Home topics news News News Aussie bosses stifling creativity in workplace: survey Jessica Stanic September 22, 2009 Aussie bosses stifling creativity in workplace: survey Australian bosses are stifling creativing in the workplace according to a new study. Research undertaken by Human Synergistics of 4,035 senior executives across Australia entitled ‘Transforming Leadership and Culture: The State of the Nations’ has found that 57 percent of those surveyed, have such a negative impact on their staff that they are compromising the productivity of their organisation. The research, to be presented at today’s 11th Australian Conference on Culture and Leadership also revealed that of the 57 percent, over a quarter take a highly conventional approach to leadership, encouraging staff to fit to the “mould” and follow rules, policies and standard procedures, even at the cost of new ideas and innovation. Commenting on the results, Quentin Jones, Managing Director of Human Synergistics said: “What we have found is that Australian leaders are extremely conservative and it’s this compliance approach to management that crushes any spark of creativity or innovation, and quite frankly, to encourage conformity in the current climate is business suicide.” In addition to encouraging conformity, leaders also signalled that they drive staff to be oppositional, critical of others to gain status, and to dismiss good ideas due to minor flaws (13 percent); champion perfectionism by asking people to set unrealistically high goals, focus on unnecessary details over the bigger picture and promoting overtime for face value, rather than necessity (12%); and use