Obstacles and Opportunities for Creativity

From apse

Social and Environmental Influences on Creativity From The Context of Creativity, Teresa M. Amabile, selected passages, p 131-134

The content analyses revealed 9 qualities of environments that served to promote creativity (which we termed Environmental Stimulants), and 9 qualities of environments that served to inhibit creativity (which we termed Environmental Obstacles). We present them here rank-ordered by the percentage of R&D scientists who mentioned them in their even descriptions. The same factors were found in later samples of bank and railroad employees, although there was some reordering in the rankings.

Environmental Stimulants to Creativity

1. Freedom: freedom in deciding what to do or how to accomplish the task; a sense of control over one’s own work and ideas. 2. Good Project Management: a manger who serves as a good role model, is enthusiastic, has good communication skills, protects the project team from outside distractions and interference, matches tasks to workers’ skills and interests, and sets a clear direction without managing too tightly. 3. Sufficient Resources: access to necessary resources, including facilities, equipment, information, funds, and people. 4. Encouragement: management enthusiasm for new ideas, creating an atmosphere free of threatening evaluation. 5. Various Organizational Characteristics: a mechanism for considering new ideas, a corporate climate marked by cooperation and collaboration across levels and divisions, an atmosphere where innovation is prized and failure is not fatal. 6. Recognition: a general sense that creative work will receive appropriate feedback, recognition, and reward. 7. Sufficient Time; time to think creatively about the problem, to explore different perspectives rather than having to impose an already determined approach. 8. Challenge: a sense of challenge arising from the intriguing nature of the problem itself on its importance to the organization (internalized by the individual as a personal sense of challenge). 9. Pressure: a sense of urgency that is internally generated from competition with outside organizations or from a general desire to accomplish something important.

Environmental Obstacles to Creativity

1. Various Organizational Characteristics: inappropriate reward systems in the organization; excessive red tape; a corporate climate marked by a lack of cooperation across divisions and levels; little regard for innovation in general 2. Constraint: lack of freedom in deciding what to do or how to accomplish the task; a lock of sense of control over one’s own work and ideas. 3. Organizational Disinterest: a lack of organizational support, interest, or faith in a project; a perceived apathy toward any accomplishments coming from the project. 4. Poor Project Management: a manager who is unable to set clear direction, who has poor technical or communication skills, who controls too tightly, or who allows distractions and fragmentation of the team’s efforts. 5. Evaluation: inappropriate or inequitable evaluation and feedback systems; unrealistic expectations; an environment focused on criticism and external evaluation. 6. Insufficient Resources: a lack of appropriate facilities, equipment, materials, funds, or people. 7. Time Pressure: insufficient time to think creatively about the problem; too great a workload within a realistic time frame; high frequency of “fire fighting.” 8. Overemphasis on the Status Quo: reluctance of managers or coworkers to change their way of doing things; an unwillingness to take risks. 9. Competition: interpersonal or intergroup competition within the organization fostering a self-defensive attitude.

This 78-item questionnaire asks employees to rate their perceptions of their current work environment. The 78 item are scored according to 10 scales; these scales are combinations of the Environmental Stimulants and Environmental Obstacles to Creativity identified in our earlier interview study, as well as environmental influence on creativity identified in our earlier empirical and theoretical research. Of the 10 scales, 6 assess Environmental Stimulants, 2 assess Environmental Obstacles, and 2 assess work outcomes – Creativity and Productivity.

KEYS Scales for Assessing Environmental Stimulants to Creativity

1. Organizational Encouragement (15 items): an organizational culture that encourages creativity through the fair, constructive judgment of ideas; reward and recognition for creative work; mechanisms for developing new ideas; an active flow of ideas; and a shard vision of what the organization is trying to do. Sample item; “People are encouraged to solved problems creatively in this organization.” 2. Supervisory Encouragement (11 items): a supervisor who serves as a good work model, sets goals appropriately, supports the work group, values individual contributions, and shows confidence in the work group. Sample item: “My supervisor serves as a good work model.” 3. Work Group Supports (8 items): a diversely skilled work group in which people communicate well are open to new ideas, constructively challenge one another’s work, trust and help one another, and feel committed to the work they are doing. Sample item: “There is free and open communication within my work group.” 4. Freedom (4 items): freedom in deciding what work to do or how to do it; a sense of control over one’s work. Sample item: “I have the freedom to decide how I am going to carry out my projects.” 5. Sufficient Resources (6 items): access to appropriate resources, including funds, materials, facilities, and information. Sample item: “Generally, I can get the resources I need for my work.” 6. Challenging Work (5 items): a sense of having to work hard on challenging task and important project. Sample item: “I feel challenged by the work I am currently doing.”

KEYS Scales for Assessing Environmental Obstacles to Creativity

1. Organizational Impediments (12 items): an organizational culture that impedes creativity through internal political problems, harsh criticism of new ideas, destructive internal competition, an avoidance of risk, and an overemphasis on the status quo. Sample item: “There are many political problems in this organization.” 2. Workload Pressure (5 items): extreme time pressures, unrealistic expectations for productivity, and distractions from creative work. Sample item: “I have too much work to do in too little time.”

KEYS Scales for Assessing Work Outcomes

1. Creativity (6 items): a creative organization or unit where a great deal of creativity is called for and where people believe they actually produce creative work. Sample item: “My area of this organization is innovative.” 2. Productivity (6 items): an efficient, effective and productive organization or unit. Sample item: “My area of this organization is effective.”