Article Summary -

Stealing Fire: Creative Deviance in the Evolution of New Ideas

By Adrien Tanvet, Théo Thiebot, Ilika Tiwari, Maxime Trellu, Anu Johnson and Julia Thielemann

ESC Rennes I 19-20_OB510E Team Development and Management I Prof. Ricardo AZAMBUJA
TABLE OF CONTENT

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 Zweite Ebene Fünfte Ebene
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1 2 3

4 5
ESC Rennes I 19-20_OB510E Team Development and Management I Prof. Ricardo AZAMBUJA 2
The novel theory about creative deviance draws on the creativity literature
and deviance literature as well as Merton’s strain theory.

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“the use of imagination or original
Creative literature &
deviance literature

 Zweite Ebene What is Creativity? Fünfte Ebene ideas to create something”

 Dritte Ebene

“an act that produces antisocial or prosocial

What is Deviance?
outcomes, but not creative outcomes”

CREATIVE DEVIANCE:
An individual-level nonconforming behavior chosen to pursue a creative idea against a manager’s order .

The way people adapt to social structure consists of two elements :

strain theory
Merton‘s

Legitimate and illegitimate

Culturally defined Goals
means to achieve those goals

Source: Mainemelis, 2010

ESC Rennes I 19-20_OB510E Team Development and Management I Prof. Ricardo AZAMBUJA 3
When an organization lacks resources to provide access to legitimate
means to achieve culturally defined goals a structural strain is formed.

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 DEFINED
Zweite Ebene GOALS Fünfte Ebene
LEGITIMATE MEANS CONFORMITY
 Dritte Ebene

DEFINED GOALS ILLEGITIMATE MEANS NONCONFORMITY

STRUCTURAL STRAIN

Cause: occurs when an organisation stresses more upon its goals than on the means to achieve those goals

Def.: the condition when an organisation fails to provide means for all individuals to attain defined goals

Source: Mainemelis, 2010

ESC Rennes I 19-20_OB510E Team Development and Management I Prof. Ricardo AZAMBUJA
The author specifies creative deviance concept and elaborates on the two
components creative deviance is composed of: creativity & deviance.

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 Zweite Ebene
CREATIVE DEVIANCE
Fünfte Ebene
 Dritte Ebene „the violation of a managerial order to stop working on a new idea“

CREATIVE COMPONENT DEVIANT COMPONENT

 Creativity: process resulting in a new product/service/technology  Deviance: violation of normative expectations of a social
 Distinction btw. creative process / creative product context
 5 step creativity process:   nonconformity / underconformity but also "higher" conformity
      preparation  incubation …. elaboration  can be destructive (negative) as constructive (positive)

 Why creativity in creative deviance?  Why deviance in creative deviance? 

o employees that violate orders are exploring ideas Creative deviance is deviance but in an organizational context.
o creative deviance occurs in the elaboration phase
o tangible assets, worktime and budget are needed  Key difference: 
o both are very uncertain and risky processes o creative deviance is never linked with hypernorms
(due to organizational context)
 Key difference:  o impossible to know if a manager's order to
      conforming (creativity) vs unconforming (creative deviance) act
stop pursuing an idea is correct or not
                    
Source: Mainemelis, 2010

ESC Rennes I 19-20_OB510E Team Development and Management I Prof. Ricardo AZAMBUJA 5
The author formulates several propositions for organizational conditions
and implications of creative deviance.

