1.Why is creativity important? Easy answer, it leads to process, product and service improvements! Think about a time when you saw a problem either at work or in another organization. Did someone come up with a creative way to solve the problem? Did it improve the process, produce or service?

While creativity can happen spontaneously, managers can also provide a working environment that helps it along! What was apparent in the environment in your example that helped let creativity happen?

2. Can you use one or more of the ideas presented in our book starting on page 480 about increasing creativity in organizations, to discuss how your organization either does or does not provide an environment that encourages creativity?

Also comment on whether you think this is an important concept in your organization. Depending on the mission of the organization and the environment you operate in, creativity may not be important at all!

3. Remember we talked a lot about managing change in an organization? Now we add to that responsibility the idea that we should be encouraging creativity and innovation.

As managers, what can we do within ourselves to make sure we are good change agents? What do we need to watch out for within our own behaviors?

This is not from our book at all but it is a topic of importance in our own career development.