How Your Work Environment Influences Your Creativity

Knowledge that someone will check, evaluate and grade one’s work, surveillance, a promise of a reward, threat of a punishment, creative constraints, competition and motivating factors like power, money and fame can kill creativity.

Rewards generally provide the individual with a feeling of being controlled, but can also enhance creativity in some cases.

Intellectual challenges, alone with sufficient resources and freedom to experiment are the ideal ingredients of a creative workplace.

Managers should encourage innovative thinking and be trusting, and supportive towards the team, while being receptive to new ideas. Clear, honest communication, along with clarity of goals fosters a free flow of ideas, important for high creativity.

Managers need to pay attention to the needs of the subordinates to make progress in the core work, while providing them sufficient resources and time, and encouraging them to learn from failure.

Organizations can save a lot of time and money by fostering creativity instead of waiting to hire that elusive creative person.