How to get radical creative ideas into a leader’s mind? Leader’s achievement goals and subordinates’ voice of creative ideas

Abstract

In the present research we investigated when and why leaders tend to oppose or adopt radical creative ideas voiced by their subordinates. In a field study (Study 1, N = 127) we showed that leaders’ performance goals were positively related to their tendency to oppose radical creative ideas, whereas leaders’ mastery goals were positively related to their tendency to adopt them. We replicated these findings in an experimental study (Study 2, N = 90), in which we showed that performance goal leaders were more likely to oppose radical creative ideas voiced by their subordinates than mastery goal leaders, whereas mastery goal leaders were more likely to adopt those ideas than performance goal leaders. In Study 2, we further showed that the effects of leaders’ achievement goals on their oppose and adopt responses were mediated by the leaders’ interest in exploration. Finally, in Study 3 (N = 91), we experimentally demonstrated that oppose and adopt responses of performance goal leaders, rather than mastery goal leaders, were sensitive to the behavioural mode by which subordinates voiced their radical creative ideas. That is, performance goal leaders were less likely to oppose and more likely to adopt radical creative ideas when subordinates voiced them in a considerate mode rather than an aggressive mode.

Keywords:

• Goal orientation
• Voice
• Creativity
• Opposing and adopting creative ideas

Notes

¹ Twenty-two Dutch business undergraduates received €3 for their participation. The ages of the participants ranged from 17 to 27 years, and the mean age was 21.4 years (SD = 2.74). The mean work experience of the participants was 48.8 months (SD = 36.0). Participants were presented the same procedure as described earlier, without the achievement goal manipulation. Subsequently, they were asked a number of questions that measured the valence, suitability, and preference of both strategies. Valence of strategy was assessed using two items: (1) How do you feel about the TS? (2) How do you feel about the IS? The response categories ranged from 1 (very negative) to 7 (very positive). Suitability of strategy was assessed using the following two items: (1) How do you feel about the suitability of the TS for the current situation? (2) How do you feel about the suitability of the IS for the current situation? The response categories ranged from 1 (not at all suitable) to 7 (very suitable). To test whether leaders could recognize the valence of the subordinates’ creative idea (the TS) relative to the valence of the leaders’ established idea (the IS) a dependent t test was conducted. There was a significant effect for valence of strategy, t(21) = 2.23, p < .05, with the TS (M = 5.64, SD = .95) valenced more positively than the IS (M = 4.68, SD = 1.49). Furthermore, there was a significant effect for suitability of strategy as well, t(21) = 2.15, p < .05, with the TS (M = 5.59, SD = .96) being evaluated as more suitable than the IS (M = 4.82, SD = 1.33).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) [grant number 400-04-508].