Creative Transformation – Integrating the Plan, the Path, and the People
- Catherina Chang
- Feb 13
- 5 min read
Updated: Feb 20
Written by Floris De Smet, ThrivUP Business, Cultural Transformation, and Change Enablement Advisor.
Creativity: The Ability to Create
The world is full of ideas. Everyone, in some way, possesses creative abilities. While creativity is often associated with art or “right-brained” individuals, it extends far beyond these stereotypes. Creativity is the power to create—whether through ideas, solutions, systems, communication, or relationships. It doesn’t always need to be disruptive; incremental innovation can be just as powerful, fostering stability and sustainability. Creativity can stem from intellect or emotion, be practical or visionary, and range from the everyday to the groundbreaking. History has shown that all forms of creativity are vital—from the invention of the light bulb, E=mc² and the iPhone to the major moral and philosophical frameworks.
Creativity and innovation have always been the driving forces behind business success. From the printing press and assembly line to lean methodologies, design thinking and consulting services, creative ideas have shaped economies for centuries. These advancements have continuously paved the way for even greater progress.
The Paradox of Scale and Creativity
Most of today’s organizations operate on a massive scale. They employ thousands, generate billions in revenue, aspire similar numbers in performance expectations, strive for lofty and applaudable sustainability goals or philanthropic intentions, and impact millions of people through their very existence. Each of these companies began with a creative spark, whether internally developed or externally acquired. However, as businesses grow, creativity often diminishes.
This presents a paradox: why do companies with such vast reach struggle to harness creativity? While it may seem counterintuitive, from a practical standpoint, it is not surprising. Managing scale requires focus, and an influx of ideas can feel overwhelming, leading companies to stick with what they know rather than experiment with new possibilities. Or, in real talk—the rule of performance metrics often overtakes the ability to create.
But does this paradox have to be unavoidable? Do operational focus and operational excellence preclude creativity?
Creativity as a Cultural Foundation
Organizations can unlock their creative potential, but doing so requires an intentional cultural shift. Even the best strategies will fail if they are impractical or not embraced by stakeholders. Creativity plays a key role not only in generating strategy but also in execution, requiring innovative planning, organization, and change management. Harnessing creative abilities across the organization represent an opportunity to ‘get it right’.
Ivory tower, top-down, expert-driven decisions, while often creative in itself, are not conducive to sustainable execution. It stifles broader innovation as it disregards the creative potential that sits in the wider reach of the organization. It is also a thing of the past.
Today’s workforce is evolving. Millennials are today’s biggest employee group (35-40%) and are gaining influence as they rise through the ranks. Gen Z, currently 15-20% of the workforce, is expected to double in size by 2034. By then Gen Alpha will have made its first inroads and make up 5-10% of the workforce. In ten years from now, more than 50% of the workforce will come from the new generations. These generations value purpose, empowerment, and rapid learning. Organizations that fail to integrate these priorities risk losing engagement, productivity, and ultimately, creative momentum.
Creative Integration: Strategy, Execution and People
A company’s strategy (the master plan), its path (the detailed execution plan) and its people (those who actually execute) must be aligned to harness wide creative potential and create sustained competitive advantage.
Organizations could evaluate their extent of alignment, and, hence, their ultimate creative impact, by reflecting on the following questions. The point is this – can these questions be answered in an honest, concise and relatable way?
The strategy – what is your master plan?
Is it truly a good idea? What does the strategy create? What is the true, bottom-line value? How unique is it? How sustainable is it?
Does it create excitement among major stakeholders? Did you test this? Did you consider a ‘whole human’ approach in the strategy generation phase? Have you invited the contribution of different organizational representatives, with different levels of seniority, and did they have a chance to help shape it in meaningful ways?
Which party derives the most value from your strategy? Which party needs to provide the most input to ‘create’ your strategy?
Opportunity: harness visionary creativity across your organization
The path – how are you going to get there?
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What is the ‘one’ thing you need to get right for your strategy to be successful? What needs to be curated (or, created) for it to succeed? Are you ready?
Does everyone know where you’re going? Did all parties have a chance to adsorb the why? Did they all have a chance to contribute to the ‘what’ and to the ‘how’? Are the key stakeholders aware of what is expected from them? Do they buy into this? Do they feel as if they helped shape the road to success?
Which decisions is senior leadership making that could be delegated to lower levels in the organization? Which decisions are employees at the base of the organization empowered to take? Are there clear demarcations? Is there a recognized culture of ‘we will do this together’?
Opportunity: harness process and system creativity across your organization
The people – who needs to deliver the dream?
What is the extent of the change for those most impacted? Is there a human-centered change management approach that recognizes people as essential elements in its success? How do you look at communication? Is it one-time-and-done or do we cultivate an intentional open, transparent and engaging communication atmosphere? How patient are you willing to be with questions and confusion coming from the employee base? Which approach would you appreciate if you were in the shoes of those most impacted? In your communication efforts, do you typically seek to inform, instruct, convince, involve or inspire?
What does success look like, and are human factors a part of that picture? Did you nurture a ‘whole brain’ approach to the plan and the path? Are rational and emotional elements in balance, facts and intuition, vision-path-and-people?
Who are your champions? Who are the thought leaders? Who has the ability to inspire? Who has consistently led by example? Who’s approach do you need to see multiplied throughout the organization? To what extent have you tapped into their creative power?
Opportunity: harness the inexhaustible human creativity across your organization
Conclusion: Creativity Thrives in Alignment
Organizations possess immense creative potential within their vast networks and through their extensive reach. History has proven that creative breakthroughs lead to competitive advantage. However, as businesses scale, they often fail to harness their full creative capacity due to misalignment between strategy, execution, and people. By integrating these elements with intentionality, companies can unlock continuous innovation, sustain engagement, and maintain their competitive edge.
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