This dissertation argues that managers should be increasingly focused on assessing workers for their ability to engage in higher order thinking competencies and on more effectively organizing work in a manner that promotes higher order thinking. The argument is based on three propositions. First, innovation, defined as a novel product, service, or practice that is socially transformative, is a critical driver of value creation, especially given the discontinuous dynamics of the post-industrial era. The theoretical basis for the first proposition is rooted in Schumpeter's (1942) concept of creative destruction, which has been built upon by more recent scholars, including Christensen (2000) with his writing on disruptive innovation. Furthermore, empirical evidence suggests that the rate at which disruptive innovations are occurring is accelerating, increasing the value and strategic significance of innovative work. Second, the essential input for producing innovation is the creation of new knowledge and specifically new knowledge produced by higher-order thinking skills, sometimes referred to as creativity. While creativity has enjoyed significant study, its nature and organizational implications remain somewhat ill-defined (Tan, 1998). This dissertation proposes that creativity becomes a more useful concept when conceptualized as engaging in the higher-order thinking competencies of Bloom's Taxonomy, namely analysis, synthesis, and evaluation (Bloom, Engelhart, Furst, Hill, & Krathwohl, 1956). Third, studies, especially within the field of educational research and theory, already exist to form a basis for managers to assess, select, train, and organize workers for higher-order thinking skills. However, this scholarship has not been systematically applied to the management of innovative work. Arguably, this scholarship is in its infancy, but it has already produced useful psychometric assessment tools and should serve as a basis for future scholarship into the management of innovation and creativity.