I do not know if I fully grasp or believe in Ekvalls' dimensions as a tool measure of a creative
climate, is anything, it is simply a new checklist that will be rescinded or forgotten in the
future. All ten dimensions are relatively normal day to day activities begging for emotional
intelligence. Perhaps I have some sort of bias towards Ekvall's dimensions but I truly do not
believe in them as a metric to measure creativity.
Were you surprised by the inclusion of any of Ekvall’s ten dimensions? Are there any
additional dimensions that you think should have been included? I was not really surprised but
the inclusion of any of the 10 dimensions, I think they are all valid and important and can see
the way they affect the creativity in an organization. I think a leadership/management
dimension might be added one that specifically deals with how leadership is because
leadership plays such a large part in creating the culture and environment of an organization.
Although I can see why it was not added as it could fall under some of the other dimensions
like Idea Support and Trust and Openness.
Which dimension of creative climate was the hardest to evaluate? The hardest dimension for
me to evaluate was the Conflict (negatively correlated), because I have not personally seen or
experienced it where I work so it might exist but it is not something I have witnessed.
Share any insights or thoughts about the creative climate for the organization you evaluated.
Discuss the one to two dimensions that received the highest and lowest scores. I evaluated the
company I work for which is a global company that provides integrated solutions for
transportation, defines C4ISR and training (military). The company has a highly creative
climate (at least the department I work for). The lowest scoring dimensions were the Conflict
and Debate. The conflict was so low because I have not experienced any issues or conflicts
while working there but I do work in one of the smaller departments so on an organizational
level it could and probably does exist to some extent but I have no knowledge of it. The debate
was low because although debates occur where I work, I feel like they don't occur often.
People have differing viewpoints but instead of debating them I think they are used more for
collaboration. Several dimensions have high scores of 3 including: Challenge, Idea Time, Idea
Support, Trust and Openness, Freedom, and Playfulness and Humour. My company really
works to promote a culture that fosters and emphasizes innovation which requires a creative
climate so it makes sense that those dimensions were all rated high.
This was a very interesting assignment and I enjoyed having the opportunity to take a closer
look at the creative culture of the organization that I work for. I was surprised by some of the
elements included in Ekvall's ten dimensions. A big surprise for me was playfulness and
humour. Maybe because I want to work for a company where that is a factor. At my current
company, that is definitely not a factor, although I find ways to include it in my work. The rest
of the elements all made sense to me. When thinking of a creative work environment and one
that supports healthy conflict and discussions to promote new ideas and avoid groupthink is,
these elements are all important.
I did not have any difficulty evaluating any of the dimensions. I have been working for my
company for over 12 years (I lost count), and I feel that I have a good understanding of my
company's culture. I was quite harsh with my company and rated them as a 1 for everything.
Those ratings were my true thoughts on where they stand in each dimension. This pandemic
has shown me a lot about how unsuccessful my company has dealt with change, risk-taking,
and idea support. As the old saying goes, "Like teabags, you never know what they are like
until you put them in hot water." I think this pandemic has exposed a lot of weakness in my
organization. I think the positive is that they can now see that and use it as an opportunity to
grow.
I believe the ten dimensions are really on point and they focus strongly on the company’s
culture. I would not change any of the dimensions he mentioned, however, I would have
included one that talked about ‘Relationships.’ I believe that through healthy relationships in
the workplace other areas can become easier to handle. To have a strengthened relationship
leaders in the organization must encourage it and show the value that it can bring in the
workplace.
Risk taking and Trust & Openness were the hardest ones to evaluate for me. I had to take
something and carefully think about Risk Taking dimension. The reason I did was because I
was trying to find an example where we are encouraged to take risks and try new things
ourselves. However, that is not the case. Working in such a large organization, we must abide
by the guidelines and processes established to perform our role. Trust & Openness was a
special one as well because I understand and believe that importance of being able to have
trust within our team and the openness to express yourself. Sometimes fear or intimidation can
get in the way of sharing a thought or concern and eventually it could affect the team overall.
In this area leadership should be more involved and more attentive to ensure team members
have the trust needed to succeed and perform to the best of their abilities.
For my company, I believe we still have a lot to work on to have a creative culture where
everyone is involved and feels free to participate in the growth of the company. I strongly
believe that leadership should have an established plan to develop new and seasoned
employees by providing ways to communicate effectively and clearly convey expectations
regarding the culture that the company strives for.
Challenge was one of the dimensions that I scored the highest. I feel that in this area we are all
challenged in our current position to perform and do better. Risk taking as mentioned before
was one that I scored the lowest. This would be an area where our company could focus on to
encourage employees to take risk and create solutions to issues on their own when they feel
safe to do so.
I found this discussion to be most interesting and thought how is it that I incorporate creativity
into an organization that is heavily regulated. We try our best to make the workplace playful
and lively, yet there is only so much one can do with products and services. Some ways
management brings liveliness is having team building outings yet this more for morale then
for creativity. A place where we may be more flexible with creativity is in customer service.
This is an example of how two company express core values, Company Y is more creative.
(See Figure 1) We can turn the expression of core values more creatively (Masumba, 2019).
Figure 1
No, I am not surprised by the inclusion of any Ekvall’s ten dimensions creative climate. The
ten dimensions of Ekvall’s creative climate inclusion are thorough and an internationally
known concept. The ten dimensions are broad and well reaching, if there were to be any
change in the dimension, I would add more negative dimensions. In my organization the two
dimensions I found the hardest to evaluate were Freedom and Risk-Taking dimension. In
banking and finance industry there are many rules, regulations, guidelines, and policies to
consider before the creative concepts of independence, ambiguity, or uncertainty being the
norm.
