Cultural Barriers to Creativity

Five cultural barriers to creativity according to our text are, "a requirement for conformity, an expectation of politeness and efficiency, an expectation of politeness and of following rules for social order, a trust in the power of reason and logic, and a belief in an either/or perspective on issues" (Harris & Sherblom, 2011, 168). I have seen either some or all of these cultural barriers to creativity when it comes to working in small groups or even larger groups. I especially have seen on one of the cultural barriers on the expectation of politeness and efficiency take place which does not allow creativity to occur because creativity is based on being unique and some people may have their own creative way on being polite and efficient in the process at hand. However to others, their expectation of politeness and efficiency may not be the same standards or perceived differently. That's why I think how these cultural barriers would keep a group from being creative because they block individuals in a group from being themselves, by showing their creative side. Creativity is and should be encouraged and embraced in a group especially when everyone or some of the individuals can use their creativity to help lead the group to complete the task(s) at hand in a more better and successful way. Personally, I have experienced each of these cultural barriers in the past when in groups, however the main barrier I will always remember was when I was in the process of joining a group and the requirement for conformity was a huge cultural barrier to creativity in and for this group and for me especially because I had to conform to cultural expectations and norms of that group and there was no room for creativity. All of the new individuals in the group such as myself could not be creative because we had to conform to what the group members wanted us to do and act. So due to not being available for required events, I ended up leaving the group. One of the main things I learned from being a part of that group for that short period of time is that, we need to beat those cultural barriers in creativity because when we are in the position that we have to conform to other individuals' rules and regulations, unless we have to, if we have the choice, and if we want to continue to be able to show our uniqueness and want our creativity to be acknowledged and welcomed, then we must choose the best route for us to take in forms of that group we are in.