FROM BLOOMBERG

Creativity is widely regarded as one of the most valuable attributes in prospective employees, and was recently ranked about as important as motivation and leadership ability by the World Economic Forum’s . The question is, are organizations finding these creative individuals in the most effective way?

In new, in-progress research that examines the recruitment language used by companies seeking to fill creative roles, we find that in fact, many organizations today are not optimally recruiting creative talent. But we also find that with a small, easy-to-implement tweak to language, employers may be able to dramatically improve both the quality and quantity of their creative applicant pool.

The Research

Contrary to popular wisdom, decades of research in psychology and organizational behavior has shown that creativity in organizations is not the product of innate ability or genius, but rather emerges from our collaborations, the quality of the feedback we receive, and our exposure to new sources of information. The most innovative individuals in organization are often the “creative explorers” who can skillfully discover promising new directions by drawing on the ideas and inspiration around them. Yet, in our research we find that most organizations today say that instead, they are looking for “creative geniuses.”

For example, in one study of roughly 10,000 current job postings for creative roles in the U.S. and Canada (roles like creative director, graphic designer, creative content specialist, and marketing coordinator), we find that job postings are more than twice as likely to include words like “genius,” “visionary,” and “unique” than they are to include words like “curious,” “observant,” and “experimental.” In another study, we recruited a sample of over 300 current hiring managers and asked them to draft a posting for a creative role. Most wrote things like the following:

“We’re seeking a creative genius to join our team. If you’re a master of thinking outside the box, a weaver of unconventional connections, and a passionate innovator of new ideas, we want to hear from you. As a key member of our team, you’ll have the freedom to approach problems with creativity and innovation, leveraging your unique perspective to drive impactful solutions.

Very few wrote postings like this:

“We’re looking for curiosity and open-mindedness: a highly creative individual who will constantly seek to learn from diverse sources and be open to new experiences. Someone who doesn’t just stick to the familiar; they explore different fields, cultures, and perspectives, absorbing new ideas and connecting them in unconventional ways.”

Despite the popularity of “genius” recruitment language, however, when we conducted follow-up research and examined which type of recruitment language is actually more effective, we found something surprising: Applicants are significantly more likely to apply for postings that used explorer (versus genius) language.

To determine this, we conducted an actual online labor market study of 2,000 real job seekers who applied to the same position. In the experiment, half of applicants saw versions of the posting that used explorer language, while the other half saw postings for the same job that used genius language. Controlling for a number of factors like age, work experience, employment, and immigration status, we observed that both male and female applicants were more likely to apply to the postings that used explorer language. This result was notable given that previous research has found that terms like “brilliance” and “genius” tend to disproportionately dissuade female applicants—not due to a perceived lack of brilliance on their part, but because those terms are strongly associated with more masculine work environments.

What’s more, not only did explorer language encourage more applications and a greater demographic diversity of applications, it also encouraged more applications from people who score higher on measures of creative performance. As part of our study, we had applicants complete personality measures and found that the applicants who responded especially well to the explorer language score higher on measures of past creative achievement, openness to experience, and agreeableness. They also tended to identify more with being a creative. In other words, our study revealed that explorer (versus genius) language is significantly more likely to help organizations attract precisely the creative talent they hope to recruit.

How to Write Your Next Job Posting

Practically speaking, this research tells us that when you are drafting your next job posting, internal memo, or presentation and you want to highlight the evermore pressing value of creativity and innovation, remember to frame it in terms of exploration. Use terms like experimentation, trial and error, exploration, collaboration, curiosity, and feedback, and avoid terms that cue the opposite like genius, inner talent, brilliant, or gifted.

The impact can be substantial. By reframing creativity as something people do rather than something they are, organizations can attract not just more applicants, but the right ones—the curious explorers who will actually drive innovation. This change costs nothing but a moment’s reflection.

More broadly, this research also challenges some long held assumptions connecting genius and creativity. The default assumption is that portraying creativity as exceptional and rare is aspirational. Our work, however, shows instead of being motivating, such framings can actually dissuade capable individuals who do not see themselves reflected in the genius archetype. In fact, what we find is that the default genius framing that many organizations use to recruit creative talent can ironically work against their own interests, discouraging the very applicants they seek to attract.

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