Professional Documents
Culture Documents
By Theodore Levitt
HBR OnPoint Spring 2007
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Those who extol virtues of creativity over the vices of conformity«
tend to confuse getting of ideas with their implementation
confusion of creativity in the abstract with practical innovation
not understand the leaders¶ day-to-day problems
underestimate the intricate complexity of organization«
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x Two painters«
one tells has a great idea for a painting but does not paint it«
the other has the same idea and paints it
the second painter may be considered a creative artist,
the first, is a talker, not a painter
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Real Answer
Pass off responsibility to others for getting down to brass tacks
Plenty of ideas, little follow-through
Creative man who tosses out ideas without helping them get
implemented is shirking responsibility
They seldom have the nerve to«rigorous discipline of not talk but action, not ideas
but work
bes sserers Amer sry s a vas qagmre of qver g conformy
Wam H. Wye Te Organaon Man professona rer
Soan Wson Te Man n e Gray Fanne S coege Engs professor en e roe s boo
. Norcoe Parnson Parnson's La professor
Xenerally American business, profits from the existence of these crusaders; but,
harm is done when leaders consider that the role of these crusaders absolves
them from their managerial responsibility
Hard to accept the suggestion that salvation lies so easily in creativity and from
that will automatically flow profit-building innovation«
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³Ideation is not a synonym for innovation, conformity is not its simple antonym, and
innovation is not the automatic consequence of ³creative thinking.´
What may pass conformity in business is less about lack of abstract creativity than to a
lack of responsible action«
Those at lower levels of the organization who are actively discontent«are full of
suggestions about what to do about it«constantly complain about
Stand-pat senility of management
Refusal to see the obvious facts of its own massive inertia
Management do not want creative ideas
Ideas rock the boat
Interested in smooth running versus rapidly vaulting forward business
They talk about the company being a festering sore of decaying
conformity, full of decaying vegetables who systemically oppose new ideas
with old ideologies«
Then they quote their patron saint William H Whyte, Jr«.
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