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creativity at work

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Ideas, original thinking, small improvements and big innovations are all essential to the success of

businesses today.

But how do people actually go about being creative? Can the working environment really

enhance creativity, and if so, how?

The BBC, Microsoft, Herman Miller, tp bennett and forward thinking inc set out to explore these

challenges through a collaborative research project into the nature of creativity at work.

The study used a unique approach to gather information from over 70 employees from the

participating companies, combining depth interviews with a detailed questionnaire. These

probed the conscious and subconscious behaviours and thought processes behind creative thinking, and the impact of both the physical and cultural

working environment on creative productivity.

The results reveal four distinctly different approaches to creative thinking. Each is

characterised by very clear preferences for the ideal physical and cultural working environment to

maximise creativity.

These four creative types are described on the next page…

understanding creativity

The investigation clearly highlights that offices aren’t creative – yet. Most of the study subjects said they were at their most creative when not in the office at all.

High level findings include the following prominent failings of many offices today:

designing creative spaces

1 non-existent, or inappropriate thinking space for idea generation

2 over-emphasis on collaboration space as a panacea for enhancing creativity

3 predominance of uniform work-settings rather than variety of workspaces in the office

4 under-appreciation of the need for movement to a new physical location to change state of mind

The research provides an in depth understanding of different creative types and details of their respective ‘creative processes’, and generates a wealth of insights into designing the optimal creative space and cultural environment to maximise creative potential.

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jigsaw junkies…… constantly generate lots of new ideas. They make random and spontaneous connections that spark new thoughts and solutions. They trust ideas will come through their natural talent and spontaneity

random idea generators…

They are information gatherers and like to be sure they have all the pieces of the jigsaw before trying to solve the problem. Information is a source of comfort and they hate to feel they might be missing a piece of the jigsaw leading. They often work in the belief there is one ‘right’ solution. A particularly difficult bit of the puzzle may come least expected, such as whilst driving or in the shower.

There are two types of jigsaw junkie, the first works alone and the second with others:

The solo jigsaw junkie’s work is logical: structuring, manipulating, ordering, codifying and reviewing information in many different ways. They have a strong desire to get all the information ‘out of their head’ and in front of them in some form of useable format. For some this is mind mapping and for others writing lists or stories.

For the second group of jigsaw junkies collaboration is key. They use other people as a sounding board to help analyse problems and come up with ideas, either on a one-to-one basis or with a small group of trusted colleagues. They may capture their thoughts on paper but the creative process largely takes place in their head through interaction with others.

Both types have a strong sense of completing the puzzle when ‘all the pieces are in the right place’ - they feel a great sense of relief as well as achievement, but still have a strong need to seek feedback and check the solution is a success.

… look at problems as puzzles that need to be solved. The ‘problem’ is their starting point, they spend lots of time exploring and analysing and their goal is resolution

They are lateral thinkers with vivid imaginations and would have had ‘day dreamer’ all over their school reports. As independent thinkers they do not feel the need to ‘toe the party line’ or play it safe with their ideas – they often like the fact that some of their ideas shock or surprise others.

They are highly spontaneous, taking in information from the world around them and making connections to issues or problems they are working on to spark ideas. This can happen at any time, anywhere.

They do not work well under constraints or to deadlines, finding it hard to turn creativity ‘on and off’ at will. They prefer to have time and space to ‘let creativity happen’. They dislike brainstorming as it constrains their spontaneous response to triggers around them.

They are very strong champions of their own ideas, but can be less excited by the ideas of others. They have a strong instinct about the right idea and although often have to gain feedback from others, this does not come naturally. Once they have an idea they want to put it into action quickly, and do not feel they need to have all the details or checks in place before making a start.

They can be poor delegators and like to be involved with implementation to ensure the final outcome is as close as possible to their original concept.

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change agents …… perceive the world in a holistic, highly spatial and non-linear way. They are constantly stimulated by all that is around them. They absorb and store lots of information which they access to help explore problems or to create new ideas and solutions.

sensory creators…

They challenge organisational norms and question how and why things are done the way they are. To do this successfully they have to be independent thinkers and confident in themselves.

They may see the future in pictures or just have a sense of how things might feel if something changed, and are able to share their vision with others.

Without always knowing it, they are constantly on the look out for new and better ways of doing things. They ask questions of themselves and others, such as ‘wouldn’t it be good if…..’, ‘why can’t we …’.

They do not necessarily come up with the solution for how their vision might be achieved and are happy to work with others to both generate ideas and decide how barriers might be overcome.

They are not natural implementers, but inspire others to make change happen while they move onto the next big thing. They believe that getting started is the key to change. They are willing to take risks to make change happen and encourage others to move to action before having all the detail resolved.

They are energetic and often appear restless. They like to be on the move and looking for the next problem or opportunity.

… are forward looking and visionary. They spot gaps, seek out new opportunities, are able to define a better future and inspire others to believe in it. They like to make change happen and to shake things up

They often have a natural talent or flair which they remember having from a young age. They may have supplemented this talent through formal training and are most often found in more ‘artistic’ professions or design-related roles.

They are passionate and confident about their creativity and willing to express themselves, expose their ideas to others and be judged by their creative output.

Sensory creators live life absorbing and storing snippets from nature, art, music, other people and anything else stimulating around them. They are strongly intuitive, liking to ‘get a feel’ for a problem and evaluating solutions using instinct.

They are naturally curious and explore problems from many different angles. This can be highly structured and employ clear creative processes, often learnt through formal training. As they explore the problem, they trust in their intuition to produce ideas or solutions eventually.

The exploration process is iterative, intense and focussed, and more often done alone. Once they have formulated an idea they will share it with others, preferring to do so one-to-one, or with a few trusted colleagues, friends or family. They are only really comfortable presenting to groups once the idea has been developed and refined. At this point they are happy for the ideas to evolve and move towards collective ownership for implementation.

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practical applications

By recognising that everyone is creative, albeit in different ways, and understanding how different creative types operate,

companies have an enormous opportunity to tap into the creative potential of their employees.

This understanding has implications for many areas of the business, from providing ideal physical work-settings to

developing a corporate culture and management style in which creative productivity will flourish.

To learning more about the detailed findings of the research or how to optimise the creative potential of your workforce,

please contact Ann Brewin.

email: infor@workplaceintelligence.co.uk

telephone: +44 20 8939 2330