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Journal of Education for Business
ISSN: 0883-2323 (Print) 1940-3356 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vjeb20
A Review of “Conflict and Creativity at Work:
Human Roots of Corporate Life”
James L. Morrison
To cite this article: James L. Morrison (2009) A Review of “Conflict and Creativity at Work: Human Roots of Corporate Life”, Journal of Education for Business, 85:1, 57-58, DOI: 10.1080/08832320903217838
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08832320903217838
Published online: 07 Aug 2010.
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JOURNAL OF EDUCATION FOR BUSINESS, 85: 57–58, 2010 CopyrightC Heldref Publications
ISSN: 0883-2323
DOI: 10.1080/08832320903217838
BOOK REVIEW
Low, Albert.Conflict and Creativity at Work: Human Roots of Corporate Life. Portland, OR: Sussex Academic Press. (2008). 219 pp. ISBN: 978-1-84519-272-3.$35.
To Albert Low, a successful business enterprise is the result of human creativity. However, he cautions us that such creativ-ity also brings forth conflict. Therefore, Low argues that it is now necessary to develop a new perspective on conflict, and correspondingly, how organizations mobilize their resources for the purpose of creating a new brand. The author also argues that there is an intriguing relation between creativ-ity, spiritualcreativ-ity, ethics, and corporate social responsibility. For leaders to assure synergy among these four elements, Low argues for a more customer-focused organization. An important component to this endeavor is the redefining of such business terms aswork,profit,growth,creativity, and
responsibility.
The text is intended for undergraduates in college-level business programs and those professionals in the field who deal with creativity and conflict on a daily basis. It serves best as a secondary reading for the traditional college course in which management issues are addressed. The text is based on the premise that an organization is an extension of the human mind, suggesting that the leader and the organization are isomorphic. Low thus argues that an organization gener-ally should be perceived as a living organism (with life-like tendencies) that self-replicates over time. In other words, managers training others to perform creatively at their tasks results in these individuals training others similarly, and so on. In this regard, the outcome is a continuous expansion of ideas and new workplace strategies.
Low presents several intriguing notions as to how creativ-ity relates to success by redefining the role pressure, ambi-guity, and uncertainty play in motivating followers to move beyond traditional managerial expectations. To the author, the prime force that drives the corporate world is pressure from inside and outside of the organization. This pressure may be used to advance an institution or destroy it, if misdi-rected. In the past, Low states that the pressure to generate profits for shareholders at the expense of meeting societal expectations has led to some disappointing outcomes. This observation appears to be right on target as witnessed recently by the resignations of CEOs such as Rick Wagner of General Motors, Steven Odland of Office Depot, Inc., and William Watkins of Seagate Technology. These leaders represent just
a few notable CEOs who have succumbed to their poor de-cisions and inability to develop the creative environment for producing products that add value to the customers’ lifestyle. To Low, now is the time to expand the notion that applying an appropriate degree of pressure on followers is a reasonable tool for motivating them to become more creative. However, he also warns us that such pressure must be directed toward long-term outcomes rather than short-term goals.
Low also suggests that the way we manage companies should not be based on the kind of logic human beings might apply to their own lives when addressing personal issues. Companies are complex; and when promoting cre-ativity among their workers, what appears to be logical may not prove to be an effective benchmark for determining suc-cess. Low argues that logical thinking may be appropriate when conducting a scientific experiment, but in terms of de-veloping a creative environment, such reasoning may not play the same role. In other words, logic requires relying on clear and distinct thoughts. But to lead in an organization that attempts to embrace creativity as a core value, clear or distinct thoughts restrict the flexibility thinkers need to come up with new approaches to old products. In other words, by relying upon reason and logic alone, creativity is likely to be derailed. The notion presented here is that leaders cannot create new knowledge by relying on old perspectives. They must adopt totally new ways to think to devise new ways to advance the competitive nature of their followers.
This leads to a third point about the obligation to deal with the ambiguity that surrounds creativity. In this regard, Low argues that leaders must enhance their tolerance for am-biguity. To Low, a company is reflective of an ambiguous organizational framework that is constantly taking different shapes in response to global competition. In this regard, Low introduces the concept of dynamic unity as the centerpiece for addressing the ambiguity that often results when performing in a creative work environment. In other words, a successful company is one that has a dynamic center by which conflict-ing and at times ambiguous ideas find harmony and unity. It is up to leadership to balance the needs and expectations of followers in regard to bringing creativity to fruition and not letting ambiguity bring a workforce to a standstill.
