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
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Episode 186 - Why Identity Beats Personal Brand
Episode 185 - Compulsory Fun
Episode 184 - Tight and Loose Goals
Episode 183 - Break It to Fix It
Bonus Episode - Clifford Morgan - The Coaching Leader
Episode 182 - Make Sure Your Appreciation is Appreciated
Episode 181 - Solitude and Socialising
Episode 180 - Stop Looking for Your Next Job
Episode 179 - Making Meetings Great
Bonus Episode - Skip Bowman - From Safe to Great
Episode 178 - Are We Still Debating the Office?
Episode 177 - Making Work Transformational
Episode 176 - Putting the “Inter” Into Connection
Episode 175 - Drew Ginn - Career Planning and Taking Risks
Episode 174 - Drew Ginn - Longevity and Trusting the Process
Episode 173 - Drew Ginn - Thriving Through Stress
Episode 172 - Drew Ginn - Building a World Class Team
Episode 171 - We Are Made to Care for Others
Episode 170 - Sleep Helps Positive Emotions
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