A research project about understanding creativity and office work:
Collisions
Room for Creativity and Innovation in the office
Content:
How does innovation occur
What does work really mean
Creativity - State of the Discussion
Office Spaces - Results of Research
Three areas – three systems
Conclusions on the Research
The Situation
Implementation
Future Perspectives
During my research, I stumbled across an article by
Ben Waber, Jennifer Magnolfi and Greg Lindsay on the topic of workplace design.
They use the term "collisions" to describe the random encounters of
company employees. In a working world which is becoming more and more digital,
interaction amongst employees is once again being increasingly awarded meaning and value.
Collision is an appropriate term because it contains both the sense of
informality as well as spontaneity. However, can the effects on the processes in
companies be predicted and verified. And, how about those in such collisions?
Might it be possible that they even stimulate innovation and promote creative
work in companies?
A lot has been said about creative work. It is considered
to be the future. The future of many employees and many companies. New
developments are unthinkable without creative work. There would be no changes
to processes in the office environment and no new developments and innovations.
But, what is creative work? Bringing a little clarity into the picture can do
no harm. On the one hand, clarity about the term "creativity" and what
contribution we can make to creativity when we are working. For this, the
results of the work of a number of researchers in the area of creativity have been
collected and evaluated. And, on the other hand, clarity about the question of
work, office work. Where does it take place, what is it about and in what way
will it probably change in the future?
When considered together, both aspects, creativity and
office work, could provide us with information about the requirements needed in
a designed office environment for creative work to take place there. This might happen, if the right conclusions
are drawn from observations on the conditions needed for the emergence of
creativity. These conclusions can then be applied to spaces that are already
available in offices, are in the process of being planned or still need to be
found.
The aim is to use a secure foundation for developing a
causal connection between the conditions for creativity and the environment in
the office. The pre-requisite for creative work is a space that is organised in
such a way that it provides support for creativity. What we want to do is to
design such a space.
Prof. Mark N.
Phillips