If you’re like most leaders today, you know creativity is critical.

You’ve read the reports. Sat through the strategy sessions. Maybe even launched a few innovation initiatives. But deep down, you’re still wondering:

“Do we actually have the creative capacity to pull this off?”

It’s a fair question—and one I hear often. Because creativity, while celebrated, is still rarely measured. Most companies have tools to assess productivity, engagement, or performance. But when it comes to the one trait every competitive organization needs—creative confidence—they’re flying blind.

That’s why I created the Creative Confidence Index™ (CCI).

What Is the CCI?

The Creative Confidence Index™ is a proprietary diagnostic that helps leaders evaluate the creative readiness of their teams and organizations. It answers the one question no dashboard has been able to:

“How confident are our people in their ability to think creatively, solve problems, and generate new ideas—and do they feel safe and supported enough to try?”

Whether planning a transformation, investing in innovation, or simply trying to foster more imaginative collaboration, the CCI gives you the clarity you need to lead confidently.

What It Measures

The CCI draws from three data sources that, when combined, paint a powerful picture of your creative culture:

1. Creative Confidence Score

Collected via my Creative Confidence Assessment—used by professionals across industries—this measures how individuals perceive their own creative abilities (on a scale of 0–55). It’s grounded in the work of Bandura on self-efficacy: the stronger the belief, the higher the action.

2. Persona Distribution

Each team member is assigned a creative persona—from Dormant Dreamer to Creativity Catalyst—based on their score. This helps you understand how creative confidence is distributed across your team and whether you’re fostering leaders who can drive innovation from within.

3. Cultural Support Rating

Through a few short reflection questions, team members rate how much freedom, recognition, and psychological safety they feel when it comes to sharing new ideas.

The Index in Action

These data points combine into a single score—your Creative Confidence Index—on a 0–100 scale.

Score	What It Means
80–100	High creative confidence and cultural support.
60–79	Strong potential, with some friction to address.
40–59	Uneven confidence or unclear support structures.
20–39	Cultural blocks are limiting creative expression.
0–19	A creativity crisis—time to rebuild from the core.

Why It Matters to Leaders

You’re likely investing time, energy, and budget into innovation.

But ask yourself this:

• Do your people believe in their ability to be creative?

• Do they feel safe sharing risky or unconventional ideas?

• Are your teams balanced in how they generate and evaluate ideas?

• Do you know who your creativity catalysts really are?

If you can’t answer with certainty, you’re not alone.

According to IBM’s CEO Study, creativity is the most important leadership quality in a complex world. But most organizations still rely on intuition instead of data.

The CCI gives you a real benchmark to guide real change.

What You Get

When I run a CCI diagnostic for a team or organization, I deliver:

• Team Report: With CCI score, persona heatmap, and key insights

• Executive Summary Slide Deck: Built for sharing with stakeholders

• Training + Coaching Recommendations: Mapped to your persona profile

• Progress Tracker: So you can measure impact over time

This turns your investment in creativity into a measurable, repeatable strategy.

What’s Next

The Creative Confidence Index is already helping leaders:

• Improve collaboration

• Reboot innovation culture

• Build creative capacity where it matters most

Whether you’re building a startup, leading a team inside a Fortune 500, or transforming public sector systems—you can’t afford to guess at your creative readiness.

It’s time to measure it.

Ready to Discover Your CCI?

Let’s talk about how the Creative Confidence Index can become the foundation of your team’s creative growth. Or reach out directly to schedule a CCI Discovery Session.

References

Amabile, T. M., & Kramer, S. J. (2011). The progress principle: Using small wins to ignite joy, engagement, and creativity at work. Harvard Business Review Press.
↳ Supports the importance of psychological safety and positive inner work life in creative performance.

Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. W.H. Freeman.
↳ Core theory used to underpin the Creative Confidence Assessment and the belief-behavior connection.

IBM Corporation. (2010). Capitalizing on complexity: Insights from the global chief executive officer study. https://www.ibm.com/downloads/cas/1VZV5X8J
↳ Cited for the stat that 60%+ of CEOs rank creativity as the most important leadership trait.

Adobe Systems Incorporated. (2016). State of create: A global benchmark study. https://www.adobe.com/about/reports/state-of-create.html
↳ Cited for showing companies that invest in creativity outperform peers in revenue and engagement.

Forrester Consulting. (2014). The creative dividend: How creativity impacts business results. Commissioned by Adobe. https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/business/teams/resources/whitepapers/creative-dividend.html
↳ Cited for showing creative companies are 1.5x more likely to gain market share.

LinkedIn Learning. (2020–2024). Most in-demand soft skills. https://learning.linkedin.com/blog/top-skills
↳ Cited for naming creativity the #1 soft skill for five consecutive years.

Ekvall, G. (1996). Organizational climate for creativity and innovation. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 5(1), 105–123. https://doi.org/10.1080/13594329608414845
↳ Cited for foundational research on creative climate in organizations.

Edmondson, A. C. (2019). The fearless organization: Creating psychological safety in the workplace for learning, innovation, and growth. Wiley.
↳ Underpins the importance of psychological safety in fostering idea-sharing and innovation.