Harvard Business Review Analytic Services has conducted a global study in association with Canva and revealed that 96 per cent of survey respondents agree creative ideas are essential to an organisation’s long-term success and performance. In addition, 94 per cent agree that organisations that invest in creative tools and technology will be more successful in the future.
However, while many acknowledge the importance of creativity and seek a creative edge, few are successfully converting innovative ideas into business impact.
Three categories of organisations emerged from the survey responses: leaders, followers, and laggards. These groupings were based on the organisations’ success at identifying creative solutions to business problems according to the respondents, regardless of whether the idea was implemented. Leaders (22 per cent) are those organisations that are ‘very successful’ at identifying and implementing creative solutions to business problems, while followers (56 per cent) are “somewhat successful” and laggards (22 per cent) are “not very successful.”
Top findings include:
Creativity needs the right tools to flourish. Ninety-four per cent of respondents agree that organisations that invest in creative technology will be more successful in the future. Eighty-seven per cent expect their organisation’s overall financial investment in creativity-building tools and technologies to increase or stay the same in the next year.
Currently, the most used technologies to unlock creativity among leaders are collaboration platforms (65 per cent), visual communication (64 per cent), and data visualisation tools (56 per cent). Collaboration can enhance the creative process by tapping into new ideas, perspectives, and approaches. Leaders are significantly more likely than laggards to facilitate cross-functional collaboration (53 per cent vs. 14 per cent) and encourage different ways of thinking (52 per cent vs.15 per cent).
“In a business world focused on the bottom line, it’s easy to lose sight of the value of creativity. The findings highlight that creativity isn’t just a complement to business growth, it’s foundational to driving long-term success,” said Cameron Adams, co-founder and chief product officer, Canva. “Ultimately, innovation and creativity is what will differentiate the leaders from the laggards; it’s what drives growth in a challenging landscape.”