Creativity in the Workplace: How to bolster engagement and productivity at work
Introduction
Businesses with employees that identify as “miserable” at work make 23% less profit than businesses with engaged employees3 - but only 15% of the world’s workforce feels engaged at work.2,3
Something is clearly wrong with the way we structure work, and the science points towards a lack of creativity as a core reason.
Considering our psychological needs when re-assessing our work culture
The importance of reigniting creativity at work
To bring engagement back into the workplace requires a genuine effort to reform culture. Our current working culture hasn’t adapted to major shifts in the past decades, like technological growth, improved quality of life, and increasing educational standards.7 If we want to solve this crisis, we need to fulfill our basic psychological needs by valuing creativity, fairness, and purposeful work.
The food, water, and shelter of our minds
Self-determination Theory (SDT) posits a model of innate and universal psychological needs — a reconstruction of Maslow’s infamous Hierarchy of Needs - that revolves around 3 basic psychological needs: competence, autonomy, and relatedness.
- We feel competent when we feel capable of doing things well. Depravation within the workplace can look like being micromanaged, too much bureaucracy, or being assigned tedious tasks with no challenge or meaning.
- Autonomy dictates that we feel in control of our own actions without external motivation. Depravation means not being able to pursue our own ideas, and instead being forced to execute commands without creative liberty.
- Relatedness is fulfilled when we feel included in a healthy community. Sitting in cubicles, eating lunch separately, and feeling isolated from your colleagues can deprive us of relatedness.
These are the food and water of your psychological well-being. They argue that things like self-esteem ultimately serve as hollow replacements, and that chasing them can be counterintuitive to our well-being.
We often try to solve the problem backwards, resulting in dissatisfaction. For example, our cravings for self-esteem will be futile if we do not recognize our true deprivation: competence. It’s like eating cotton balls to feel full. Working towards competence, autonomy, and relatedness is what accrues self-esteem as a byproduct.
References
- Armstrong, K. (2022). Mastering Motivation. APS Observer, 32. https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/mastering-motivation
- Clifton, J. (2017, June 13). The World’s Broken Workplace. Gallup.com; Gallup. https://news.gallup.com/opinion/chairman/212045/world-broken-workplace.aspx?g_source=position1&g_medium=related&g_campaign=tiles
- Clifton, J. (2022, June 14). The World’s Workplace is Broken -- Here’s How to Fix It. Gallup.com; Gallup. https://www.gallup.com/workplace/393395/world-workplace-broken-fix.aspx
- Eisenberger, R. & Shanock, L. (2003). Rewards, intrinsic motivation, and creativity: A case study of conceptual and methodological isolation. Creativity Research Journal, 15(2-3), 121–130. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2003.9651404
- Fuller, J., & Kerr, W. (2022, March 23). The Great Resignation Didn’t Start with the Pandemic. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2022/03/the-great-resignation-didnt-start-with-the-pandemic
- Johnson, B. M. (2009). Individual creativity and its association to individual productivity in the workplace (Order No. 3376002). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses A&I: Business; ProQuest Dissertations & Theses A&I: Health & Medicine; ProQuest Dissertations & Theses A&I: Social Sciences; ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global: Business; ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global(TRUNCATED). (305127215). https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/individual-creativity-association-productivity/docview/305127215/se-2?accountid=14512
- Minahan, & Härtel, C. (2005). Creativity, celebration and play at the Bauhaus, Berlin, 1920: lessons from history for contemporary marketers and arts organizations. International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing, 10(4), 249–261. https://doi.org/10.1002/nvsm.29
- Nazir, O., Islam, J. U., & Rahman, Z. (2021). Effect of CSR participation on employee sense of purpose and experienced meaningfulness: A self-determination theory perspective. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 46, 123–133. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhtm.2020.12.002
- Robison, J., & Ratanjee, V. (2022, June 14). Trust Is in Decline: Here’s How to Rebuild It. Gallup.com; Gallup. https://www.gallup.com/workplace/393401/trust-decline-rebuild.aspx
- Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L.(2013). The Importance of Universal Psychological Needs for Understanding Motivation in the Workplace. In Oxford Handbooks Online. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199794911.013.003
- Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2020). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation from a self-determination theory perspective: Definitions, theory, practices, and future directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 61, 101860. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2020.101860
About the Authors
Janessa Pong
Janessa is a rising junior at the University of California, Los Angeles pursuing a BS in Cognitive Science with a Specialization in Computing, and minoring in Bioinformatics. She believes that psychology holds the power to ameliorate many of the world’s biggest problems, with climate change being one that she holds closest to her heart. It ultimately serves as a roadmap to why humans do what they do. Understanding this roadmap — our predispositions, biases, and instincts — are crucial to guiding people to make better choices for themselves, others, and our planet.
Dr. Sekoul Krastev
Sekoul is a Co-Founder and Managing Director at The Decision Lab. He is a bestselling author of Intention - a book he wrote with Wiley on the mindful application of behavioral science in organizations. A decision scientist with a PhD in Decision Neuroscience from McGill University, Sekoul's work has been featured in peer-reviewed journals and has been presented at conferences around the world. Sekoul previously advised management on innovation and engagement strategy at The Boston Consulting Group as well as on online media strategy at Google. He has a deep interest in the applications of behavioral science to new technology and has published on these topics in places such as the Huffington Post and Strategy & Business.
Sarah Chudleigh
Sarah Chudleigh is passionate about the accessible distribution of academic research. She has had the opportunity to practice this as an organizer of TEDx conferences, editor-in-chief of her undergraduate academic journal, and lead editor at the LSE Social Policy Blog. Sarah gained a deep appreciation for interdisciplinary research during her liberal arts degree at Quest University Canada, where she specialized in political decision-making. Her current graduate research at the London School of Economics and Political Science examines the impact of national values on motivations to privately sponsor refugees, a continuation of her interest in political analysis, identity, and migration policy. On weekends, you can find Sarah gardening at her local urban farm.
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