Why Are We So Good at Extinguishing Creativity and Originality?
Because we say we want them, but we really don’t.

Consider this revealing quote from The Design of Business: Why Design Thinking is the Next Competitive Advantage by Roger Martin.

Even as corporate leaders chase the vital, elusive spark of creativity, their organizations’ structures, processes, and norms extinguish it wherever it flares up.  Their cultures and routines privilege analysis over intuition and mastery over originality.

If we say that creativity and originality are important, shouldn’t we build systems that celebrate these traits, and do a little more to “set people free” in our organizations?

Yes, we should.  But instead, we put into place systems that extinguish such traits.  And that is deadly.  You know, it really does put the spark of creativity and originality out…