The other explanation is that expectations of senior level management require work be accomplished as quickly as possible. Creativity takes time. An environment that promotes strict quotas or low call times doesn't feed creativity.

Burkus points to Zappos as an exemplar of how service creativity actually improves business.

"Zappos is one of the few call centers that measures average call time but doesn't reward employees with the lowest averages. Instead, they praise the employees who set length records. That's important given that creative ideas often take time to develop and that productivity and creativity are often at odds with one another."

Zappos is well known for embracing Holacracy. While many dispute Holacracy's effectiveness as a business model, one of its main components is that each member of the team determines the best way to accomplish his or her clearly defined roles. There are endless stories about how Zappos call representatives (a role that in most organizations is tedious and uninspiring) use creativity to go above and beyond.

A woman whose husband died called to return a pair of shoes she bought for him. The Zappos representative sent her flowers the next day. A man called looking for a pair of shoes that Zappos' website showed was out of stock. That Zappos representative personally visited a brick and mortar retailer to buy the shoes and hand-deliver them to the customer....