THE POWER TO CREATIVITY!!!

Having, or at the very least perceiving that you have power and control over your
environment is important. Those who feel as though they have little control over their status, aspirations, and wealth are prone to
depression. On the other hand, those who feel they have too much control are at risk of grandiosity, delusion, and greed.

Nonetheless, the striving for control is a healthy human drive and power hierarchies are a fundamental feature of any social organization. The fact remains,
however, that the more power one person has, the less power others have. The implications of this should not be understated, especially when it comes to fostering creativity and bringing out the
best in everyone.

Power relates to the ability to influence others. People can acquire power through climbing the ladder, or possessing valuable cultural capital, such as knowledge and expertise. Power literally changes the
way you see the world around you, influencing the way you perceive and act in the world . Powerful people process information more abstractly and flexibly , are less influenced by situational cues ,
take more risks, act more swiftly when facing a challenging obstacle, behave more in a goal-consistent manner, and are more approach- oriented.

 Having power frees one from influence from others, and leads to feelings of safety and security. Since being powerful feels so
good, powerful people think and act so as to maintain and increase their power.


Powerless individuals, on the other hand, tend to think and act to protect against possible threats. Powerless people avoid risky situations, focus on potential losses, and tend to have a narrow attentional focus. The implications here for creativity should become obvious. The mindset of those in power promotes cognitive flexibility , set-breaking and abstract thinking.

 Therefore, powerful individuals also are more likely to be creative than their less
powerful counterparts , who are left with little incentive to be creative. The relationship between power and creativity may depend, however, on both the stability of the power hierarchy and the potential
payoff for those exerting creative effort. In an environment with an unstable power hierarchy, those with low power might become more creative when being creative is conducive to moving up the ladder.
Powerful people, on the other hand, may display the highest creativity levels under conditions where creativity allows them to maintain or increase their power.

The danger with power hierarchies is that they are self-reinforcing. Powerful individuals are more likely to act forcefully and confidently, take more risks, display more creativity, use ideology more frequently (such as stereotyping and legitimizing myths), and choose jobs that
forward their own interests-- and all of these behaviors allow powerful individuals to acquire even more resources and
influence .

Taken to the extreme, power hierarchies can result in an environment where everyone else is left feeling powerless.
The important question is whether this sort of 'winner takes all' environment brings out the best in most people. The research is clear that it does not. As for how to motivate creativity in everyone , including leaders, it might be possible to design structures where those in power feel as though their creativity will allow them to maintain their position while at the same time allowing those not in power to feel as though they, too, can eventually gain power through their creativity.

 There may be many different ways to implement such a system but however it is done, the researchers make one thing clear:
"when the power hierarchy is unstable, those lacking power hold the power to creativity."