Creative Abilities of Indian Managers and Blocks to Creativity Enhancement

Abstract

In the globalized arena, managers need to play a great variety of roles and in order to be effective performers on such roles, they need to sharpen their creative abilities as well as maintain the various blocks thereto at low level. A preliminary step is to make an assessment of existing state of the strengths and weaknesses regarding the same. As independent investigators, the authors initiated such an assessment with reference to managerial personnel in the selected Indian organizations. The generalized findings of such an assessment will provide some direction to the organizations and their managers for the formulation/re-formulation of appropriate strategies so as to develop creative abilities within themselves. In the present study, creative abilities of the managerial personnel, by and large, have been found at high level. Such a high level of creative abilities is also because blocks to creative personality were found only at moderate level (not at high level). Such a climate favours the initiation and promotion of creativity and innovation. The study also revealed that managerial personnel need to improve their creative abilities in terms of ‘sensitivity’ and ‘entrepreneurship’. The managerial personnel of the selected organizations have perceived themselves as having greater level of ‘allergy to ambiguity’ and they also perceived the other studied blocks to creative personality as having at moderate level (desirably not at low level) which may appear as barriers in the process of nurturing creative abilities and promoting innovation capabilities in the given set-up. Organizations are complex social, political and technical systems and there is no simplistic formula for becoming more creative and innovative in practice.