creativity

Software team member going down a list of process steps Don’t Become a Slave to Process

More mature organizations are usually very process-disciplined, especially when teams are distributed. However, it’s dangerous to become overly reliant on process. People can become too complacent, accepting a process just to avoid having to make decisions. Here are some ways to keep your processes fresh and valuable.

Richard Estra's picture
Richard Estra
Three coworkers laughing in their office, photo by Priscilla Du Preez Why Laughter Is a Sign of Creative, Productive Teams

Laughter is a sign that people feel relaxed and safe. In a workplace, safety leads to environments that enable more idea generation and innovation, so one approach to improving teammates' creativity and connection is to encourage laughter. But how can you do that so it doesn't feel forced? Steve Berczuk has some ideas.

Steve Berczuk's picture
Steve Berczuk
Making the Most of Your Team’s Creativity

When people on your team have creative ideas, how do you decide which ones are worth pursuing? Research suggests that neither an idea's creator nor the creator's manager is the best person to predict whether an idea will be a success. Read on to learn what you should do to foster and evaluate creative ideas.

Steve Berczuk's picture
Steve Berczuk
How to Do Your Best Creative Thinking

Between interruptions, meetings, changes in priorities, and general everyday chaos, it's difficult to do any creative thinking. You need to give your brain a break from heavy-duty, task-oriented thoughts. To find out how to stimulate your own best creative thinking, consider both where and when.

Naomi Karten's picture
Naomi Karten
Learn to Use Your Creativity for Problem Solving

Creativity, the ability to make new things or think of new ideas, is something we value. Steve Berczuk writes that established best practices, such as patterns, can help us solve many problems efficiently, but breakthroughs arise from creative solutions.

Steve Berczuk's picture
Steve Berczuk
Why Do Some People Have Better Ideas Than Others Do?

It is evident that every idea cannot turn into a blockbuster like Post-it notes or iPods, but it is fascinating that idea generation in organizations never follows a predictable trajectory. Not everyone in an organization is good at coming up with ideas. Why is that?

Anuj Magazine's picture
Anuj Magazine
Why Radical Innovation Is Dependent on People—Not Process

Radical innovation is essential for survival in this century. But no one has been able to come up with a formula or a process to build innovative products like the iPhone or Google Glass. Why is this? Because innovation is a creative endeavor and is people dependent.

Venkatesh Krishnamurthy's picture
Venkatesh Krish...
Teamwork and Creativity: Making Them Work Together

To work effectively to meet commitments in a self-organizing, cross-functional team, you need to be creative. The relationship between teamwork and creativity is complicated, and by understanding it you can be more effective as a team.

Steve Berczuk's picture
Steve Berczuk