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 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.
