Fear dampens creativity and excellence
The fear of being an individual is a more noticeable trait in Singapore. This is the fear of standing out “inappropriately”, in a way that is not approved by the majority. This is not surprising given the country’s Confucius heritage which places a lot more emphasis on the collective than the individual.
Shopping is a national pastime. But there is an apparent shortage of independent brands here. People will tend to only buy a brand that is already established as “good” in European/American markets. Not many are game to try something different.
At work, employees tend to shun opportunities to make decisions, to take more control over their own work*. The fear of doing something wrong outweighs the potential rewards of initiative, personal empowerment, and individual accomplishment. An employee would rather have the boss tell her exactly what to do, than to take control of directing her own work. Even at a management level, decision making seem to be very committee/group driven; even in cases where the authority is vested in a single individual.
I would suggest that in such a circumstance, where the need for group approval is very strong, the fear of non-approval will severely limit the rise of creativity, new thinking, and new trends. In today’s fast-paced world, there may not be time enough for each new meme to be established enough for the wider population to adopt it. And in this waiting, the country risks being always the follower, and never the leader.
Thus we come to the billion dollar question: in the face of such entrenched cultural foundations, what can be done to start shifting mindsets onto a more change-embracing (and thus pro-innovation) track? And if this works for Singapore, could it work (on a far larger scale) for China?
* This is a sense I had gathered from the various conversations I have had with middle- senior managers in large corporations.
Possibly Related Posts
4 comments on “Fear dampens creativity and excellence”
Leave a Comment
Noticeboard
Buy my book – 30% off and free shipping within Australia; 15% off and free shipping worldwide!
Are you a solopreneur doing it on your own? Read my articles on Flying Solo.
Are you a small to medium-sized business leader or decision maker? Read my articles on Kochie’s Business Builders.
Follow me on twitter.
Visitor locations: click for details.
Recently I spoke with a Singaporean TV/video producer who was visiting Sydney and who was looking for Australian directors and crew. I wondered why. Surely it’d be easier for him to source good people in Singapore? Surely Singapore has a fine TV production industry?
“Yes,” he said. “And the Singaporean director will deliver a polished, technically perfect video — which has no character or creative spark.” While it might be more expensive to contract the work to Sydney, he’d get some creativity.
All anecdotal evidence, of course, but there are few anecdotes pointing to a “Creative Singapore”.
More anecdotal evidence – I have met quite a lot of very creative people here in Singapore – the overwhelming majority of them are from other countries in the region.
Has Singapore has traded in creativity/individuality for a safe, stable society and economy? Is the price worth it? What are the long term implications for the nation’s future?
On the other hand, will the surrounding nations ever get sufficient baseline stability for the creatives within them to flourish?
Are the trade-offs that black and white?
[...] who follow the procedure. This means you can build efficient corporate machines like Dell. But creativity requires you to break the rules to achieve something new and different — and at its heart, problem-solving is a creative activity. A flexible machine usually [...]
[...] Broadway Market increases rents, drawing call for … Saved by Ssj3hercule on Sun 14-12-2008 Fear dampens creativity and excellence Saved by seansean on Sat 13-12-2008 Don’t be a Thin Manager in a Bulky World Saved by spbueno [...]