Creativity
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- 07 Dec 2017
- Cold Call Podcast
Does Time Pressure Help or Hinder Creativity at Work?
Professor Teresa Amabile discusses how managers can create the ideal conditions for employee creativity and success based on her research in three industries, seven companies, and 26 creative project teams. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 27 Sep 2017
- Research & Ideas
What Happens When Ordinary People Get Creative?
Move over, creative geniuses. Teresa Amabile says the world needs to pay more attention to the creative processes of everyday people, especially in an age when big ideas often come from the crowdsourced masses. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 31 Jul 2017
- Working Paper Summaries
In Pursuit of Everyday Creativity
This paper describes the most compelling research trends around creativity and innovation. It suggests that 1) creative behavior of ordinary individuals is likely to become more important to the development of products and services, and 2) future studies should focus on such creative behavior—and related psychological states and environmental contexts—as it happens.
- 20 Jun 2017
- Working Paper Summaries
Conversational Peers and Idea Generation: Evidence from a Field Experiment
To develop a theory of innovator capability, this study extends existing research linking personality and creativity to take into account the social nature of idea generation. Using data from an experiment embedded in a bootcamp for aspiring entrepreneurs, results show that better ideas are generated by “open” innovators exposed to extroverted peers. Extroverts provide more raw information that innovators high in openness are best able to recombine into novel ideas.
- 21 Mar 2016
- Lessons from the Classroom
When Your Classmate is an NBA Superstar (or Fashion Model, or Movie Actress)
Industry superstars bring unique perspectives to the Business of Media, Entertainment, and Sports Executive Education program taught by Anita Elberse. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 16 Nov 2015
- Research & Ideas
Does Competition Make Us More Creative?
Competition can bring out the best in many people in many jobs, but can it make employees more creative? The answer lies in the Goldilocks Zone. Research by Daniel P. Gross. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 28 Oct 2015
- Research & Ideas
A Dedication to Creation: India's Ad Man Ranjan Kapur
How do you build a brand amid the uncertainties and opportunities of a developing market? Harvard Business School Professor Sunil Gupta shares lessons learned from Ranjan Kapur, an iconic figure in the Indian advertising industry. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 26 May 2015
- Research & Ideas
Corporate Field Researchers Share Tricks of the Trade
In a panel discussion, several professors shared practical findings and tricks-of-the-trade from recent field research. Among the discoveries: how to prompt employees to get a flu shot. Closed for comment; 1 Comment(s) posted.
- 02 Apr 2015
- Research & Ideas
Digital Initiative Summit: Who Has the Power in the Music Industry?
With inexpensive recording technology and distribution, today's musicians can push their work in front of many new audiences. But to make money, they must learn the instruments of business. Open for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.
- 23 Jul 2014
- Lessons from the Classroom
Innovation Is Magic. Really
When Stefan Thomke teaches students how to manage innovation and creativity, he turns to an unexpected source: Magician Jason Randal. Open for comment; 12 Comment(s) posted.
- 18 Jun 2014
- Research & Ideas
Leading Innovation is the Art of Creating ‘Collective Genius’
As Linda Hill sees it, innovation requires its own brand of leadership. The coauthor of the new book Collective Genius discusses what's been learned from 16 of the best business innovators. Open for comment; 4 Comment(s) posted.
- 18 Jun 2014
- Research & Ideas
Book Excerpt: ‘Collective Genius’
Leaders of innovation teams are successful when they collaborate, engage in discovery-driven learning, and make integrative decisions. Read an excerpt from the book Collective Genius: The Art and Practice of Leading Innovation, by Linda Hill and coauthors. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.
- 04 Mar 2014
- Sharpening Your Skills
Sharpening Your Skills: Managing Innovation
Sharpening Your Skills curates a wide range of Harvard Business School's research and ideas around vital topics in business management. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.
- 04 Feb 2014
- Working Paper Summaries
From Crowds to Collaborators: Initiating Effort and Catalyzing Interactions Among Online Creative Workers
Online "organizations" are becoming a major engine for knowledge development in a variety of domains such as Wikipedia and open source software development. Many online platforms involve collaboration and coordination among members to reach common goals. In this sense, they are collaborative communities. This paper asks: What factors most inspire online teams to begin to collaborate and to do so creatively and effectively? The authors analyze a data set of 260 individuals randomly assigned to 52 teams tasked with developing working solutions to a complex innovation problem over 10 days, with varying cash incentives. Findings showed that although cash incentives stimulated a significant boost of effort per se, cash incentives did not transform the nature of the work process or affect the level of collaboration. In addition, at a basic yet striking level, the likelihood that an individual chooses to participate depended on whether teammates were themselves active. Moreover, communications among teammates led to more communications, and communications among teammates also stimulated greater continuous levels of effort. Overall, the study sheds light on how perspectives on incentives, predominant in economics, and perspectives on social processes and interactions, predominant in research on organizational behavior and teams, can be better understood. Key concepts include: An individual's likelihood of being active in online collaboration increases by about 41 percent with each additional active teammate. Management could provide communications channels to make the efforts of other members more visible. This is important in the design of systems for online work as it helps members to confirm that others are actively contributing. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.
- 16 Dec 2013
- HBS Case
D’O: Making a Michelin-Starred Restaurant Affordable
Under the leadership of Chef Davide Oldani, the Italian restaurant D'O balances Michelin-star-level quality with affordable prices. In the following story and video, Professor Gary Pisano explains how Oldani does it. Open for comment; 10 Comment(s) posted.
- 09 Dec 2013
- Research & Ideas
Cultural Disharmony Undermines Workplace Creativity
Managing cultural friction not only creates a more harmonious workplace, says professor Roy Y.J. Chua, but ensures that you reap the creative benefits of multiculturalism at its best. Closed for comment; 13 Comment(s) posted.
- 25 Nov 2013
- Research & Ideas
Hiding From Managers Can Increase Your Productivity
Harvard Business School Assistant Professor Ethan S. Bernstein explains why decreasing workplace transparency can increase productivity. Open for comment; 26 Comment(s) posted.
- 09 Jul 2012
- Research & Ideas
The Unconscious Executive
Postdoctoral fellow Maarten Bos investigates how unconscious processes improve decision-making. Conscious deliberation, it turns out, does not always lead to the best outcomes. Closed for comment; 26 Comment(s) posted.
- 25 Jun 2012
- Research & Ideas
Collaborating Across Cultures
Learning to collaborate creatively with people from other cultures is a vital skill in today's business environment, says professor Roy Y.J. Chua, whose research focuses on a key measure psychologists have dubbed "cultural metacognition." Closed for comment; 24 Comment(s) posted.
How to Be a Rebel Leader
In the book Rebel Talent, Francesca Gino argues companies should encourage rebellion in their workplaces. Quiz: Discover what type of rebel you really are. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.