the innovative LEDGER
An e-Newsletter from The Innovative Edge™ Inc.

  Vol. 2, No. 3, Fall 2002
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Time for Creativity
By Jeffrey A. Govendo

For as long as I've worked in the area of business innovation and creativity, a question that keeps coming up in conversations is: do time pressures help or hurt the creative process? To be sure, one can make some convincing arguments for both ends of the spectrum on this subject. Some would say that creativity is an "organic" process that takes time to unfold in the human mind, so that imposing a time limit for coming up with ideas or discovering that breakthrough concept is counterproductive. Others point out that time pressures enhance creativity by providing necessary urgency in a process that tends to be rather open-ended and meandering. Who is right?

A study on this subject was just published in the August 2002 Harvard Business Review by Amabile, Hadley and Kramer, entitled "Creativity Under the Gun." In it, the authors closely followed - via narrative e-mail diaries and numerical-scale response items - the daily activities and subjective reactions of 177 professional employees from seven companies in the chemical, high tech and consumer products industries. Each person was a member of a project team, actively engaged in an initiative in which creative thinking was considered a critical factor for success. Because the response rate was surprisingly high (75%), even over a period of more than six months, the questionnaires were considered to be fairly accurate indicators of how time pressures affected creativity for this good-sized sample.

The results indicate that in most circumstances, the more time pressure workers experienced, the less creative they were able to be. This was especially true in situations described by the authors as "being on a treadmill"; i.e., lacking a sense of mission, feeling distracted by non-task related issues, and being subject to sudden changes in plans or direction. On the other hand, there were circumstances in which creativity did flourish, even under extreme time pressures. If there was a clear and agreed-upon purpose to their work - a sense of mission - and they could stay focused on the task for significant periods of time, creativity remained high. The keys to maintaining one's creative edge under time pressure, therefore, are a sense of purpose and the ability to direct all one's energy to the task at hand.

Though not exactly revelations, these findings are nonetheless important to consider. In today's business environment, where cycle times are shorter, competition fiercer, and customer expectations higher than ever, time pressures are not about to go away. For better or worse, working under the gun is a fact of life for most employees, especially in our downsized companies where more work is being done by fewer workers. If maintaining an innovative edge is a priority - as I believe it should be, even during this downturn - companies must somehow provide working conditions that enable employees at all levels to maximize their creative potential, even when pressed for time. Here are 5 suggestions for management:

1. Clearly articulate the project team's tasks. Too often, lack of focus is caused by objectives that are poorly defined, or continually changing.
2. Decide on goals that are a "stretch," but not so lofty or far-reaching that they overwhelm. People enjoy a challenge, but do not work creatively under persistent anxiety or fear of failure.
3. Match people to their passions. This helps to foster a sense of "mission" which is critical to working effectively under time pressure.
4. Have important team sessions facilitated by a non-team member. This will help keep them focused, as well as minimizing negative judgments on new ideas (see more on this below).
5. Remember that innovation is not just about new products or technologies. Non-R&D employees can be creative in their areas of work too, with equally big payoffs to the company.