I read a lot of job descriptions. They all stress that they seek people who will be creative. I contend that creative groups are less about the inherent creativity of the members than it is about the business culture of the organization. The qualities of the team members ARE important, or course, but their expertise and commitment to the group is more significant than levels of creativity. In short, skilled workers will be creative when they are in a conducive environment.
Must-Haves for Group Creativity
As the Business Insider explained, several factors are necessary for groups to be creative:
- Diversity—Creative groups incorporate a range of perspectives. When the team is too homogenous, it cannot generate creative responses to problems.
- Respect and Trust—When workers feel empowered, they are willing to experiment in order to develop innovative solutions. Without that, they are far more likely to generate conventional answers.
- Tolerance for Failure—Risk is intrinsic to creativity, and when there is risk, there is failure. Organizations that demand success inevitably foster predictability and are unable to be flexible and resourceful in the face of new challenges. More importantly, without failure, learning will not take place.
The Benefits of Limitations for Creativity
In addition to the prerequisites above, a lot of research shows that limitations increase the likelihood of creativity. Contrary to conventional wisdom, when there are constraints, more innovative solutions result. For instance, when I was teaching design classes I found that, by establishing the objectives of the assignment and the acceptable materials and other parameters, students were more willing to go beyond their current art repertoire to find previously untried approaches. Projects without restrictions were less likely to push people to try new things.
That is true in business too. Marissa Mayer, now the President and CEO of Yahoo, recognized the value of constraints back in 2006 and her conclusions are supported by research and first-hand experience. Luckily, in the real world there are almost always limitations without them needing to be artificially imposed. Typically, those challenges include the availability of money, time, expertise, or knowledge within the organization. Because it is unlikely that all of those resources will be equally plentiful for any project, the team will need to accommodate the restrictions by going beyond easy resolutions. That’s creativity.
Why are constraints so beneficial? A study published by Janina Marguc of the University of Amsterdam and published in The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology suggests that obstacles increase levels of engagement and project completion. Perhaps that is because overcoming challenges is emotionally satisfying. Complications also encourage team members to go beyond standard perspectives.
No matter what sphere the project inhabits, these observations about creativity hold. In a world full of challenges, without embracing limitations and going beyond them to find creative solutions, we will be unable to engender a reasonable universal quality of life. For example, here is a story about how farmers had to cooperate in Nepal to creatively manage the challenges presented by climate change.
Optimizing Group Creativity
Studies help to illuminate the characteristics of systems and human interactions so that we can improve the way we function. In a PhD dissertation at the University of Michigan in 2011, Brent David Rosso concluded that creative teams have an enabling group dynamic. In his research he compared how four project teams functioned and found that the two creative groups showed significantly higher levels of
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Collaboration:
In creative teams, individual or functional differences are sublimated to the pursuit of shared goals. Personal ambitions are typically less important to team members than their shared collaborative effort.
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Communication:
Creative teams demonstrate frequent, open, and respectful communications. These interactions promote the considered exploration of many different viewpoints in order to develop the best possible solutions to problems.
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Task structure:
A well-defined problem will be more likely to have quicker, more comprehensive solutions. Creative teams require a structure with clearly defined team responsibilities and processes but with great deal of autonomy and flexibility. By knowing the desired outcomes, but having flexibility in their approach to solutions, team members feel free to be creative.
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Leadership:
In Russo’s study, all of his teams had shared leadership structures with more than one central leader. One leader managed the project and another provided technical leadership, but the more creative teams had clearly defined roles and responsibilities for the leaders. The authority of the leaders was respected by all of the members of the teams.
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Social environment:
Creative teams described feeling as though they belonged to the group and reported that they enjoyed their interactions with the other people. Observers of the group dynamics also noticed a difference in the quality of the relationships in the team. Creative groups have fun because people feel valued and productive. They are also most productive.
*The results of Russo’s study can be found starting on page 79.
How to Build Creative Groups
- Select contributors with diverse backgrounds who have necessary kinds of expertise and a commitment to the common endeavor.
- Establish clear objectives, role responsibilities, functional processes, and project parameters.
- Find leaders who will foster communications, encourage collaboration, and trust the process. They must be willing to accept some failures before good results can be achieved.
- Foster group cohesiveness through a culture of mutual acceptance, communications, and respect. Getting to know one another through work and socializing will help to build trust and break down barriers.(The most productive groups are comfortable with one another but not so enmeshed that it undermines honest communications, however.)
Creativity is more about the culture than it is about the individuals.
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