“Culture and Creativity” Mike van der Vijver MindMeeting Workshop Leonardo Next Treviso, 25 March, 2010

“F u n is not a Russian Concept”

The relationship between culture and human behaviour Culture is the collective programming of the human mind.

Individual Collective by group Common to all mankind Inherited learned Learned Inherited National culture “Group”: i.e. nation, profession, organisation, family Human behaviour: Personality Human nature

Symbols Heroes Overt behaviour Values Iceb erg Rituals

Broad preferences for one state of affairs over others to which strong emotions are attached, generally felt and expressed as opposites: Good – bad Clean – dirty Right – wrong Moral – immoral Rational – irrational Healthy – unhealthy The core of cultures lies in shared values

Creativity and Culture 1.To what extent do hierarchies promote or stifle openness, creativity and innovation? 2.To what extent do feelings of belonging & togetherness, or individual drive promote or stifle O, C & I? 3.To what extent does the desire to achieve something, or to be laid back about outcomes promote …..

Creativity and Culture 4. To what extent does fear for the unknown promote or ….? 5. To what extent does a focus on short-term results over long-term strengths promote or stifle…..? And at the same time: to what extent are you able to to see beyond fixed laws and pragmatically go for new ideas and solutions?

Uncertainty Avoidance Let’s focus on the culture dimension with the biggest impact on creativity: uncertainty avoidance. The extent to which people feel threatened by ambiguous situations and have created beliefs and institutions to avoid these.

High UAI Cultures (1) Need for consensus – intolerance of deviant ideas and personsNeed for consensus – intolerance of deviant ideas and persons More anxiety and stressMore anxiety and stress Concern with security and avoidance of failureConcern with security and avoidance of failure Conflict and competition lead to unpreditability and are therefore undesirableConflict and competition lead to unpreditability and are therefore undesirable Need for rules, structures and formalityNeed for rules, structures and formality If rules cannot be upheld, we don’t change them but make additional onesIf rules cannot be upheld, we don’t change them but make additional ones Stronger belief in expert knowledge, less in common senseStronger belief in expert knowledge, less in common sense

High UAI Cultures (2) Standardisation: organisations should be as uniform as possibleStandardisation: organisations should be as uniform as possible Managers more task-oriented and less flexible in styleManagers more task-oriented and less flexible in style Look for security rather than riskLook for security rather than risk More xenophobiaMore xenophobia More ritual behaviourMore ritual behaviour Search for most reliable physicianSearch for most reliable physician Humour at the right place and timeHumour at the right place and time

Conclusion: What is strange might be dangerous What is different inspires distrust, not curiosity

Uncertainty avoidance Low UAI High UAI Germany Russia 95 France 86 UK 35 S-Korea 85 Greece 112 China 30 Japan 92 USA 46 NL 53 Hong Kong 29

Organisational or Corporate Culture The specific collection of values and norms that are shared by people and groups in an organisation and that control the way they interact with each other and with stakeholders outside the organisation Or: “The way we do things here”

Organisational Cultures 1.Differ from national cultures in that they can be shaped 2.Need to be aligned with the objectives of the organisation 3.Require differentiation between the parts of the organisation

Models of Organisational Cultures For instance: Goals oriented – Means oriented Internally driven – Externally driven Easy-going – Tight work discipline Local focus – Cosmopolitan Open – Closed Employee oriented – Work oriented

Differentiation: Creativity Production: few individuals Creativity Receptivity: many individuals

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