Creative people are often the biggest rule-breakers. Why? Perhaps because we’re managing them all wrong.
By Ashley Keating
Creativity is a rare, highly sought talent—so much so that leaders often look the other way when their most creative people go full diva.
Bad idea. According to a recent study in the Journal of Applied Psychology, creative people often become more deviant when they’re ignored. They begin to feel like they’re not getting the credit they deserve, which fuels a sense of entitlement that can result in bad behavior like angry outbursts and hoarding of resources.
Your best play: candor plus celebration. First, be clear that rules do apply to them—and hold them accountable. Zero tolerance. But also, recognize their special talents in other ways. Be effusive with public praise, be generous with compensation, and look for opportunities to reward them with special perks—as long as they’re within the norms of the organization, of course.
Sign up for the monthly TalentQ Newsletter, an essential roundup of news and insights that will help you make critical talent decisions.
Ng, Thomas W. H., and Kai Chi Yam. “When and Why Does Employee Creativity Fuel Deviance? Key Psychological Mechanisms.” Journal of Applied Psychology, vol. 104, no. 9, 2019, pp. 1144–1163., doi:10.1037/apl0000397.
