Harold: I certainly agree in principle that creativity shouldn't be a luxury, but how do you manage this in practice? When you are exceptionally busy as a consultant, do you prioritize creative time over productive (billable) work? Or do you actually turn down consulting engagements to allow time to be creative?

I do admire Google's 20% philosophy for allowing 1 day a week to work on projects not in the job description. Encouraging your organization to be creative and building it into the culture is very, very smart.