Subject:
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LEGO® Survey Reports: Creativity is Critical for New Recruits
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.mediawatch, lugnet.general
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Date:
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Wed, 26 Sep 2007 14:04:29 GMT
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Viewed:
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6508 times
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ENFIELD, Conn., Sept. 26 /PRNewswire/
LEGO® Survey Reports: Creativity is Critical for New Recruits; ‘Office Politics
are Stifling My Creativity
LEGO-Sponsored Survey Reveals State of Creativity at Today’s Fortune 1,000
Companies
Company Joins Partnership for 21st Century Skills to Prepare Future
Workforce
Note to job seekers:
Executives are concerned with creativity in the workplace, and you should
be, too. According to a recent Creativity in the Workplace survey sponsored
by LEGO Systems, Inc. and executed by Leflein Associates, Inc., executives
at Fortune 1,000 companies nationwide, when asked to rate the most critical
skill set the next generation workforce must possess, were more than twice
as likely to rank creativity higher than collaboration, and rated it on par
with critical thinking skills. LEGO Group initiated the survey as part of
its ongoing Creation Nation campaign to unearth, celebrate and cultivate
lifelong creativity.
“Creative people often cite a specific source as fostering their
creativity at a young age and inspiring them to be who they are today. When
you scratch beneath the surface of today’s creative world -- from corporate
leaders to video game innovators to renowned writers -- myriad examples of
LEGO inspiration are revealed,” said Soren Torp Laursen, President, LEGO
Systems, Inc. “Creativity is at the core of the LEGO brand experience and
serves as the compass for every decision we make. We know that fostering
open-ended creativity at a young age helps children embrace a lifetime of
critical thinking and creative problem solving; creativity that our
children, the builders of tomorrow, will need in an ever-evolving and
competitive marketplace. Our Creation Nation program is designed to
celebrate and nurture lifelong creativity and to demonstrate how it has
made and can make a difference.”
To underscore its commitment to the significant role creativity plays
in shaping the future, the LEGO Group has this month joined the Partnership
for 21st Century Skills, a group that has emerged as the leading advocacy
organization focused on infusing 21st century skills like creativity and
innovation into education. The organization brings together the business
community, education leaders, and policymakers to define a powerful vision
for 21st century education to ensure every child’s success as citizens and
workers in the 21st century. The only toy manufacturer on the Board, LEGO
Group will focus on communicating the importance of 21st Century Skills to
parents.
Conducted last month, the LEGO Creativity in the Workplace survey
canvassed 200 manager-level and above executives at Fortune 1,000 companies
with more than 10,000 employees. Respondents’ job functions included:
marketing, engineering, product development, business development, IT and
creative and job titles ranged from manager to C-suite to
president/chairman. Additional survey highlights are detailed below.
Why Creativity Matters to Businesses
According to the survey, creativity in the workplace is more important
these days because executives believe that it impacts the bottom line.
-- Almost three-fifths (58 percent) of executives agree that creativity
has a great deal of positive impact on their company’s bottom line.
-- Virtually all executives (96 percent) agree that their own company
could benefit from a formal creativity initiative.
Creativity in the Workplace Scorecard: West Beats South and Size
Matters
Believing creativity matters is one thing; doing something about it is
another. The good news is that many companies are:
-- 56 percent of respondents report that their companies are doing a great
deal to foster creativity in the workforce.
-- However, almost three-fifths (59 percent) of executives say their
company’s entry level staff or management trainees are more creative
than their own peers in management.
-- This position is most striking in companies that do little or nothing
to foster creativity. Almost three-quarters (71 percent) of executives
in these companies with little or no focus on creativity consider entry
level staff more creative than their own peers in management.
-- Companies in the South are significantly less likely than those in the
West to do “a great deal” to foster creativity in their workforce (43
percent in the South vs. 70 percent in the West).
-- Size matters when it comes to fostering creativity in the workplace.
Companies with 10,000 to less than 25,000 employees are 57 percent more
likely than jumbo size companies with 25,000 or more employees to
foster creativity a great deal.
“Office Politics are Stifling My Creativity!”
-- 45 percent of our nation’s top executives agree that office politics is
the single biggest deterrent to creativity in their workplace.
Workload (23 percent) and meetings (22 percent) tie for second.
-- Interestingly, executives of companies that do little or nothing to
foster creativity are most likely to be concerned with office politics
(52 percent consider office politics the biggest deterrent vs. only 40
percent in companies that do a great deal to foster creativity).
-- Companies in the Northeast have a particular problem with meetings; a
complaint unrivaled in other regions of the country. Presumably too
many meetings are getting in the way of their creativity. Executives
in the Northeast are 55 percent more likely than their peers in other
parts of the country to agree that meetings are the biggest deterrent
to creativity.
And the Winner Is ...
When asked to name the most creative CEO currently in office, survey
respondents named Microsoft’s Bill Gates (40 percent) followed by Apple’s
Steve Jobs (34 percent). Warren Buffett, Michael Dell, Martha Stewart and
Donald Trump were a few other leaders cited for creativity.
More on LEGO Creation Nation
Through its online web presence, events, and LEGO Creativity Awards,
LEGO Group seeks to encourage children and adults alike to become and stay
creative problem solvers at home, in their communities and in the
workplace. Visit http://www.LEGOcreationnation.com to find profiles of
individuals, organizations and companies that are actively fostering
creativity and get inspired.
In the coming weeks the company will announce the first recipients of
its LEGO Creativity Awards where 6-13 year olds were invited to apply for
one of 10, $5,000 awards to fund any creative pursuit. In addition, the
company will name the recipient of its first annual LEGO Children’s Fund
grant, awarded to a charitable organization focused on fostering
creativity.
LEGO Systems, Inc. (LSI) is the Americas (North America and Latin
America) division of the LEGO Group, a privately-held firm based in
Billund, Denmark. The LEGO Group is committed to the development of
children’s creative and imaginative abilities through high-quality,
creatively educational play materials, and its employees are guided by the
motto adopted in the 1930s by founder Ole Kirk Christiansen: “Only the best
is good enough.” For more information, visit http://www.LEGO.com
LEGO and the LEGO logo are trademarks of The LEGO Group. (C) 2007 The
LEGO Group.
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/09-26-2007/0004670345&EDATE=
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