Lost in Translation? A Review of Popular-press Claims about Organizational Creativity and Innovation

Abstract

ABSTRACT The disconnect between research and practice in applied psychology, or the research–practice gap, has been discussed as an important issue for decades, but the discussion of this divide has yet to be extended to the topic of creativity and innovation in organizations. In an initial attempt to understand the research–practice gap on this topic, we conducted a systematic investigation regarding popular-press claims about creativity and innovation. The present study identified 17 claims made about organizational creativity and innovation using thematic analysis and quantitatively coded a sample of popular-press articles to investigate the prevalence and nature of these claims as well as author characteristics. Results provided initial evidence of a research–practice gap for some claims, but not for others. The professional backgrounds of authors were not associated with the nature of the claims presented, although it should be noted that few authors had a background in research. Study findings may be leveraged to inform future work on the disconnect between research and practice regarding creativity and innovation in organizations, as well as initiatives to narrow the research–practice gap on this topic.