Elizabeth Melachrinoudis
Discussion 4
Encouraging creativity by employees is one of the most crucial aspects to creating a flourishing business. As a nonprofit employee at one of the world’s leading medical nonprofit organizations, creativity is often put on the backburner in exchange for specific processes. At the end of fiscal year 2023, the organization that I work for went through a major brand transformation. Everything from the name of the organization, the logo, and the colors changed almost overnight,
along with all marketing and presentation materials. In the overhaul, the organization became extremely strict with brand governance, and no new marketing, presenting, social media, etc. materials are able to be made without a long approval process. While I am not a marketing professional and absolutely respect the need for continuity within the brand – not being able to create and sell the organization in ways that work best for us has been tough for many members of the sales team. I believe the best ways to promote creativity within an organization is the allow for failure, celebrate innovation, and allow ideas to be delivered in a new format. By utilizing these three aspects within the organization, my current employer could create a culture of creativity and inclusivity while maintain brand standards and governance. Allowing for failure is crucial to creating an environment where employees feel safe and supported sharing new ideas. If an employee is worried that every idea that they have is required to be perfect on the first try, employees are not going to be as open and forward with their ideas. Everyone from an executive to a new hire learns from mistakes and knowing that submitting a “bad idea” isn’t the end of the world will promote inclusivity. This can be good for promoting creativity in individuals. Celebrating innovation means creating an environment where employees are celebrated for trying something new and thinking outside of the box, even if the idea is not a major success. Celebrating employees is crucial in all aspects of management but is especially important specifically when promoting creativity. Within the organization that I currently work for, there is very limited celebration of any form of innovation. I believe that celebrating wins of all kinds, coupled with allowing failures would be beneficial for promoting creativity within work teams. Allowing ideas to be delivered in a new format can promote creativity in the whole work environment. Presently, my organization does not have a way to anonymously submit ideas for consideration. By attaching a name to the idea, I am less likely to submit an idea that I am not sure about or may not necessarily want tied to my name. Right now, to submit a new idea, an employee has to reach out directly to the direct manager and the manager forwards the idea to the individual department after first vetting the idea. I suggest that the organization creates a form or program that would allow employees to submit ideas either anonymously or with their name attached, up to their comfort level. Balková M, Lejsková P, Ližbetinová L. The Values Supporting the Creativity of Employees.
Front Psychol. 2022 Feb 3;12:805153. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.805153. PMID:
