What fuels corporate creativity?

During the past 9 months, attending an MBA course at UCT (Cape Town), the question around corporate creativity has been a reoccurring one – whether it be in the field of Marketing, Operations, HR or just in general conversation. It’s as if everyone is aware of the pivotal role that creativity fulfills – contributing to the success, sustainability and growth of every business.
But what exactly is it that makes one business more creative than another – why can’t all corporates be equally creative? If it works in Japan (such as Toyota) – why can’t/ won’t it work anywhere else in the world? Ahh culture, I thought! Well, maybe, but there must be more…
How do corporations fuel creative thoughts – and how do they guard against creative fatigue?
A reading of Dan Pink’s book, “A Whole New Mind” gave me some valuable insights – especially explaining why creativity will become more valuable in the future. Pink introduces the idea of a next era, namely the Conceptual era, which follows on the current Information era. Pink advises that businesses embrace certain creative skills, such as storytelling, design, empathy, symphony, play, and meaning in order to be successful in the Conceptual Age.
But wait a minute! I’ve worked with people who have these skills – and boy, were we poor at creating. So it’s more than just having these individual skills – there’s something about group dynamics that comes to mind, such as the leadership figures in groups, group personalities, emotions within groups and sensitivity to such emotions, wants and needs of group members etc. It might be summed up as the collective conscious or unconscious phyche of a group, as Jung explains.
You might ask: So what – what difference does all of this make? In my search for the elements that fuel creativity, I’ve learned to be more sensitive to the workings of the psyches of groups, become less judgemental of individuals and more inquisitive – seeking understanding rather than affirmation of my own beliefs.
Which brings me to another question: Is creativity fueled by the need to express, or by the curiosity to learn, or both?