Creativity in the workplace and in the marketplace is actually rewarded, provided it's directed toward problem solving and need fulfillment. Undirected creativ

Creativity in the workplace and in the marketplace is actually rewarded, provided it's directed toward problem solving and need fulfillment. Undirected creativity may or may not be rewarded, depending upon current whims or future shifts in problems or needs. It's easier to teach undirected creativity -- anything goes. It can even be useful, but it's not necessarily useful, because undirected its output may never meet a need. As the phrasing of your question falsely presupposes that employers don't reward creativity at all, the answer to you personally might be to find a new position or a new employer. Much work that must be done is clearcut and heavily procedural. Many like this sort of work for its definitiveness; others prefer the responsibility of having to apply directed creativity. Both have a place, but neither's existence condemns educational attempts at encouraging creativity as futile.