Public servants’ creativity is the origin of innovations, improvements and solutions to policies/services and crucial to serving public interests. Public servants, however, differ strongly in pioneering creativity—proactive generation of radical and original ideas. Using SEM on Flitspanel cross-sectional survey data from 930 Dutch public servants, this preregistered study tested hypotheses that this results from public servants being required to creatively “think outside-the-box” whilst remaining “inside-the-box” of formalized rules/procedures; a struggle that may demotivate and hamper pioneering creativity. Evidence is found for negative relations between formalization and two dimensions of pioneering creativity and positive relations between intrinsic motivation and all three dimensions of pioneering creativity, though no evidence is found for a mediation indicating that formalization hampers creativity through demotivation. Findings provide a detailed and nuanced understanding of how public servants’ creativity appears affected by formalization and motivation, how these concepts interrelate in the public sector, indicating corresponding HR strategies/tactics.

中文翻译：

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“跳出框框”思考，同时保持“框内”：规则和程序是否会抑制公共部门的创造力和创新？


公务员的创造力是政策/服务创新、改进和解决方案的源泉，对于服务公共利益​​至关重要。然而，公务员在开拓创造力——积极产生激进和原创的想法方面存在很大差异。这项预先注册的研究使用 SEM 对来自 930 名荷兰公务员的 Flitspanel 横断面调查数据进行了测试，测试了以下假设：这是由于公务员被要求创造性地“跳出框框思考”，同时保持正式规则的“框内” /程序；一场可能会削弱并阻碍开拓性创造力的斗争。有证据表明，形式化与开拓性创造力的两个维度之间存在负相关关系，而内在动机与开拓性创造力的所有三个维度之间存在正相关关系，尽管没有发现任何证据表明形式化会通过抑制动机来阻碍创造力。研究结果提供了对公务员的创造力如何受到正规化和动机的影响、这些概念如何在公共部门中相互关联的详细而细致的理解，表明了相应的人力资源战略/策略。