Why we crave creativity but reject creative ideas

Why we crave creativity but reject creative ideas

Most people view creativity as an asset —until they come across a creative idea. That’s because creativity not only reveals new perspectives; it promotes a sense of uncertainty.

The next time your great idea at work elicits silence or eye rolls, you might just pity those co-workers. Fresh research indicates they don’t even know what a creative idea looks like and that creativity, hailed as a positive change agent, actually makes people squirm.

“How is it that people say they want creativity but in reality often reject it?” said Jack Goncalo, ILR School assistant professor of organizational behavior and co-author of research to be published in an upcoming issue of the journal Psychological Science. The paper reports on two 2010 experiments at the University of Pennsylvania involving more than 200 people.

The studies’ findings include:

Creative ideas are by definition novel, and novelty can trigger feelings of uncertainty that make most people uncomfortable. People dismiss creative ideas in favor of ideas that are purely practical —tried and true. Objective evidence shoring up the validity of a creative proposal does not motivate people to accept it. Anti-creativity bias is so subtle that people are unaware of it, which can interfere with their ability to recognize a creative idea.