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Creativity: Crisis & Opportunity

July 25, 2010

Two large-scale research studies on the critical importance of creativity were recently published. The first, from IBM, surveyed more than 1,500 Chief Executive Officers from 60 countries and 33 industries worldwide in regards to essential leadership qualities needed over the next five years. They identified Creativity as the foremost leadership skill needed. Ranked next important were Integrity and Global Thinking respectively. IBM also surveyed 3619 students [undergraduate & graduate] from more than 100 major universities internationally. Like the CEOs, 60% of the students ranked Creativity among the top three leadership qualities.

Coming out of the worst economic downturn in our professional lifetimes — and facing a new normal that is distinctly different — it is remarkable that CEOs identify creativity as the number one leadership competency of the successful enterprise of the future. But step back and think about it, and this is entirely consistent with the other top finding in our Study — that the biggest challenge facing enterprises from here on will be the accelerating complexity and the velocity of a world that is operating as a massively interconnected system. — IBM Global Business Services, Frank Kern, Senior Vice President

The second study from Kyung-Hee Kim, an assistant professor in the School of Education/College of William & Mary. She analyzed the creativity scores of 300, 000 American children and adults from the past 20 years. This data was drawn from the Torrance Tests Of Creative Thinking. This standardized battery of tests, verbal and visual, measure several types of creative thinking including: curiosity, hypothetical thinking, imagination, emotional expressiveness, humor, and boundary breaking. Scoring components include: Fluency–the number of relevant ideas; Originality–the unusualness of the ideas; Flexibility (Shifts)–the variety of ideas; different categories of ideas.

Professor Kyung-Hee’s analysis shows the Creativity Quotient [CQ] for the United States has been in decline since 1990. She calls this decline ‘significant’. It’s also most serious among students from kindergarten through sixth grade. A key cause is that school curriculum remains geared to test based learning. Another is that fostering creativity is largely left to arts programs, most of which have been cut. It’s profoundly ironic that just as CEOs are recognizing the importance of creativity to the economy, the generational pipeline is shutting down. This also resulted in a highly publicized Newsweek article “The Creativity Crisis”.

The good news is that the transformation of Western education is underway. There are a growing number of K-20 programs that provide students with experiential, contextual learning opportunities. These often start with a challenging question or problem that requires creative thinking and project management. These also call for the exercise of social and emotional skills such as communication, collaboration, and appreciation for diversity. It’s worth noting the direct correlation between the two skills sets. For example, a “study of 1,500 middle schoolers found that those high in creative self-efficacy had more confidence about their future and ability to succeed. They were sure that their ability to come up with alternatives would aid them, no matter what problems would arise.” Even more heartening, it’s actually easy to develop creativity and social and emotional skills.