Fostering creativity

I've been reading this book, The Manager's Pocket Guide to Creativity. Among other things, this little tome discusses various factors that can hinder creativity in the workplace. Here is one of the factors that he mentioned:

"Supervisors discourage individual contemplation and creative thinking because they are not 'physical activities' (people who do them look like they are goofing off)."

Ain't that the truth! My current employer values and fosters creativity, but not all companies do the same. It's important to engage in contemplation and let ideas percolate; however, based on past experiences, I've learned that this can easily be misconstrued. Some managers just don't like that sort of thing, as it can look too much like goofing off.

My current boss knows better, of course. He knows that I'm his go-to guy for a lot of tasks, thag I work hard, and that I often step in to revitalize projects that have crawled to a standstill. Nevertheless, I also believe that it's important to avoid giving the illusion of mere goofing off, lest anybody misconstrue such behavior.