Since the pandemic, there have been numerous stories about how remote working is hurting our creativity. A BBC article quoted the Bank of England's chief economist, Andy Haldane who said:
I feel acutely the loss of working relationships and external stimuli - the chance conversations, listening to very different people with very different lived experiences, the exposure to new ideas and experiences.
"These losses will grow with time. At some point, they will offset the benefits of avoiding South West Trains.
But it is not just a question of being physically present in the office, or working virtually from home - as distractions are everywhere (depending on our individual circumstances). The pandemic has created other stressors in our lives which could lead us to behave negatively in the workplace.
My guest in this episode, Roni-Reiter Palmon, professor of industrial/organisational psychology at the university of Nebraska Omaha explains this relatively new concept of malevolent creativity. In other words, the dark side of creativity and how this can manifest in the workplace.
Highlights
How stress and other environmental factors can impact creativity negatively
The concept of malevolent creativity and how it can be harmful to others
The steps we can take to engage in positive creative thought processes
Roni on examining the dark side of creativity
Thinking about creativity as always a good thing is not a great way to study a topic. We need to acknowledge that there are times when creativity is used for bad purposes and we need to understand that.
On why the right characteristics and environment play a part in triggering malevolent creativity
Coming up with creative ways to do bad things is not straightforward and simple. For some people stress may be a trigger for that and for other people it may not.
On how trust facilitates creativity not game rooms
Just having a game room does not inspire creativity. That’s actually one of my pet peeves because I have companies come to me and say ‘We are going to put a pool table and then our employees are going to be creative like they are at Google or Apple’. And the problem is, the pool table is not what inspires creativity. The pool table is a sign from the organisation that says ‘You can take a break and play a game and we trust you to do your work’. And that’s what’s important, it’s the trust and the freedom those employees get to do their creative work.
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You can find more podcast episodes on Apple podcasts, Spotify, and other platforms. If you would like to facilitate a discussion or even send some feedback, you can email me at: theofficereset@gmail.com
The Office Reset podcast #08: Harmful creativity