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Organizational bearbeiten
conditions that  Vierte Ebene
foster creativity
 Zweite Ebene Fünfte Ebene
Encouragement for generating and
 Dritte Ebene expressing new ideas P1
Structural strain
Resources available for idea elaboration

• Autonomy to elaborate on new ideas P3

• Avoidance of premature evaluation

P7

Relative emphasis placed on creativity (goal) Creative products

and on conformity to orders (norm) P2

P8a, P8b
Normative enforcement that
regulates deviance
P5a P4
Swiftness, severity, and certainty
P5a – P5c P6
Selectivity, inconsistency, and dissociation

Creative deviance
Source: own illustraion based on Mainemelis,, 2010

ESC Rennes I 19-20_OB510E Team Development and Management I Prof. Ricardo AZAMBUJA 6
The higher the organization’s encouragement for generating and expressing
new ideas, the higher the structural strain will be.
Encouragement for generating and
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expressing new Textmasters bearbeiten
ideas P1  Vierte Ebene
Structural strain
 Zweite Ebene Fünfte Ebene „Condition where the resources the organization
Resources available for idea elaboration makes available for the elaboration of new ideas do
 Dritte Ebene not suffice to support the elaboration of all proposed
new ideas in the work context“

Ways to encourage the generating

Resources for idea elaboration
and expressing of new ideas

• mission statement New ideas require additional resources to elaborate them:

• organizational culture • worktime
• internal job requirement • materials
• appropriate rewards and recognition • budgets
• resources (e.g. idea generation tools, funds, materials, etc.) • equipment
 additive factors that interact  organizational resources are limited

1. Proposition For any given degree of resources the organization makes available for the elaboration of new ideas, the higher the
organization’s encouragement for generating and expressing new ideas, the higher the structural strain will be.
Source: own illustraion based on Mainemelis,, 2010

ESC Rennes I 19-20_OB510E Team Development and Management I Prof. Ricardo AZAMBUJA 7
The higher the structural strain, the more likely creative deviance will be.
Organizational conditions that
 Formatvorlagen des Textmasters bearbeiten
foster creativity
 Vierte Ebene
Zweite Ebenefor generating and
 Encouragement Fünfte Ebene Higher structural strain
expressing new ideas
 Dritte Ebene Structural strain
Resources available for idea elaboration

Rate of instructions to stop working

on ideas is likely greater
2. Proposition
For any given degree of resources Rate of employees’ motivation to pursue
the organization makes available P2 ideas is likely to be higher
for the elaboration of new ideas,
the higher the structural strain, the
more likely creative deviance will
be.

Higher likelihood of creative deviance =

violations of a managerial order to stop
working on a new idea
Creative deviance
Source: own illustraion based on Mainemelis,, 2010

ESC Rennes I 19-20_OB510E Team Development and Management I Prof. Ricardo AZAMBUJA 8
Autonomy and avoidance of premature evaluation moderate the
relationship between structural strain and creative deviance.

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Organizational conditions that bearbeiten  Vierte Ebeneand psychological opportunities for
Practical
foster creativity
 Zweite Ebene Fünfte Ebene engaging in creative deviance:
Encouragement for generating and
 Dritteexpressing
Ebene new ideas
Structural strain 1. greater personal discretion and usually
Resources available for idea elaboration easier access to organizational resources
P3 2. increasing emotional attachment to ideas,
• Autonomy to elaborate on new ideas
• Avoidance of premature evaluation difficulty in letting go of them
3. awareness of potential rewards and thus
more willing to take risks
4. perception to have control over the social
Autonomy = degree of freedom
contexts
employees have to elaborate on new ideas

Avoidance of premature evaluation =

3. Proposition
degree to which organizations delay
making a final decision about an idea until Theses conditions moderate the relationship
it has been given a chance to show its between structural strain and creative deviance
potential and the higher these conditions, the more likely
Creative deviance creative deviance will be.
Source: own illustraion based on Mainemelis,, 2010

ESC Rennes I 19-20_OB510E Team Development and Management I Prof. Ricardo AZAMBUJA 9
How an organization responds to nonconforming behavior in
relation to creative deviance also influences its rate and likelihood.
Sanctioning thedes
Formatvorlagen Disregard of bearbeiten
Textmasters the Organizational Norm Vierte Ebene
 Zweite Ebene Fünfte Ebene
 A norm
Dritte is enforced when sanctions are imposed on those who violate it.
Ebene
 Merton: the enforcement of the norm is influenced by the social context!

