Creativity in the workplace starts in the classroom

For FCMA Ilene Gilborn, the answer is all in how you view the question. This semester, Gilborn will be challenging students at Mount Royal’s Bissett School of Business to look at things a little differently.

Gilborn is launching Creativity in the Workplace, a new course that explores the concept of creativity – its nature, complexity and relationship to the workplace. Through various learning activities, students will have a deeper appreciation for why there is a need to learn about and practice creativity.

“The business world lives in a state of constant change,” says Gilborn. “Increased competition, advances in technology and a greater sense of global-ness are all changing the rules of the game. Those that will lead the business world will be those who adopt a creative culture.”

This also means creativity should not be limited to marketing or research departments. “Every aspect of an organization depends on the ability to look at things from a different point of view,” she says. “There is always more than one right answer, and creative companies can generate many ideas by tapping into the creative potential of every employee at every level of the organization – no matter what department or specialization.”

For Gilborn, being creative is part of her makeup. As a management accountant, her career has been a process of making one decision after another. But being creative was also one of the reasons she pursued the CMA designation. “As a CMA, I knew I would have the opportunity to be strategic – to look at things from all angles, identify opportunities and generate alternatives. That was important to me.”

Gilborn’s career has seen her in a number of roles, from Manager of Finance for the Calgary Zoo to her current position as Chair of Accounting at the Bissett School of Business. She also spent time as a CMA moderator. “One of the modules I taught as a moderator had a focus on creativity,” she recalls. “Part of the module involved having candidates teach an accounting concept in a creative way. One of the groups came back with a song. Now who would think that accountants would solve a problem in such a way?” The creativity demonstrated in the exercise reinforced for Gilborn that creativity has a direct impact on success.

FCMA Ilene Gilborn

According to Gilborn, many companies are reluctant to embrace a creative environment even when there is a significant opportunity presented. Usually this is because of a fear of change, or larger yet, a fear of costly mistakes. “But mistakes are equally important to success. If mistakes didn’t happen, Post-it notes would never have been invented. There’s a greater cost to limiting potential,” she says.

But all that may be remedied as more students are taught to exercise their creativity and more organizations are touched by the power of creative thinking.

In the end, the human mind is limited only by its imagination. And, just like any other skill, if it isn’t exercised regularly, it’s lost and, arguably, what’s lost in potential could be the biggest crime against business.
 

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