Why Moving Outside Your Network Sparks Creativity
Credits: Jill Perry-Smith
Organizations have challenging, complex business problems. Those managers whose current contributions shine with innovation and creativity, and whose ability to devise novel, appropriate and valued solutions to business challenges and problems, will fair far better in preserving their corporate worth, says Jill Perry-Smith, a professor of organization and management at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School.
“Creativity is critical in solving the more difficult and challenging problems” firms face in these tumultuous times. To cultivate creativity people often use either the recluse or the group approach, “One idea is that in order to be creative . . . people tend to be isolated with minimal social skills,” she says. “They tend to be in their caves working on something and then they come up with some creative breakthrough.”
An opposite alternative is to forego the strategic seclusion and work as part of a corroborative team, she says. With the group approach, “These people come together to solve [certain] projects,” and often this same group is tapped for other assignments.
But both of these extremes can actually hamper creativity. At one end, the recluse limits creativity-inspiring interactions, while the group that works together frequently will bond amongst themselves—but often have limited contact with others.
Instead, both groups could benefit from what “the diversity that weak relationships render.” These are relationships with people outside your inner circle who you have infrequent contact with. Interactions can provide an opportunity to get a different perspective, which can actually help kick-start new ideas.
“These are people you’re not as close to,”. “These are not your very close friends or your friends. [They are] people you don’t interact with frequently—not once a day or once a week—maybe just once a month. They’re not what you might think of as being very meaningful as providing any sort of social support or friendship.
“Although these are weaker relationships, they are more along the lines of an acquaintance versus a stranger. Also, typically conversations helpful for creativity would involve some work-related component, although the conversations may not necessarily be within a person’s work place or necessarily be very detailed or specific. So, it is less likely this would happen with a parking attendant, for example, assuming these relationships have not moved beyond a polite hello/goodbye.”
Often your stronger connections are going to be with those who are like you in some way. In the workplace this can translate into people who think alike. On the other hand, the weaker relationships can be strong stimulants for creativity.
“When you have conversations with these individuals, you’re listening to what they’re doing and when you go back to your work, this exposure may spark a different way of approaching your own work,” she says.
To spark this type of “fresh thinking,” companies will often bring in outside consultants such as Solomon People Solutions or hire new MBA graduates, explains Reshma Shah, a professor in the practice of marketing who also co-teaches creativity
The result: Your knowledge base is going to grow, “When you have a greater knowledge base…that gives you more options when it comes to solving problems, to think more broadly and outside the box.”
“Infrequent encounters develop creativity because they force us out of our comfort zone. In our immediate circle, we are not only interacting with people who are more likely to share our opinions and world view but we are also able to put most of our activities on ‘auto pilot.’ In other words, we can do the job, or have the conversation, without thinking much about it,”. “Encounters with those outside our immediate zone force us to explain things we take for granted and therefore to question our own assumptions, to see things from another perspective, and to actually be aware instead of operating within a routine framework. By definition, breaking from ones routine forces us to explore novel and innovative approaches to tasks, behaviors and thought processes.”
And striking up these types of relationships doesn’t have to be a hardship either, “The nice thing about developing weak connections is that [doing so is] in the control of the individual, they do not require a lot of time to develop or maintain; and one doesn’t have to develop them with a specific agenda or purpose, such as help finding a job or gaining resources for a particular project.”
Companies can use this same principle to generate ideas. “In new product development, some advertising agencies will develop a cross functional team and then seat the team members together on the same floor for the duration of the project,” Shah explains. “So, an account manager, will sit next to someone from creative, research, and media. That’s a
better way to organize because now you’re sitting next to people who have different backgrounds and will look at the problem in different ways. This type of creative environment is hard to duplicate if you are limited to just your discipline.”
Indeed, in research recently published explore the “spiraling model,” which demonstrates the cyclical correlation between creativity and social network position. A creative contribution may have catapulted a person from the fringe of an organization to its inner circle.
“Because you’re solving complex problems and making creative contributions to your field, you’re likely to become more central,” spiraling toward the inner circle of the firm, when that happens, you begin to develop stronger relationships with those on the inside and they with you. Over time, such interactions may constrain your creativity if you do not continue to differentiate and seek the type of outside contact and stimulation weak relationships deliver.
“Maintaining these weaker connections and the connections outside of your firm may counter the effects of becoming more central and immersed in the network”. “You need some sort of balance. You don’t want social relationships that are going to constrain your thinking…but you do need to have some sort of relationships with people” outside your inner network.
How do you know if you are successful at cultivating the diversity of weak and strong relationships that encourage optimum creativity?
“A person may suspect they are on the right track, if the person notices their network expanding without even trying,”. “For example, more associates are coming to them and asking for their input and involvement on projects—complex or difficult ones—particularly if this input involves thinking through issues, listening to potential solutions, etc. Even if the topic is outside of their area of expertise, this may indicate that people value this person’s novel approach to solving problems.”
While innovation is not always rewarded in the marketplace, several aspects of a down economy would suggest that it is a good time for creative processes. “First, a down economy is often defined by a corporate slow down. When the pace of business is less frenetic, there is an opportunity to step back and think, or to take ideas that may have been ruminating to the next level,”. “Second, a slower economy may mean that firms need to reach marketplaces or to find less expensive solutions to internal dilemmas. Both of these agendas, in my opinion, seem to necessitate an increased number of weak or developing relationships and a break from routinized business approaches.”
It is the critical thinking that enables companies to catapult creativity into a competitive advantage and financial rewards. “Clearly, managers who can see the future first and get there have to be allowed the time to think – literally into the future, outside of their organization, as well as thinking collectively. This enables managers to then predict how the environment will change and how their firm can be a part of it,”. The 24-hour news network CNN and Sony Walkman, neither product was a result of customer demand. Rather, these cutting-edge products were a result of thoughtful people looking at how the world was changing and how their companies could be a part of that change.
Solomon People Solutions facilitates such innovating and creative thinking workshops.
