Do you really need to be creative to define yourself as a success?

Back when I actually thought I could have a corporate career, I believed companies were eager to innovate. I swallowed the party line: “Your company will reward you for being creative.”

I was the one who rushed in to make suggestions. I was praised for my creativity.

It wasn’t till long after I’d been far removed from corporate life that I understood why my creativity had no chance to flourish. Now I believe we make mistakes when we encourage people (especially at entry-level) to anticipate creativity in any job.

We make an even bigger mistake when we encourage others to become entrepreneurs to be more creative. Successful business owners don’t base their success on their creativity. They develop systems, follow proven paths, and always ask the question, “Is this working?”

Look for opportunities that will allow creative expressions.

When I hire someone to fix some code on my website or go through the steps for a teleseminar, I want them to do exactly what I ask. When my cleaning service gets creative, I can’t find anything for weeks. Airline pilots follow very specific “company” policies for everything from checklists to landing on windy airport runways to “mayday” emergencies.