Abstract
Creativity – the generating of ideas – lies at the base of innovations, solutions, and improvements. This makes creativity essential for the stability and progress of our society. Creativity is also essential within the public sector, for the same reasons. However, civil servants are generally not seen as creative. In fact, the stereotypical image of civil servants is that they are rigid, stuffy, and conforming. This PhD thesis shows that this stereotype is short-sighted: civil servants are in fact creative, albeit in a pragmatic way. Within the public sector, ideas for useful and feasible improvements, adaptations and additions are constantly being conceived in response to problems. Civil servants are incremental, reactive, and realistic in their creativity. So is the stereotype completely unjustified? No, there seems to be a grain of truth in it. Civil servants are groundbreakingly creative to varying degrees. The extent to which they come up with radical, progressive, and idealistic ideas varies greatly. While this makes sense given the frameworks in which they function (rules, responsibility, budgets, no market operation/competition), there seems to be some room for improvement there. This PhD thesis contains all the knowledge and tools required for this improvement: a thorough exploration of creativity in the public sector, barriers and incentives, a tool to measure creativity, and even an evidence-based training programme.
