A Structure To Foster Creativity: An Industrial Experience*

A structure to foster creativity in a Research and Development environment is described. The structure and the resulting environment lead to a large pool of ideas that became the basis for projects in key technological areas for our company. Twenty years ago, creative organizations were described as having idea-people, innovative leadership, and open communication. They supported risk, and they tolerated errors (Guetzkow, 1965). They encouraged employees to discuss ideas and show their passion for a subject (Bruner, 1965). Eccentricity was encouraged(Guetzkow, 1965), employees were expected to have fun (Bruner, 1965), and ideas were evaluated on their own merit (Bower, 1965). These characteristics of creative organizations are still true today and are, in fact, in more demand than ever before (Diebold, 1990; Waterman, 1988). The need for creativity and innovation in industrial organizations has become critical because of social and economic pressures accompanying an accelerated rate of technological change. Working hard simply is not enough. Working smarter, by creating and innovating, is the way to go. Creativity is both feasible and worthwhile in business (Peters, 1991). A few years ago, I was asked to organize a core group of scientists and to plant the seeds for developing a corporate research group. The individuals involved were expected to be the nucleus of a group with the long range mission of leading the company into the technological future. In our company we develop and manufacture various chemicals and technologies for the construction industry. Although we enjoy a leadership position, it is imperative for us to continually stretch our imagination and strengthen our position in a technology-based and highly competitive market. This paper describes some aspects of the structure that was implemented in order to unleash employee's creativity. The structure and the resulting environment led to a large pool of ideas that became the basis for new projects in several key technologies. Within a very short time, a number of invention disclosures were filed, and some of them led to patents. Some of those ideas have already been capitalized upon by the business units of the company.