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Thinking inside the box: How conformity promotes creativity and innovation

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Abstract

Intuition, along with empirical research, suggests that the generation of creative ideas benefits from divergent thinking among team members. However, the generation of creative ideas represents only one stage of the innovative process; teams also must implement ideas. In this chapter, we propose that effective idea implementation may depend on the opposite of team divergence: team conformity. Specifically, we propose that conformity facilitates various group processes important for effective idea implementation, including team coordination, information exchange, conflict management, and collective efficacy. Next, we discuss the role of leaders in managing the magnitude and processes of conformity. The chapter concludes with a discussion of implications and important next steps for studying conformity in relation to team innovative effectiveness.
... Conformity orientation is a personal attribute characterized by the tendency to act in accordance with prevailing social standards and practices (Miron, Erez, & Naveh, 2004) and to seek solutions and solve problems using tried and understood ways (Kirton, 1976). Because they are considered reliable (Kirton, 1976), sensitive to norms and expectations, and adept at facilitating team coordination and information sharing (Kaplan, Brooks-Shesler, King, & Zaccaro, 2009), individuals with a conforming orientation may be more successful at adapting to their work environment and performing effectively in that context. These same characteristics should also facilitate idea implementation (Miron-Spektor, Erez, & Naveh, 2011). ...
... Employees with a high conformity orientation tend to be more in tune with the specific needs and requirements of their work unit and focus on practical considerations relevant to the implementation of novel ideas (Kaplan et al., 2009). Because they also are sensitive to prevailing norms and how others will respond to new ideas, they are likely to generate ideas that can be more easily accepted, supported, and implemented (Madjar et al., 2011;Miron-Spektor et al., 2011). ...
... Idea implementation and its requirements are in a number of ways unique from the other innovation stages such as idea generation (Baer, 2012;Miron-Spektor et al., 2011). As such, a factor such as conformity orientation, generally considered detrimental to idea generation (Goncalo & Duguid 2012), may actually prove useful for idea implementation (Kaplan et al., 2009;Miron-Spektor et al., 2011). Idea implementation in organizations is considered to be both a political and social process (Baer, 2012). ...
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Considering the motivational path of the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model, this study investigates a multistep process by which contextual job resources might have an indirect effect on idea implementation. Among 187 shop floor employees of a manufacturing company, we found support for a model whereby job control has an indirect effect, over a 5-month time frame, on idea implementation through employee work engagement and personal initiative. In addition, we found that the indirect effect of job control on idea implementation is stronger when employees have a higher conformity orientation. Support was not found for the hypothesized indirect effect of coworker social support on idea implementation. Our findings support the usefulness of the JD-R theory for understanding how increased idea implementation occurs at work, especially when the additional factors of personal initiative and employee conformity orientation are integrated into the model.
... In addition, the members of highly cohesive teams are biased to assign high scores to solutions proposed by others, further reinforcing their reuse in subsequent simulation steps. This behaviour can be understood as a form of conformity aimed at promoting team unity (Kaplan et al., 2009). In contrast, teams with low levels of cohesion assign the activation impulse of only 0.1 to the communicated design issues. ...
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Studies revealed that, while collaborating, humans tend to synchronise on multiple levels (e.g., neurocognitive or physiological). Inter-brain synchrony has been linked to improved problem-solving, decision-making, and creativity. Nevertheless, studies on synchrony in design teams started to emerge only recently. This study contributes to this stream of research by utilising a computational model of a design team to explore the relationships between team cohesion, synchrony, and team performance. The experiments revealed a positive link between team cohesion level and the emergence of (cognitive) synchrony. Furthermore, cohesive teams were found to be more efficient, converging quicker and producing solutions at a higher rate. In addition, the diversity of the solutions generated by highly cohesive teams tends to increase over time. Teams in medium- and low-cohesive settings initially generate highly diverse solutions, but such diversity decreases as the simulation progresses. Finally, highly-cohesive teams were found to be prone to premature convergence.
