Routines and Creativity: From Dualism to Duality

Whereas scholars have historically treated routines and creativity as contradictory concepts, I adopt a dynamic ontology of routines that recasts them as a duality. Using data from a case study at a midsize retail organization, I theorize that artifacts, auxiliary routines, and external comparisons shape the enactment of routines that accomplish seemingly contradictory patterns of novelty and familiarity. From this analysis, I theorize two mechanisms—personalizing and depersonalizing—to explain how enacting a routine can produce patterns that allow an organization to achieve recognizable creativity on an ongoing basis. The findings contribute to research by theorizing the routine as a central concept that explains the ongoing accomplishment of recognizable creativity. By theorizing routines as an inherent part of creativity, and creativity as an inherent part of routines, I shift the way that scholars have traditionally viewed how organizations foster creativity among employees. For routine dynamics research, this study elaborates on the agency of routine actors who skillfully integrate their idiosyncratic backgrounds and experiences with the routine in ways that create complex patterns. It also unpacks the pivotal role of broader contexts and nonroutine actors in shaping routines.