Leadership Today - Practical Tips For Leaders
Business:Management
Some leaders worry working from home may limit creativity. Research partially backs this up, but there are changes we can make.
Transcript
Welcome to episode 151 of the Leadership Today podcast where each week we bring research to life in your leadership. This week we explore the impact of working from home on creativity.
Some leaders have expressed concerns about people working from home, particularly around the risks of reduced collaboration and creativity. They argue that having people physically together is more effective when we’re aiming for creativity and innovation. The reality is it depends. It depends on the nature of work, the technology you’re using, the way you’re approaching creativity, your people and what you’re trying to achieve.
But what about individual creativity? Surely working from home doesn’t reduce the effectiveness of solitary creative work? If anything, you might expect the ability to work uninterrupted would increase creativity.
Recent research finds a surprising connection between free movement and creative thinking. They found it’s not the movement per se that helps with creativity, but rather the freedom to move. When people can freely move around, they are more creative. You can imagine how that might apply in educational settings. When people are learning from home on a screen rather than interacting and moving around freely in a room with others creativity is likely to be reduced.
But it can apply more broadly too. If you’re needing to complete creative work, sitting at a desk staring at a screen is unlikely to help. You’re better off finding a new place to work or using voice memos on your phone to allow you to move freely. That applies equally at home as it does in the office.
So, if you want to be more creative, mix things up, work somewhere new and move around.
If you found this episode helpful, I would love it if you could take a minute to provide a rating and review. This really helps others to find the podcast. Have a great week.
Research
Supriya Murali, Barbara Händel. Motor restrictions impair divergent thinking during walking and during sitting. Psychological Research, 2022; DOI: 10.1007/s00426-021-01636-w
Episode 148 - Stop Staring at Yourself
Episode 147 - Discomfort and Progress
Episode 146 - Extraverts and Listening
Episode 145 - Keeping Good Ideas Alive
Episode 144 - How to Tackle Disagreement
Bonus Episode - Belinda Morgan - Solving the Part-Time Puzzle
Episode 143 - Showing Stress Leads to Support
Episode 142 - Diversity is Good for Recruitment
Episode 141 - Mind Wandering Improves Task Shifting
Episode 140 - Variety is the Spice of Development
Bonus Episode - Dr Kim Hazendonk and the Neuroscience of Leadership
Episode 139 - Be More Strategic… Whatever That Means
Episode 138 - Angry Men and Sad Women
Episode 137 - Five Differentiators of High Performing Teams
Episode 136 - Social Status and Collaboration Don’t Mix
Episode 135 - Managing Bias
Episode 134 - Creating Customer Value
Episode 133 - Pride Comes Before a Fall
Episode 132 - Scheduled Decisions Reduce Worry
Episode 131 - Succeeding in a New Role
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