... The effects that interactions with potential consumers would have on a CEO's effectiveness in communicating about innovation with others-e.g., other top managers, the Board of Directors, and "lynchpin" middle managers-also could be explored in future research. Middle managers, for example, play a crucial role in established firms' innovation by: (a) evaluating, shaping, and championing ideas from below and (b) implementing CEOs' final decisions (Burgelman, 1994;Floyd & Lane, 2000;Kaplan, Brooks-Shesler, King, & Zaccaro, 2009). Therefore, open communication between CEOs and middle managers is crucial for effective decision making, including for BMI (Tost, Gino, & Larrick, 2013;Raes, Heijltjes, Glunk, & Roe, 2011;Wooldridge, Schmid, & Floyd, 2008). ...
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Business model innovation is especially difficult for well-established firms. We develop a trait-process-outcome model showing how potential consumers can inform and energize established firms’ CEOs to better develop, analyze, and choose among new consumer value propositions that are distant from their firms’ current business models. First, we identify which types of potential consumers are most likely to aid CEOs in developing effective new consumer value propositions. Then, we outline the process characteristics for CEO-consumer interactions that are most likely to produce more positive outcomes. We discuss the implications of our theory for the literatures on business model innovation, innovation in established firms, and demand-side strategies.
... While conformity might stifle the early stages of the creative process (e.g. problem identification and idea generation), it is often helpful to carry an idea through the later stages of the creative process, such as idea implementation, when the idea is evaluated in relation to contextual constraints and existing norms (Kaplan, Brooks-Shesler, King, & Zaccaro, 2009). ...
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Creativity is one of the most valued employee skills, but there exists a tension in organizations, as managers want workers who are creative and, at the same time, who conform to existing norms in the organization. In the current paper we propose and study a nuanced relationship between conformity and creativity in the workplace, looking for conditions in which conformity is not detrimental for creativity. We test how the interaction of conformity with the personality dimensions of openness to experience and conscientiousness predicts creativity. Our results suggest that, while openness does not interact with conformity to predict creativity, conscientiousness does. In particular, when individuals are highly conscientious, conformity has a positive impact on creativity, while the conformity‐creativity relationship is negative for individuals that are not very conscientious .
... In line with the suggestion that the three levels of alignment are linked, it was found that, when confederates synchronize with participants by mimicking their limb movement, the participants are likely to conform to stereotypes [22]. Notably, the reverse effect was described in a different study that shows how team conformity facilitates motor coordination and synchrony [23]. In addition, previous research has reported a connection between perceived emotional alignment and endorsement of social beliefs and values, providing a further link between emotion contagion, and conformity) are linked, influencing one another in a reciprocal manner. ...
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When we clap our hands in synchrony, feel the sadness of a friend, or match our attitudes to peer norms, we align our behavior with others. We propose here a model that views synchronized movement, emotional contagion, and social conformity as interrelated processes that rely on shared neural networks. Building on the predictive coding framework, we suggest that social alignment is mediated by a three-component feedback loop – an error-monitoring system that reacts to misalignment, an alignment system, and a reward system that is activated when alignment is achieved. We describe herding-related syndromes (autism, loneliness) and call for innovative research to investigate the links between the levels of alignment.
... However, one can also argue that the creative outcome in such cultures is possibly geared towards refinement of existing ideas to make them more suitable for implementation. Kaplan, Brooks-Shesler, King, and Zaccaro (2009) reported that team conformity that is associated with greater coordination, information sharing, and a lower level of conflict are beneficial in the implementation stage of innovation. Paulus, van der Zee, and Kenworthy (2016) argued that cultural diversity would only enhance team performance in the context of task-related diversity. ...
Chapter
As organizations are becoming increasingly dependent on collaborative teamwork there has been a major shift in focus from individual to team based innovation. Value is increasing in promoting team level creative competence in students. Hence, this chapter examines research on creativity with a special focus on collaborative creativity and its application in the context of education. We discuss the theoretical basis for collaborative creativity, different techniques for generating ideas in groups, the process of selecting the best ideas, and the role of culture and diversity in collaborative creativity. We then review the literature on collaborative creativity in various education disciplines. Finally, we make research- based recommendations on ways to promote as well as enhance collaborative creativity and innovation in educational settings.
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