1. Extreme Social Context Balanced Social Context 2. Extreme Social Context

 norms are enforced in a  norms are enforced in a  stress on the attainment

rigid way rigid way of its goals
 sheer conformity  sheer conformity  heightened flexibility in
 social stability in the short  social stability in the short the short term
term but inflexibility in term but inflexibility in  lack of social stability &
the long term the long term disintegration in the
long term

Source: Mainemelis, 2010

ESC Rennes I 19-20_OB510E Team Development and Management I Prof. Ricardo AZAMBUJA 10
There are two types of normative enforcement to reduce or to some
extend regulate creative deviance.

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Swift, severe, anddes Textmasters
certain bearbeiten
sanctioning  Vierte Ebene
 Zweite Ebene
How to sanction?
Fünfte Ebene
Structural strain
 reduces the rate of creative deviance

 Dritte Ebene
more likely when there is a relatively When to sanction? 
greater emphasis on conformity
 used to control

Selective, inconsistent and dissociative Relative emphasis placed on creativity (goal)

and on conformity to orders (norm)
sanctioning
 regulates creative deviance up to some Normative enforcement that
desirable degree regulates deviance
P5a P4
 more likely when there is a relatively high Swiftness, severity, and certainty
emphasis on creativity
P5a – P5c P6
 challenge to prevent negative Selectivity, inconsistency, and dissociation
consequences and extract benefits
 formally preserve the norm while at the Creative deviance
same time informally tolerate its disregard

Source: Mainemelis, 2010

ESC Rennes I 19-20_OB510E Team Development and Management I Prof. Ricardo AZAMBUJA 11
The author presents three propositions about implications for
organizational creativity.

Structural strain
Formatvorlagen des Textmasters
P7 bearbeiten
The higher the structural strain, Vierte
 the Ebene
higher the number of creative products will be.
 Zweite Ebene Fünfte Ebene
 a higher structural strain implies a higher number of new ideas
 Dritte Ebene
 with more ideas the probability to have a new creative product increases

P7
P8a Creative deviance partially mediates the relationship between structural strain and
Creative products creative products. Creative deviance further increases the number of creative products.
 creative deviance increase the probability for a new creative product
P8a, P8b  more ideas created by another channel
 increased probability to have one creative product

P8b Creative deviance is less likely to result in a creative product, but when it results in
one, the product is more likely to be radical.

 risky ideas will be rejected by managers

 manager's rejection can lead to exploration in new ways
Creative deviance  absence of feedback increase likelihood of radical creative products
Source: Mainemelis,, 2010

ESC Rennes I 19-20_OB510E Team Development and Management I Prof. Ricardo AZAMBUJA 12
Contributions, limitations and suggestions for future studies.

 addtions to Metron’stheory
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CONTRIBUTIONS….
Zweite Ebene  novel theory about creative
Fünfte Ebene deviance + its conditions & implications
 Dritte Ebene
 contributing to the creativity literature and deviance literature

FUTUR STUDIES… LIMITATIONS…

 the role of managers in the development of  employee’s reaction to creative deviance is not
creative products taken into account

 the interaction between managers and

employees that effects creative deviance

 factors that affect an organization’s

reactions to creative deviance 

 ….

Source: Mainemelis,, 2010

ESC Rennes I 19-20_OB510E Team Development and Management I Prof. Ricardo AZAMBUJA 13
Stealing fire is all about the act of bold individuals who wants to keep on
playing with new ideas.

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 Zweite Ebene Fünfte Ebene
 CREATIVITY
Dritte Ebene UNCERTAINTY

REDUCING MOTIVATION
NEOPHOBIA
TO CREATIVITY

Organizations should tolerate creative deviance to some extent as it

allows the organization to experiment with a larger number of new
ideas which can result in creative products.

Source: Mainemelis,, 2010

ESC Rennes I 19-20_OB510E Team Development and Management I Prof. Ricardo AZAMBUJA 14