Unfortunately, there are some situations where it might be smarter to be conventional instead of innovative. Unfortunately there are A LOT of bosses and organizations that are scared of creativity. And unfortunately, people are often punished instead of rewarded for thinking two steps ahead of everyone else.

Studies looking at primary school teachers showed that when a teacher was creative, he/she was more likely to reward creativity in the classroom. This carries on into the business world. If you have a creative boss, then you are more likely to be rewarded when you are creative. But if your boss or organization is conservative or if everyone only feels safe saying, "YES!" to those above them on the organizational totem pole, then you can be fairly certain that innovators will be shut out, given poor performance evaluations and practically pushed out the door.

I've been in work situations like this and, quite frankly, it slowly shrivelled up something deep inside me. I had to make a decision - would I stay and become a crippled creative or would I leave? I was fortunate because I realized that the sacrifice of staying was for me far worse than the despair involved in departing.

If you are a creative person working in an organization where creativity is a four letter word, then you need to ask yourself the same thing. Don't kid yourself that you are going to change the organization. Yes, that can happen sometimes. But if the upper management are all people who "play by the rules," make decisions by what worked in the past, and surround themselves by yes-men, then nothing short of a nuclear attack is going to change that company.