What Helps or Hinders Creativity at Work?
I recently came across some research that found that people who work in messy rooms come up with more creative ideas. Research participants in a room with papers strewn about on a large table came up with more ideas than participants in a room arranged in a neat, organized manner. It reminds me of Einstein’s famous saying: “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?”
Creativity seems to thrive amid moderate distraction, which disrupts the flow of thought and leads to more abstract, broader, and creative thinking. Negative feelings and thoughts may also influence creativity—specifically, creativity may be at its highest when it follows a period of negative thinking. According to researchers, negative thinking helps foster a more detailed and objective understanding of a situation or problem and even sets the stage for breakthrough ideas.
I usually take findings like these with a grain of salt (or several) because for every such finding, you can often find other research that suggests just the opposite. For example, in contrast to the research showing a beneficial effect of negative thinking, another study found that positive moods can increase the ability to think creatively and that negative thoughts may impair the development of strong creative skills. As to the impact of distractions, I’ve yet to see research that suggests that noisy open-plan offices enhance creativity.
Still, if you’re trying to be more creative in how you go about your next project, it may be worth considering some new approaches. For example, placing self-imposed limitations on your thinking might boost creativity because it forces you to work outside your comfort zone. In fact, Dr. Seuss wrote Green Eggs and Ham after he was challenged by his editor to produce an entire book using no more than fifty different words.
Limiting the mental barriers to creativity can also help. This includes silencing your inner critic, that too-prevalent voice that’s eager to shoot down your ideas. Also try carving out some time free of other obligations, even if it’s just an occasional twenty-minute period for the team to brainstorm some new ideas.
Most important of all may be to avoid the myths about creativity, such as that only artists, writers, and musicians are creative. Not so; everyone is creative, and everyone performs creative acts every day. The acts of speaking, managing projects, and writing and debugging code are by their very natures creative.
What contributes to—or detracts from—your creativity?
