CreativePress.pptx

Creative Press

Creative Press

The creative process occurs within contexts rather than in a void (Williams & Yang, 1999)

Creativity cannot take place without input from the external world (Arieti, 1976)

Creative potential can be facilitated or inhibited by a certain environment (Lubart, 1999)

Creative Press

Today we will be exploring environments that may or may not facilitate creativity including:

The Social Environment

The Work Environment

The Personal Environment

Social Environment – The Lonely Genius

From a developmental psychology perspective, experiencing isolation and social rejection in childhood may foster creativity in children who cope with stressful interpersonal situations by retreating into a rich fantasy life (Olszewski‐ Kubilius, 2000).

Alternatively, it may be that isolation imposed by circumstance does not necessarily facilitate creativity, but rather that creative individuals have a greater internal need for time alone (Ochse, 1991)

The Intrinsic Motivation Hypothesis of Creativity posits “the intrinsically motivated state is conducive to creativity, whereas the extrinsically motivated state is detrimental” (Amabile, 1983, p.76)

Social Environment – The Supported Creative

An environment that is tolerant of new ideas and offers feedback that does not discourage the individual, but rather helps direct him or her to refine new ideas (Sternberg & Lubart, 1992).

Amabile (2001) proposed that certain types of extrinsic motivators, which give support to the development of competence and work involvement, complement intrinsic motivation through a process that she denominates motivational synergy.

Sternberg & Lubart, 1995 investigated motivators from professionals that have given creative contributions in several areas. Extrinsic motivators included the wish to obtain domain on a given problem, to be recognized by peers, to have self-esteem, to reach immortality and to discover an underlying in things.

Creativity in the Workplace

Creativity is an essential resource for corporate competitive advantage (McShane, Olekalns and Travaglione, 2013)

Creativity is often “blocked” in a variety of ways, including deep-seated beliefs about the world (Gurteen, 1998).

The Work Environment – Facilitating Creativity

Creativity, like a delicate flower, needs an ideal atmosphere to flourish (Norins, 1990)

The Work Environment Inventory (Amabile & Griskiewicz, 1989) identifies features of organizations that promote creativity

Considerable freedom regarding the means available to complete the tasks necessary to reach the goals set

Sufficient resources, including facilities and information, as well as time to explore, mature and develop ideas,

Challenging work, by the accomplishment of tasks that are neither too easy nor have
a degree of difficulty perceived as an impediment to success in performing the task.

Recognition and support by the top leaders in the organization.

Groups/working teams characterized by diversity, with employees that have different reference structures, motivated by the tasks under their responsibility, willing to cooperate and share knowledge.

Supervisors’ encouragement, with recognition of the employees’ new ideas, efforts and successess

The Work Environment – Facilitating Creativity
10 Factors for creativity in the organizational environment were identified
by Bruno-Faria and Alencar (1996; Alencar & Bruno-Faria, 1997)

Challenges
Challenging tasks or missions that require creative ideas,

Freedom and Autonomy
Freedom to decide how to perform tasks, with autonomy to take decisions when necessary.

Manager’s support
Openness, flexibility, respect for divergent opinions, and encouragement of new ideas on the part of the manager.

Organizational structure
Limited number of hierarchies, flexible norms, power decentralization

Organization support
Recognition and support of the creative work in the organization; availability of mechanisms to develop new ideas,

Physical environment
An environment described as agreeable, with adequate illumination, furniture, space, and ventilation.

Salaries and Benefits
Adequate remuneration; a policy of benefits and reward system that encourages innovative ideas.

Technological and material resources
Availability of equipment and materials that facilitate the developmental processes of new ideas

Training
Availability of training to all staff with the purpose of developing their creative potential and facilitating the process of innovation

Work team support
Dialogue and reliance among the work group; interpersonal relationships among team members that favor and stimulate new ideas.

The Work Environment – Inhibiting Creativity

Amabile (1999) has identified several factors that might inhibit creativity in the workplace, including:

A conservative, low risk attitude among top management

Lack of autonomy on how to do the job tasks or reach a certain goal

An inappropriate evaluation system without feedback on the tasks done and unrealistic expectations

insufficient resources, both in terms of equipment as well as people;

Time pressure, having too much to do in too little time

Excessive emphasis on the status quo, with reluctance of managers and employees to changing the way of doing tasks and an unwillingness to take risks

Competition between teams and employees, which encourages a defensive attitude

Poor project management, with the presence of managers who are unable to establish clear goals

An inadequate communication system.

The Work Environment – Inhibiting Creativity

Blecher (2005) interviewed 15 innovation consultants on the enemies to creativity in organizations with the following results:

Bureaucracy

Risk aversion

Internal disputes

Lack of resources

Deficient communication

Personal Environment
Lighting Effect (Steidle and Werth, 2013)
Priming darkness and dim light can encourage freedom of thought; downplaying distractions and promoting focus on ‘internal reflections’
darkness elicits a feeling of being free from constraints and triggers a risky, explorative processing style
Clutter Effect (Kathleen Vohs, 2014)
Reducing clutter may help focus
Dis seems to prime us for breaking from convention as well as performance motivations
Alcohol Effect (Lapp, Collins, Izzo, 1994)
No pharmacological effect of alcohol on the creative combinations that subjects produced. However, the novelty and structural recombination were enhanced when subjects thought they had consumed alcohol, whether or not they had actually done so.

The Ideal Creative Environment?
There is research that suggests some excellent ways of improving the work environment to facilitate creativity in the workplace.

Research along with historical events, also highlight environments that could facilitate more creativity, more openness to new ideas as well as sharing and collaborative creativity

In addition, perhaps on a more personal level, each person could be said to have their own unique creative footprint: what works for one person may not work for another.

Creative Activity

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