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Running head: CULTURAL COMMUNICATION AND CREATIVITY
Cultural Communication and Creativity in Organizations
Maryjean Hall
Siena Heights University
February 14, 2014
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Cultural Communication and Creativity in Organizations
Introduction
Organizational culture is a relatively new term, which has only been explicitly used in the
last few decades. It has been defined as a pattern of basic assumptions held by a given group as it
learns to cope with its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, which has
worked well enough to be considered valid. These assumptions are, therefore, taught to new
members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to different situations (Schein,
1990). The culture of an organization crucially affects the behavior of an organization including
significant aspects such as communication, creativity, and problem solving skills. Approaches to
creativity are usually determined by how the organization runs and they include imagination,
incubation, improvement, and investment. This paper explores cultural communication and
creativity in an organization, which are influenced by the organization’s culture.
Conceptual Blocks
Many positions in an organization involve the solving of problems, whether complex or
simple. The organizational culture usually dictates how these problems are to be solved.
However, sometimes employees experience conception blocks, where they have difficulty
coming up with creative and innovative ways to solve the problems. Conceptual blocks are
defined as mental challenges that restrict an employee’s definition of problems, hence limiting
the number of solutions considered relevant (Whetten & Cameron, 2002). Conceptual blocks
slow down work in organizations and limit the number of innovative and creative products as
well as services offered. The four types of conceptual blocks include constancy, commitment,
compression, and complacency.
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Constancy can be regarded as a conceptual block in an organization because problems
that have been solved before will only be looked at in the same way. This occurs due to vertical
thinking and when people only use one language of thinking (Whetten & Cameron, 2002). An
example is when employees are instructed on how to handle client issues that is, when a client
reports a problem, procedures are followed on how to resolve them. This is a hindrance to
creativity because the employees make no effort to improve the process. It also poses a problem
because clients will on occasion present problems that are unique. Such challenges take much
longer to address because the employees are not trained to face anything out of the ordinary
(Eisenberg & Goodall, 2004).
The second conceptual block in creative problem solving is confined to compression,
where a person has difficulty filtering the information availed to them and so he cannot make
proper decisions (Ebert & Ebert, 1998). It also occurs when a person puts artificial constraints on
solutions to the problems faced. The inability to filter information means that they have too much
information and no way telling which is relevant and which is not. This kind of conceptual block
can be experienced in education, where after reading through numerous course texts, students
have difficulties answering questions because they cannot not filter the information well. This
causes them to waste a lot of time when writing papers as they cannot decide on what is relevant
and what is not. This also results in them writing long answers that are mostly indirect and
incomprehensible.
Another conceptual block is commitment, which is a tendency to stereotype problems or
ignore commonalities. Commitment limits the ability to view a problem as it is because one is
already committed to the prior assumptions made (Ebert & Ebert, 1998). At the place of work,
people experience such conceptual blocks due to having a mindset that is not flexible. In the case
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of stereotyping, employees assume that the situation they are facing is similar to another because
they have something in common. Therefore, they neglect to brainstorm on any new variables that
could affect the problem solving. It is also possible to ignore commonalities where obvious
similarities exist. This is where when addressing a challenge, one fails to identify similar
variables they have come across before. This also means that they fail to see the possible
solutions that could have been employed (Eisenberg & Goodall, 2004).
The last conceptual block is complacency, which refers to a poor mental habit where
people do not carefully think through problems, mainly due to their ignorance and laziness
(Whetten & Cameron, 2002). This type of conceptual block is particularly dangerous to an
organization as it implies a poor culture and low motivation among the employees. It indicates
that even though the employees are capable of creatively addressing issues, they avoid doing so.
Complacency is a result of poor management that does little to motivate and encourage
performance. This could happen when an employee is approaching retirement and has decided
that their work productivity was irrelevant. The employee then stops making an effort to perform
and slacks in their work. This could be because they feel that their retirement package is
unattractive and so they do not care whether they receive it or not.
Causes of Conceptual Blocks
The main cause of conceptual blocks is the thinking process that a problem solver uses.
Conceptual blocks can be a result of factors that are external to the organization or internal. An
example of an external factor is when an employee is going through a stressful situation that
involves their family. Such issues tend to distract the employee, who loses focus on the problems
at hand while thinking of the family problems. Other external factors could be health or
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educational challenges. Internal causes include a poor working environment that is not conducive
for creativity and the lack of facilities to enable innovative problem solving. Having a routine
based culture also discourages creativity and is likely to result in a conceptual block.
Additionally, employees who have a wealth of education and experience in a certain field also
tend to experience more conceptual block than those without. This is because over time, they
form patterns and constrain their scope of problem definition (Whetten & Cameron, 2002).
Communication Based Creativity
Communication in an organization is hugely important as it defines it in terms of social
structures, psychological states, knowledge and even member categories (Jablin & Putnam,
2001). The management of an organization should strive to encourage creativity and innovative
problem solving for success. This can be done by utilizing effective communication among the
employees and between the managers and the employees. The management should ensure that
clear communication lines are set and that the employees are aware of them. There should be the
ability to communicate freely and effectively especially when discussing the problems being
addressed. The freedom of expression encourages brainstorming and is likely to boost creativity.
The managers should also reward innovative and open communication that encourages
creativity. For instance, an employee who shares a challenging problem with a junior employee
and they manage to resolve it should be rewarded publicly. The channels of communication
among an organization’s workers should not be limited as different avenues may result in more
alternatives (Eisenberg & Goodall, 2004).
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Action Plan
Conceptual Block
Solution
Constancy
Involving groups in defining problems rather than one
person
Elaborate on the definition of problems to explore them
further
Commitment
Reverse the definition of the problem and try to view it from
a different point
Combine unrelated attributes to find out whether other
perspectives exist
Compression
Expand the current alternatives
Brainstorm further by taking breaks to defer judgment
Complacency
Encourage asking of questions
Explore definitions for loopholes
Types of Communication
Communication appears to be crucial in tackling challenges as it encourages joint
problem solving and continuous improvement of the solutions developed. Communication also
serves to speed up the process of problem solving as solutions are reached faster. Additionally,
the chances of creative and innovative solutions being reached are higher and they take shorter
periods. One of the most effective communication methods is supportive communication during
brainstorming sessions. For instance, a company while trying to structure a major client event
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had the management hold an initial brainstorming session in a boardroom where all the ideas
were noted on a whiteboard. The room was then reserved and employees were encouraged to go
back and build on the ideas on the board whenever an innovative idea struck them.
This method of communication proved to be very fruitful because all employees were
involved building a teamwork spirit. Even after the meetings, the employees continued to discuss
their ideas amongst themselves and once they felt they had a solution to any of the challenges
listed, they would go to the boardroom and write them on the board. The freedom to note down
ideas at any time made this mode of communication available to the employees throughout work
hours. The open sharing also made this method particularly effective as many alternatives were
developed. Eventually, the team sat down and summarized the ideas selecting the best solutions
to the problem.
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References
Ebert, C., & Edward S. E. The inventive mind in science creative thinking activities. Englewood,
Colo.: Teacher Ideas Press, 1998. Print.
Eisenberg, E. M., & Goodall, H. L. (2004).Organizational Communication: Balancing creativity
and constraint (4th ed.). Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's.
Jablin, F. M., & Putnam, L. (2001). The new handbook of organizational communication:
Advances in theory, research, and methods. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications.
Schein, E. H. (1990). Organizational culture. American Psychologist, 45(2), 109-119.
Whetten, D. A., & Cameron, K. S. (2002). Developing management skills (5th ed.). Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.