I was not surprised by the inclusion any of Ekvall’s ten dimensions as
I could quickly see reading the description of each dimension the
impact that it would have on a creative climate. I couldn't think of
any additional dimensions that should be added, but I found it
interesting that conflict is the only negatively correlated dimension.
The hardest dimension to evaluate was actually conflict. I have
worked for several departments within my current organization and
have experienced a vast difference in the amount of conflict that I
have seen. In my current department the average tenure of
employment is over 10 years. Everyone on my current team is
extremely supportive and looks out for each other. We are an
externally facing department and must constantly work together to
ensure our messaging is consistent with our various hospitals and
accounts. I had a very different experience working in one of our
operation areas where the more senior employees often conflicted
with the newer and often younger employees. In that department
there was a heavily established way of doing things and any potential
innovation to improve the existing processes was discouraged by the
senior employees. This created a rift amongst that team that was
only solved by a change in leadership and a change in workforce
mobility allowing associates to work remotely.
After reviewing my organization two of the highest rated dimensions
that stood out to me were freedom and trust. Our organization offers
a lot of freedom including options for working hours which appeals
to a lot of our employees who have young children and it allows
them more work-life balance. Our organization also has worked to
mobilize our workforce transitioning 75% of the company into
mobile workers who work primarily from home, while still offering
office spaces for any employees who would prefer to work in an
office setting. I have found that the ability to work from home has
reduced the amount of tension and stress I feel while doing my job,
but there was definitely an adjustment period. Our organization also
encourages employees to sign-up for career enhancement programs
that are completed during work hours and help associates to learn
new skills, job shadow with other areas, and discover their path
within the organization. Trust and openness are another dimension I
wanted to highlight with my organization. I always feel that I can pick
up the phone or walk over to my colleague’s desk and bounce ideas
off them with the comfort of knowing that they are open to ideas
and are trustworthy. My current team often faces new challenges
that require a great deal of brainstorming and collaboration to solve
and having a high level of trust and openness makes creative
problem solving so much easier. It also allows our team to leverage
the individual experience of all our teammates and tap into them to
get their thoughts on new ideas and collect honest feedback.
The lowest rated dimension for my organization that I evaluated is
risk taking. This is partially the nature of the beast in the industry
that my organization operates in (health insurance), as we constantly
are navigating new and everchanging laws and guidelines that we
must abide by. My organization is often hesitant to take on a great
deal of risk and one example that I noted was our reliance on a few
old systems that haven't been updated to mitigate the potential
impact to our network. We are very thoughtful and cautious before
we bring a new product to market which in some ways are a positive,
but it also means we can be slow at times when it comes to bringing
innovative ideas to market.
