Creativity can be a plus in both our work and personal lives. Our guest makes the case for overcoming the obstacles to being more creative. As Earth Day approaches, we look at the importance of volunteer help to keep Wisconsin’s natural areas healthy and well-maintained. And we’ll take a look at where the University of Wisconsin system stands with lawmakers and the tuition freeze.
Featured in this Show
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Some State Lawmakers Say They're Willing To Be Flexible When It Comes To UW System Tuition Freeze
For the last four years, the University of Wisconsin system has been under a tuition freeze and now it could face additional cuts. We speak with the Wisconsin State Journal’s Nico Savidge about why some lawmakers have indicated that they might be flexible when it comes to lifting the tuition freeze.
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Marking Earth Day By Helping Maintain Wisconsin's Natural Areas
Volunteer help is vital to helping to maintain our state’s natural areas. We find out what activities are and opportunities are planned around Earth Day.
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Embracing Creativity–And Overcoming Resistance To It
There’s been a lot of talk lately about the value of creativity–but in real life, businesses, schools, and other organizations often resist creative thinking. A guest makes the case for embracing creativity, and talks about the hurdles we need to overcome.
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Professor: Americans Love Creativity, But Resist It
In 2010, software company IBM surveyed 1,500 business leaders, asking the No. 1 skill needed to lead a business into the future.
The overwhelming response: Creativity.
But at least 50 percent of those polled said they didn’t feel prepared to do that kind of thinking.
That may come as a surprise. Americans believe they live in a creative culture, said Jennifer Mueller. But in reality, they love the status quo.
Mueller is an associate professor of management at the University of San Diego School of Business, and the author of a new book: “Creative Change: Why We Resist It … How We Can Embrace It.”
“The more creative an idea is, the less likely it is to be endorsed,” Mueller said. “And in fact, what we find is that when ideas are creative, decision makers and other gatekeepers are more likely to have a negative knee-jerk reaction to the idea.”
She argues the United States business culture is naturally creativity-averse. Investors look at hard data to determine whether a product is successful. That’s contradictory to truly creative ideas, where data can be deceiving, Mueller said.
She talks about the controversial “Juicero” as a recent example.
Investors poured money into the wifi-connected $400 juicing machine. But the machine gained ridicule when consumers discovered its branded juice pouches can be squeezed just as easily by hand.
“The investors were investing in the fact that other investors were investing,” Mueller said. “People are following the herd. The problem is, people aren’t actually looking at the product and really vetting it.”
She said modifying our knee-jerk reaction to true creativity isn’t easy, especially when we’re not aware of it. The key is to avoid a mindset where there’s just one correct solution, and not dwell on the monetary value of an idea at its inception.
“That kind of a shift in mindset in the way we evaluate ideas could really make a huge difference in the extent to which people open up and see value in the new where they might not otherwise,” Mueller said.
Episode Credits
- Rob Ferrett Host
- Veronica Rueckert Host
- J. Carlisle Larsen Producer
- Veronica Rueckert Producer
- Rob Ferrett Producer
- Nico Savidge Guest
- Janet Hutchens Guest
- Jennifer Mueller Guest
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