Business Wire reports on a new survey of the creativity gap in U.S. workplaces.
At a time when many economists and futurists are pointing to creativity and
innovation as one of the cornerstones of U.S. competitiveness in the years
ahead, a new survey finds that, while an overwhelming majority of American
workers believe they are instinctively creative, fewer than two in three think
they are tapping their creative capacities on the job.The survey, commissioned by the Fairfax County (Virginia) Economic
Development Authority (FCEDA), host of the 2007 National Conference on the
Creative Economy in October (www.creativeeconomies.org), and conducted by Ipsos
Public Affairs, found that 88 percent of U.S. workers consider themselves
creative. But when it comes to creativity in the workplace, just 63 percent said
their positions were creative, and a comparable 61 percent thought similarly
about the companies for which they work.This “creativity gap” – the disparity between the creative resources available and
those being employed – can be an important indicator,
experts say, in determining how well American companies are preparing for a
future U.S. economy that will rely on creativity and innovation more than ever. …The survey found that most workers put a high premium on creativity at work.
Seventy-five percent of respondents thought their employers valued their
creativity, and even more telling, one in five (21%) said they would change jobs
in order to be more creative at work even if it meant earning less money.
Twenty-nine percent of those surveyed indicated they would move if it meant
being part of a more creative community. This was especially true of younger
workers ages 18-34 (37%).
