CPS-W RESULTS

You received points on the CPS-W.

What does a score of points mean?

All of the items on the CPD-W represent traits or skills that have been associated with high levels of creativity in the workplace. The scoring range on the CPS-W is 26–156. The higher your score, the greater the likelihood that you will make creative contributions in the workplace.

A low score on the survey indicates that you may be low in creative potential. This does not mean that you have not or will never make creative contributions. It means that the likelihood that you will make creative contributions is lower than the likelihood that someone with a higher score will make creative contributions—at this moment in time.

In the same way, a high score does not guarantee that you will make creative contributions, but it increases the likelihood that you will do so.

Creativity of the kind that produces innovation in the workplace is not something people are born with, and it's not something you can "get" by taking a creativity course (although some of the exercises used in such courses can be useful for generating ideas). You are much more likely to increase your creative potential by acquiring skills and behaviors that (1) increase the range and depth of your knowledge and skills, and (2) help you to leverage the knowledge and skills of others. Consider cultivating some of the skills and behaviors listed below:

• Keep learning. Deepen your understanding of things you think you already understand. Put new knowledge and skills to work.
• Increase your versatility by learning about different perspectives in your field(s) of expertise. Learn the most about the perspectives with which you disagree.
• Learn to listen actively to the perspectives of others, especially when they are different from yours.
• Make friends with someone from a different ethnic background.
• Expand your horizons. Take up a challenging new hobby that's very different from your other activities. Join a group organized around this hobby.
• Study a second work-related field that you find interesting. For example, If you are a photographer, consider learning to do web programming, or if you are an HR expert, consider learning psychometrics. (Caution: Make sure you don't lose sight of your primary area of expertise. Don't spread yourself too thin.)
• Cultivate open-mindedness. Every time you find yourself judging another perspective negatively or reacting defensively, perk up and listen.
• Next time you need to solve a workplace problem, don't go it alone. Use the expertise of others to help you frame the problem and generate options. If you do this well, you'll be impressed by how many ways there are to view the same problem or issue.
• Consciously borrow skills from one area and apply them in another. For example, use character development techniques from drama class to put yourself in an employee's shoes, or apply the concept mapping skills you were taught in science class to organize your thoughts for a presentation.