Innovation, the implementation of creative ideas, involves a dialogue between two roles: creators – who generate creative ideas, and evaluators-who determine which ideas to implement. Although each role aids innovation, we reveal that each role may also shape creativity assessments in different ways. In two experiments, participants randomly assigned to either an evaluator or creator role rated the same idea described as having low or high levels of novelty. Results show that evaluators viewed the low novelty idea as more creative than creators, while creators viewed the high novelty idea as more creative than evaluators. Experiment 2 demonstrated this pattern of results when both roles were accountable for creativity; uncertainty whether the idea had value explained why each role shifted their categorization of the idea as creative. These findings partially explain why organizations often desire but reject creative ideas, and expand the theory of how creative ideas are recognized.