Tomas Kačerauskas,

Vilnius Gediminas Technical University

Department of Philosophy and Communication

Tomas.Kacerauskas@vgtu.lt

CREATIVITY MANAGEMENT: TOWARDS  SOFT CONTROL

Abstract.The paper deals with the management of creativity. Creative activity is peculiar since it covers specific  (creative) worker, his (her) own  working time, peculiar resources, implementation of a particular product. A creative worker resists to any forms of control and management including forced labour hours, work in an office, strong terms and contractual obligations. An office could be treated as a panopticon, i.e. as a prison, in which every labour operation of a worker-prisoner is  observed. Transparent walls of an  office are not a fashionable trend , but the requirement of control and management so that to see every motion of workers. Control over  creative workers is an inevitable element of social order but it should be “soft” enough in order to avoid their frustration . There are two alternatives: control should be even harder in order to manage creative workers slipping from control as such, or it should be softer in order to catch at least the rest of the subjects to be controlled. Although creativity does not tolerate organizations with strong control and rigid  hierarchy, if there is no (self-)control at all, most likely there would be  no creative result either. A creative worker usually has no motives to create without any orders, both in a broader (social order) and in a narrow sense (economic order). Nevertheless, a “hard” structure of management with strong hierarchy is destructive for creativity. Creativity is usually  mobilized  by creative education and by stimulation of  creative risks. There is a collision between the rules forced from outside and those created by a creative worker him/herself. Thus,  collisions, contradictions and clashes are inseparable from creativity. The purpose of the paper is twofold: (1) to review  different approaches to creativity management  and (2) to show the specificity  of creativity management.

Received: July, 2016

1st Revision: June, 2016

Accepted: October, 2016

DOI: 10.14254/2071-789X.2016/9-4/21

JEL Classification: O32

Keywords: management of creativity, “soft” control, mediated society, creative worker, creative society.