Some companies are more creative than others. What makes them so?
Keith Sawyer, the Morgan Distinguished Professor in Educational Innovations, has been researching creativity for years, and has some answers.
“The Week” online magazine took a look at what Sawyer has discovered makes some companies more successful in stoking creativity. The article is based on Sawyer’s book “Group Genius: The Creative Power of Collaboration.”
“The Week” listed 10 ways for companies to foster creativity. Among them:
- Create a “department of surprise.” Collaborative organizations often have teams that seek out and champion innovations from within the organization.
- Build spaces for creative conversation. Open spaces inspire spontaneous conversations and foster social networks, which in turn fertilize creative joint ideas.
- Ditch the organizational chart. Some companies reward employees for collaborating outside their own units.
The Week’s story is available here.