The text is divided into five parts. The initial segment introduces the reader to a new theory of management. Of particular interest is the connection of creativity and con-flict to successful ventures. A corresponding notion that Low
58 BOOK REVIEW
presented is that managers must learn to think beyond that of a scientific analyst. What is recognized here is the benefit of having a reasonable degree of ambiguity present during the creative process. To Low, creativity is more likely to occur when followers are able to express themselves more freely, thus resulting in a dialogue that encourages risk-taking rather than having to constantly defend one’s comments along the lines of scientific inquiry.
The likelihood of ethical behavior emerging among a com-pany’s leaders is greater when creativity becomes the core value in an organization. Similarly, it is the individual who is capable of going beyond traditional problem-solving rou-tines that makes a significant difference in building creativity in an organization. Thus, Low argues that the benchmark for assessing the ethical conduct of those in leadership positions must go beyond that of simply appearing to be performing within the law. Low argues that it is the process of creativity itself that results in mangers becoming sensitive to the ac-tions of others, thus producing ethical conduct that has each individual holding others accountable for their actions.
The second part to the text focuses on redefining the term
work within the framework in which expectations of cre-ativity is a reality. Putting limits on work and the flow of information inhibits the free flow of data between leaders and followers. Such limits often result in dilemmas for man-agers as they attempt to engage in new patterns of thought. An example of this dilemma is the application of the theory of management of objectives, which Low depicts as lead-ing to excessively restricted environments. In its place, Low argues for a theory of management by ideas in which new ap-proaches to how to align human beings and technology may be promoted. Part III of the text then identifies the major role that commitment and self-regulation plays for getting others to become more creative. Within this framework, Low com-bines organizational conflict and individual tension as two integrated components to creativity. By introducing tension into the equation, Low advises manager to embrace it as a motivating factor.
In Part IV of the text, Low identifies conflict as either nonproductive or productive. Nonproductive conflict is detri-mental to the success of an organization and thus, needs to be avoided. Examples of such conflict are employees hav-ing turf wars or personality clashes. However, productive conflict, such as the clash of ideas, can lead to productive ventures. Therefore, learning how to avoid nonproductive conflict and embrace productive conflict is critical when de-veloping creative work environments Part V concludes with the author proposing a revolutionary interpretation of corpo-rate governance. Low carefully delineates who actually owns and directs the actions of companies and how strategies for reigning in shareholder viewpoints impact an organization’s capability for allocating scarce resources toward productive efforts.
The strength of the text is its contrarian views as to what makes a great organization. In this regard, the focus is not on efficiency and the application of Peter Drucker’s scien-tific management principles to guide leaders. In contrast,
Low perceives managers in companies as breeders of human creativity. In this regard, Low asserts that creativity is a nat-ural attribute possessed by many. The humanistic approach to leadership depicts the role of a manager as embracing the concept of creative empowerment by which followers may freely express their ideas. In other words, instead of attempting to punish, restrict, and control individuals to en-courage efficiency, it may be more productive for managers to create institutions that reflect a more dynamic interac-tion among the players. Therefore, bottom-up accountabil-ity becomes a major feature in creating an innovative work environment.
The weakness of the text is a noticeable lack of association of creative theory to actions of managers in companies that are currently witnessing a variety of leadership dilemmas arising from fraud, unethical behavior, and poor decision-making. In this regard, it would have been helpful to include examples reflecting the automobile, insurance, and banking industries, among others. The view that creativity arises from conflict is intriguing, and putting an actual face to the appli-cation of this theory would add validity to the effort. Rather than referring to academicians to defend the new approach to management, it would have been helpful to bring in examples of those leaders who have actually been successful operating from a new perspective. Alternatively, the confusion about corporate governance also offers an excellent opportunity for the author to discuss the ramifications of poor leader-ship associated with General Motors, AIG, Goldman-Sachs, Chrysler, and Lehman Brothers, among others.
The text is an excellent read for business majors en-rolled as undergraduates. There are numerous opportunities for discussion of rather revolutionary approaches to readily accepted management principles. The discussion of how to overhaul the philosophy of management in companies today is timely in view of the short-term horizons many corporate leaders have been recently accused of abusing. Shifting to a long-term horizon may complement this revolutionary look at leadership for reinvigorating our business institutions. It may be time to rethink our approaches to encouraging cre-ativity and conflict.
This text is a wake-up call to all. To Low, an organization should be perceived as our servant and not our masters. A company is created to meet the needs of human beings who also have a natural ability to be creative if given the right environment in which to work. In this regard, Low argues that the root of spirituality and ethics is creativity. He proposes that the way we think must be revised, and ambiguity must be seen as the rule and not the exception. Last, Low perceives creativity as emerging from a diverse group of people who think differently, have different backgrounds, and possess different skill sets. Low depicts the view that creativity must rise to the apex of management practices by taking its place as a key organizational core value.
James L. Morrison
University of Delaware Newark, Delaware, USA
