The paradoxes of creativity management

Abstract

Creativity is a very important aspect of market economy. Creativity is an ambivalent and contradictory phenomenon that covers both positive and negative aspects. As a result, management of creativity faces some paradoxes. The paper deals with 10 paradoxes of creativity management including one grand paradox (GP) and nine minor paradoxes (MP). By stimulating creativity, the managers risk to provoke the disobedience for their instructions including an instruction to develop creativity (GP). Successful period of an organization is an obstacle to develop the creative ideas (MP1). A radical implementation of creative ideas threatens the identity of organization (MP2). Creativity provokes the con fl icts in organization (MP3). Every inventor or innovator tries to negate his (her) social environment that has educated and stimulated him (her) (MP4). Although hard management kills creativity, the latter needs sometimes very hard decisions (MP5). The worse the results are, the more creative the decisions in organization are (MP6). Organizations should manage both quantity and quality (MP7). Organization needs not only management of knowledge but also management of ignorance and naiveté (MP8). The managers should forget the past success of organization and think about future end of it (MP9). The main aim of this paper is to describe these paradoxes. Another aim is to present the different approaches towards creativity management. Finally, the paper seeks to dethrone a naive attitude that creativity in economy solves all possible problems. The biggest challenge to the management is the very creativity.