The organization usually considers different advertising campaigns with current products and
services. The financial rates and reduced fee are what engages the customers the most. The
highest rated dimension was Challenge, working together collaborating in hitting sales target
and customer scores is a team effort. The lowest rated dimension was Freedom, in the banking
and financial industry there is not many ways to express freedom.
Masumba, D., (2019) Leadership for Innovation: Three Essential Skill Set for Leading
Employee-Driven Innovation. Morgan James Publishing.
I hope everyone is doing well. I interviewed the plant manager for one of our pet food treat
plants for Ekvall’s dimensions of a creative climate assessment worksheet. I can say I was not
surprised by his answers to any of the ten dimensions. However, I did find out some valuable
information for various aspects that need to be worked on to improve the company’s culture.
Honestly, I am going to use this assessment for interviewing other individuals, and teams
within our organization to help identify areas of our culture that need to be worked on, so we
can build a better supportive, and creative culture.
If I had to add additional dimensions to the assessment, I would add conditions and leadership.
The reason I would add these dimensions is that the conditions an employee are subjected to
help contribute to the culture. If they do not feel safe, appreciated, or supported they will not
be willing to contribute to or drive the culture. The reason I chose leadership is that it is a
factor that drives a creative and supportive culture. Leaders can make or break a culture. At the
company I am employed with, we have one-on-one interviews, and leadership is a valuable
question that we use to collect qualitative data to understand our leadership's impact on the
culture.
I honestly did not find a dimension that was hard to evaluate. Being that I interviewed a plant
manager, I feel it was easy for him to provide the information needed. However, I feel if I
interviewed an employee or supervisor there may be challenges obtaining the information for
some of the dimensions. I have learned throughout my years of being a leader that everyone
views a culture differently, and for an organization to truly understand if it is providing a
creative culture, it must obtain the perspectives from all its employees. They must also
understand that people's perspectives are driven by emotions, and they change day to day, thus
making it hard to pinpoint issues that do not support a creative or supportive culture.
Since I am the VP of Operations for our organization, I do have a good understanding of our
culture. Like all cultures, it needs work and must adapt to changes within the working
environment, and external aspects such as various cultures and beliefs. After completing the
assessment, I can say I was surprised by the low score in dimension trust and openness. I know
it takes a lot of time and effort to build trust within a culture, and we do have a lot of junior
leaders without the training and experience needed to establish this trust. These leaders are
still in a reactive leadership stage and need to be trained, so they can transition into creative
leaders, which is something we are working on.
I was happy to see that one of the highest scores of 3 was in the dimension freedom. I am
proud to say that we are a continuous improvement culture that supports and provides freedom
to our employees. We push them to find improvements in every aspect of the organization and
voice their ideas, thoughts, and opinions, so we can improve. However, the plant manager and
I were tough on the ratings, and we gave the idea time a one since we do not have a slotted
time for it. This caused us to give freedom a lower score because without providing an
environment where ideas are discussed, and able to be bounced off everyone’s thoughts, we do
not feel we are truly providing the freedom we should. The plant manager and I are discussing
a way to implement either a weekly or bi-weekly meeting to do this, and I am excited to see
what the outcome will be.
Were you surprised by the inclusion of any of Ekvall’s ten dimensions?
Overall, the Ekvall’s ten dimensions are much needed in the workplace atmosphere. Revising
organizations work environment can be beneficial way to acquire and oversee employee
innovation. Ekvall’s ten dimensions is much needed in today’s workplace to maintain
productivity, satisfaction, and to reward and motivate staff.
Are there any additional dimensions that you think should have been included?
In my opinion, Ekvall’s dimensions are a starting point to identify a creative climate. Ekvall is
designed to create ideas that contribute to the accomplishments of the organization.
Organizations will benefit by implementing the necessary tools and proficiencies that will
equip staff members to be innovative and creativity.
Which dimension of creative climate was the hardest to evaluate?
Risk taking was the hardest area to evaluate. Life in general is a risk. Employees in the
workplace allow their lack of education or their abilities to hinder them from progressing
and/or tapping into their creative side that could open new avenues in the workplace.
Employees have numerous opportunities that they can take advantage if they embrace
challenges to succeed and not a step for failure. Accomplishing career goals have been one of
greatest assets not only personally but for my current employer. I have been with the
organization for a year and a half, and I have been promoted twice. I have been able to utilize
my leadership and managerial competences to move into a director position. Education is an
area that has been instilled in me since childhood and I am a firm believer success is just
around the corner for those that step out of their comfort zone and master their fears.
Conflict was another dimension that was the hardest to evaluate. The employees displayed a
lot of gossip and back-stabbing in the workplace atmosphere. The negativity filtrated to the
individuals in their care. This type of behaviour can be damaging to current team members and
heighten recidivism in the workplace. Management must equip and provide training with
culture diversity and conflict resolution to curtail the unconstructiveness and low productivity.
Share any insights or thoughts about the creative climate for the organization you evaluated.
Discuss the one to two dimensions that received the highest and lowest scores.
The creative climate that I evaluated illustrates a lack of trust and openness and excessive
playfulness and humour. When serving the less fortunate it is imperative to focus on the here
and now, as well as the future. Having a sense of humour is needed to balance out the day-to-
day situations, however, maintaining creative behaviour and performance will allow
employees to identify and relate more with the situation and focus on areas of improvement
and develop innovative ideas and reduce negativity within the organization.
