A closer look at the innovator: The interplay between divergent and convergent processes of self‐regulation

Abstract Creativity and innovation are essential for modern organizations. While abundant research has helped to better understand creativity in everyday work life, considerably less attention has been paid to how individuals achieve creative performance during the implementation of innovation projects. We articulate a dialectical interplay between divergent and convergent processes of self‐regulation that supports creative performance in innovation projects. We propose that a divergent exploration orientation contributes to creative performance by inducing a broad search for novelty and by stimulating iteration—repeated cycles of experimentation and refinement. Convergent processes of self‐regulation—outcome focus and planning—strengthen the relationship between divergent processes and creative performance. Specifically, an outcome focus ensures focused exploration and persistent goal‐striving, while planning provides the structure that directs iterative efforts towards innovation goals. To test our hypotheses, we collected information about 200 innovation projects from 104 employee–manager dyads. Multilevel modelling was used to examine within‐ and between‐person variability in managerial ratings of project‐specific creative performance. Employees' exploration orientation was positively related to their creative performance. This relationship was mediated by iteration and moderated by outcome focus. Planning incrementally predicted creative performance. We discuss implications of our study for effective innovation management.