Why Does Modern Office Structure Stifle Creativity?

Why does modern office structure stifle creativity?

Maviti, a senior British advertiser, believes that solitude is the first element of creativity, but in modern workplace, the noisy open office is popular.

On a winter afternoon in February, RogerMavity, a senior British advertiser, walked into a monotonous conference room of the financial times in. He told a group of reporters how to work better.

His new book, How to StealFire, a new book with Stephen Bayley, the master of design, is about to be published; this book is one of the most sought after traits in the business world: creativity.

The storm of digital subversion and competitive pressure made companies unprepared, and in recent years they accepted the necessity of creative thinking enthusiastically, which marked a complete change.

For decades, chief executives have been talking about the importance of innovation.

Scholars define innovation as the implementation of new ideas.

However, much attention has been paid to how to cultivate creativity.

This began to change after the 2000 Internet bubble burst and subsequent financial crisis.

In 2010, a global survey of over 1500 CEO shows that creativity is considered to be the most important leadership trait for success.

Later studies show that CEO believes that the difficulty of recruiting creative employees is one of the greatest threats to their business.

As a result, Maviti's books frequently appeared in the financial times office.

Like many others, it promises to show readers how to "boldly think" and "inspire creative ideas".

Since journalism is overturned like other industries, we wonder what will happen if we invite him to tell some journalists and readers of the financial times how to work creatively.

He readily promised, but when he opened his mind, an obvious problem emerged: almost all his suggestions could not be realized in modern offices, and the design of offices was the first to blame.

"The first thing to help stimulate creativity is to be alone."

Maviti said.

"In essence, creativity is an individual rather than a collective activity."

He told us that the experience of Sir Isaac Newton (Sir Isaac) is a testament to that.

After his school (Cambridge) closed in the GreatPlague, he spent two years in isolation from Lincolnshire's home.

It was at that time that great ideas visited him, allowing him to construct the theory of gravity in the future.

Maviti can also take Bill Gates (BillGates) as an example.

In managing Microsoft (Microsoft), Gates will go to a secluded solitary place alone, two times a year.

He called this thinking week (ThinkWeek).

This thinking of the seven days of technology will stimulate many important breakthroughs, including the development of Microsoft Internet browser.

In other words, as Maviti said, "if you need to produce new ideas, isolating yourself will be very beneficial."

However, perhaps it was the atmosphere in the room that he felt, he added: "in the huge open office, 100 people, besides you, are trying to come up with new ideas.

How to isolate yourself under such circumstances is an interesting question. "

This is indeed.

The opening of the unified office and the financial temptation of its evil Gemini desk rotation (hot-desking) captures many companies. At this time, the shortage of supply alone is desperate.

Journalists used to be your job driven by deadlines, but other industries are rapidly following suit.

In 2016, a study by Steelcase, an office furniture manufacturer in the United States, showed that the vast majority of people were destined to work in fully open offices (23%) or work in the mixture of open offices and private offices (46%).

In Britain, this problem is particularly serious. The high cost of property, especially in London, means that 49% of employees are trapped in noisy, distracting open offices, making it impossible to work alone.

To make matters worse, their bosses may have no idea about the problem.

In 2015, a study of global companies by the Oxford Institute of Economic Research (OxfordEconomics) showed that almost 2/3 of senior executives believe that employees have the necessary tools to deal with work time interference, but less than half of employees agree with that.

Not surprisingly, 62% of executives have private offices, but only 14% of employees enjoy the same treatment.

But Maviti has other bad news. Even lucky people with a door office can't escape: the concept of teamwork.

He said that teamwork, brainstorming and never absent team outing (awayday) bring excellent ideas, which is one of the great myths of creativity.

According to team dynamics, people who try to solve problems together will either show off their knowledge to create a deep impression, or politely agree with each other, no matter how rubbish the ideas put forward by the other party are.

In any case, because the responsibility is shared, the pressure to come up with solutions is also reduced.

This phenomenon is so common that it has a name called Ringelmann effect, named after French engineer Lin Gelman Marx (MaxRingelmann).

Lin Gelman first observed that personal productivity decreased with the increase in group size.

Maviti said that team outing days may make people better understand each other, but it does not help stimulate ideas.

As his book says, "brainstorming at best produces a slight, exciting smug mean rain."

Once again, he saw a blank expression at the table.

Brainstorming and teamwork are the main pillars of modern business life, not to mention endless meetings and other bureaucratic disturbances. They join together to interrupt the concentration of thinking, whether or not they are creative.

Despite obvious shortcomings, these practices are enduring.

In fact, if you ever endure a meaningless meeting all day long, no decision has been made at the meeting, because there are too many participants, people are arguing about trivial matters or are pouring out on irrelevant matters, so you have witnessed the implementation of the SimpleSabotage Field Manual.

In 1944, the Office of StrategicServices, the predecessor of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), issued the "simple destruction battlefield manual" to show how civilians in enemy occupied areas during World War II disrupted various activities, including daily operations, to help allied forces.

Aaron Dignan, an American consultant, wrote in the new book "Brave NewWork", "somehow, in less than a lifetime, modern work has become indistinguishable from disruptive activities". Degnan,

All of this raises a disturbing question: does the chief executive who wants to create the creative power to stifle creativity by cramming her employees into the disturbing and noisy open open offices? Since 1970s, TeresaAmabile School, Professor of HarvardBusiness School, has said that this may be true.

"There is something out of touch."

She said and explained that smart companies understand the need for concentration.

"Some people seem to be able to make really top creations in cafes," she added. "But most people can't."

They need no source of interference in the physical environment around them.

She says that when you are trying to collect background information or understand many aspects of a problem, it may be helpful to keep company with others, but it is not the case when you are engaged in very complex innovation.

Professor Ama Bill and her colleagues have collected more than 9000 staff job logs. These logs highlight that people can think creatively when they can concentrate on a task for most of the day.

As an employee wrote, "today's big thing is that nothing is important today.

I can concentrate on the project at hand and not be disturbed. "

So what should executives do to foster creativity?

"They must lead the discussion."

Professor Ama Bill explained that leaders need to set clear goals, and then give creative workers time, resources and autonomy to achieve these goals.

Managers must be open to new ideas and ensure that good ideas are supported.

"These are not rocket science or brain surgery."

She said, "but you need to pay attention to people's support everyday."