Global Economy and its Stress on Creativity
I recently attended a global conference in Orlando Florida – held at the Disney Resort called Unstructured. At this conference many large Fortune 100 companies of the world came together in a discussion of business and its evolution for the future.
- At this conference some of the highlights included:
- A panelist discussion on Generation-Y and how to align your business model so they may thrive.
- A panelist discussion on sustainable business – going green!
- Al Gore gave a presentation on his take: Economic conditions and what that means for global warming.
- Finding the talents in the right countries.
- And of course my favorite, business innovation and its importance in a global economy.
While at the conference I conversed with many senior management individuals from wide array of organizations including, Cisco, Harvard Business School, HCL, United Technologies, Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson, Celestica, Mercedes-Benz, Carnegie Melon, and Xerox just to name a few. The fundamental principle of “creativity” was highly stressed amongst all the senior executives.
I recall the VP of Product Innovation at Cisco speaking in regards to creativity and how they nourish that in a collaborative environment. One particular thing he had mentioned was, “If you are not thinking creative, close your business doors as we are moving from information boom to an innovation boom. The global economy will leave behind the non-creative thinkers. That is why Cisco set up a headquarters in Banglore India. The talent is creative, while here in US it is primarily theory based and we would be far more behind today had we not shifted.”
So for all of you who are wondering why many large organizations outsource, the truth extends farther than cost (the media will not tell you that). Companies will shift where the talent is. Much of what I have been discussing in this blog in regards to our education system falling behind and lack of initiative will result in a reduction of jobs. Believe it, it’s happening now!
A professor from Harvard Business School also gave her presentation on creativity. Her presentation consisted of defining creativity as a piece of “Genius Pie” that everyone brings to the table. She also concluded that schools must adopt this new way of thinking and ensure students are equipped with creative thinking skills so they may innovate business in a global economy.
Invent Creativity’s Take
We have been watching this shift progress for sometime now. The economy is moving away from routine and right answers. Current jobs today are about novelty and nuances, however schools continue to obsess over routine and right answers. There is an abundant usage of standardized tests. While in the job market there is virtually no correlation to routine and right answers. Organizations that continuously push the limits within their industry, and deliver new concepts become the leaders. Those who copy, will always copy. As organizations shift to find new talent, we are shocked to see the lack of government initiative to change the education system to reflect the global economy. Today, the system is established to rob students of their creativity and imagination. Cutting art, drama, and music programs are enough of a reason to prove that we are running at a dangerous capacity. Failure to move forward with necessary changes will bring the talent within the United States to a dangerously low level. We are not the only one saying this, large Corporations are saying the same thing. Schools must be in sync with the way our World and economy are shifting.
With that said I will leave you with some final words from Garr Reynolds, Worldwide User Group Relations Director at Apple. “Moving forward, the business world will appreciate intelligent, creative, design-mindful professionals who both understand the strategic role of design for a company and who also have a commitment themselves to doing wonderfully designed projects, create creative systems that amaze customers, or developing useful, unexpectedly cool products that change people.”
Mitesh Solanki
December 2nd, 2008 at 9:39 pm
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December 2nd, 2008 at 10:54 pm
That is an interesting take you have on education. If you were right about the past I am sure you are close to the truth on the future. Any plans to change things?
December 3rd, 2008 at 11:12 pm
nicely said!
December 3rd, 2008 at 11:20 pm
If we really are that far behind which I do believe after reading this post, then why are we hung up on issues that are pointless over solving a potential long term problem?
December 3rd, 2008 at 11:28 pm
Mitesh as a frequent reader of your blog, this post is a bit out of line. I am a retired professor and I must say that undermining standardized test is no way of solving creativity problems. These test prove the intelligence of the students and the capacity at which they can problem solve.
As a former professor I too had to go through the rigors of standardized test to prove my knowledge, and I do believe that any student that goes through my class must adhere to the same. I would be interested in your thoughts after reading this.
December 4th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
Well Stealth, that is a great point. However, if we quote on quote “rob children of their creativity” how can you expect them to innovate when they begin working? I am an HR director and I deal with many college graduates. My colleagues and I are frustrated with the current graduating students. “They just don’t WOW us anymore, like they used to 10 to 15 years ago.” Yes I have been around that long. Our entry level marketing jobs are filled from design schools around the country (I know MItesh discussed this in another post), and we no longer recruit from IVY Leagues. Sorry those students do not cut it anymore. They need to change and just because you had to go through that system does not mean these students do. They have the Internet, I am sure you did not. Does that mean they cannot use it as a tool? No… Time means change. So Yes Mitesh I think your post is not out of line.
December 29th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
Thanks for the good post