhones haven’t yielded much change. We got Face ID and Animoji in recent years, but what else has truly been a “game changer?” Generally speaking, for iPad and iPhone alike, we look forward to better screens, better batteries, and possibly better cameras. Is that considered creative or simply expected?
Don’t misunderstand; I enjoy better features on my phone. However, I don’t consider any of the latest changes to be particularly revolutionary in any way. I believe this phenomenon links back to an inadequate supply of creativity.
I don’t follow Android-based phones as much because I don’t use one, but I’d imagine it’s much the same (screen, battery, etc). These “new” features aren’t creative at all. It’s upgrading the hardware and occasionally throwing in new software capabilities. Where is the creativity?
We are relying on third-party developers to fill this void. The makers of apps–games, utilities, and a multitude of other applications–are the force driving us to get “better” devices. We see advertisements or demos of apps that we’d love to use, but some of them are locked behind the latest and greatest phone… so, what do we do? We upgrade. This is where the creativity comes from now: it comes from app developers.
Our physical devices function and look mostly the same as they did five (or more) years ago. Why?
I believe it’s because the creativity is gone–not “gone” in a sense that it doesn’t exist anymore, but “gone” in a sense that it isn’t used anymore. Where are the forward-thinking individuals? Is creativity being pushed out of businesses as we enter a more mechanical age?
As a society, we need to start encouraging creativity. We must ensure art programs–and other creative components like band, orchestra, programming, etc–stay in K-12 schools. I really believe that creativity starts there, but it can also be squashed there as well. Creative thinking and problem-solving skills are critical and need to be encouraged, especially at young ages.
In the same way, what of our adults? Creativity amongst older individuals should be encouraged as well. Listen to your colleagues. Work together to form solutions to problems. If you’re in a position to manage others, listen to their concerns and their ideas of resolving conflicts. Saying “no” to every idea and offering no input is discouraging creative thinking. Continuing to disregard your employees’ issues will only lead to their unhappiness, and they will likely seek employment elsewhere in order to feel valued.
As a whole, we must do better; otherwise, we risk remaining stagnant. At many times throughout history, we’ve had mind-blowing revelations and new concepts. I don’t think that world is lost; I think that world has given up. We must not be satisfied with what is.. at one time, we had a drive to dream and think, “what if?” Where did that desire go? Surely it isn’t lost. How can we dream if we’re content with mediocre?
B