Creative Thinkers Undervalued by Executives

In the Preliminary Survey Report: The Skill Needs of Major Canadian Employers issued by the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, Canadian employers rank creative thinking amongst least important skills for entry level employees. At a time of exponential change and when barriers to global competition across established industries and product offering are diminishing, an organization's capability to innovate is critical. John Hagel's blog "The Big Shift in Business Strategy"  calls for businesses to strategically position themselves as central nodes within industry networks to intercept multiple information points. Companies privy to a broader breadth of information points early in their gestation are uniquely positioned to identify trends and possibilities before their competitors and influence downstream recipients to shape outcomes to their benefit. Who better to draw connections between disparate points of information than creative thinkers. Perhaps then Canadian executives should rethink creative thinking. If they don't, they risk building stagnant organizations that operate well, but which risk being left behind as new innovations transform their industry.

Many, I suspect will argue that creativity can be developed later; it's more important entrants come equipped to work effectively with people, follow process and be able to apply analytical reason to immediate problems. The unromantic in me interprets that as people who can smile and put things in boxes. What Canadian companies need is individuals who can expand those boxes, maybe transform them into something else.

To illustrate the point, consider a recent conversation I had with a fellow management consultant. I presented my views of the future of learning. "Technology", I told him, "will monitor every digital transaction you make, interpret its meaning and identify your level of competency by cross comparing it with every other related digital artifact". I continued, "...the system will know you better than anyone else by tracking you over time and when you step beyond your capabilities it will support you like a personal assistant until you develop the required proficiency."

"I'm not sure I like the idea of being so accurately assessed," he responded. "...and if cognitive tools can be used to overcome knowledge gaps, then what will my value proposition be?"

My colleague's concern is grounded in today's knowledge market in which we sell information and experience. We are valued for what we know and not for our future knowledge potential . A new reality, however, is on the precipitous of unfolding. In the not so distant future cognitive tools will enable everyone to know. People will no longer be valued for what they know, but rather they will be valued for what they can learn and learning will be defined as knowing something before everyone else. Once it is learned it quickly becomes collective knowledge and you must quickly learn something new to remain relevant. Creative thinkers will likely generate new knowledge faster than everyone else because they will connect what for many seem to be irrelevant points of data.