The following is a guest post from The Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, with a few of my thoughts appended thereafter. (Do I sound like a lawyer there, or what?)

At a time when many economists and futurists are pointing to creativity and innovation as one of the cornerstones of U.S. competitiveness in the years ahead, a new survey finds that, while an overwhelming majority of American workers believe they are instinctively creative, fewer than two in three think they are tapping their creative capacities on the job.

The Survey

The survey, commissioned by the Fairfax County (Virginia) Economic Development Authority, host of the 2007 National Conference on the Creative Economy in October, found that 88 percent of U.S. workers consider themselves creative, but when it comes to creativity in the workplace, just 63 percent said their positions were creative and a comparable 61 percent thought similarly about the companies they work for.

The survey was conducted July 23, 2007 through August 3, 2007 by IPSOS Public Affairs, an independent global, survey-based research company owned and managed by research professionals.

As part of its weekly U.S. Telephone Omnibus Study, IPSOS interviewed 564 adults ages 18 and older, who indicated they were currently employed in either a part-time or full-time job. The margin of error for the entire survey is 4.13% at a 95% confidence level.

Implications of the Study: the Creativity Gap

This “creativity gap” – the disparity between the creative resources available and those being employed – can be an important indicator, experts say, in determining how well American companies are preparing for a future U.S. economy that will rely on creativity and innovation more than ever.

“The U.S. economy has always been fueled by new ideas and innovation, and this survey underscores the value that American workers put on creativity at work,” said Gerald L. Gordon, Ph.D., president and CEO of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority.

In many ways, the results of this research are a wakeup call to U.S. companies. Today, more than ever, they must find new ways to harness the creative energies of the workforce, give their employees creative and productive outlets for their ideas to close the “creativity gap.”

The survey found that most workers put a high premium on creativity at work. A total of 75 percent of respondents thought that their employers valued their creativity, and even more telling, one in five (21%) said they would change jobs – even if it meant earning less money – in order to be more creative at work.

Twenty-nine percent of those surveyed indicated that they would change where they live if it meant being part of a more creative community. This was especially true of younger workers ages 18-34 (37%).“The communities that can attract and retain this talent will be the economic winners in the future,” Gordon said.

Experience.com provides resources on internships and entry level jobs.

The Creative Economy

The “creative economy,” a term coined by economist and author (Rise of the Creative Class) Richard Florida, reflects the growing sense that creativity is an economic engine, and that creative people – from software engineers to healthcare professionals to entrepreneurs – provide a critical stimulus for economic growth.

The Fairfax County Economic Development Authority promotes Fairfax County, Virginia, as a business and technology center. Fairfax County is host to the National Conference on the Creative Economy. It is an example of the creative class: 57 percent of county residents work in “creative occupations” in information technology, professional services, education and other fields.

A couple of my thoughts:

• Roughly 25 percent of worker creativity goes untapped. 88 percent of workers think they are creative, but only 63 percent think their job is creative (88%-63% = 25%).


• The proliferation of blogs, social networking, entertaining YouTube videos, and open source software apps and plugins reflects the creativity gap. People have so much excess, untapped creativity that they work for free, provided the work satisfies creative needs not satisfied by their paying work.


• There are literally billions of dollars worth of untapped creativity being expressed in a huge unpaid (or underpaid) creative economy. Of course, over time, many people transform their gratuitous, creative projects and hobbies into businesses. But what can we all be doing to make that happen more often, for more people?


• Employees in “creative occupations” working in areas with high concentrations of such workers, e.g., Fairfax County, may be more satisfied than average, but perhaps not. They may be in such occupations because of their high creativity, but their specific jobs may leave much to be desired — still a large creativity gap.

Photo credit: flooznyc via flickr

Related Posts

George Lenard on Career and Job Search, Career change, Entrepreneurship, Labor Market, Turnover and Retention, Workforce Trends

Permalink