No limitations, full creative freedom, blank pages. You might just think this is the perfect start for your project to reach full potential. And this is where you might be wrong.
Traditionally, you left the people that needed to be creative completely alone, in order for them to “work their magic”. You wouldn’t want to interfere and spoil the next big, great idea. However, a lot of research shows that there is a balancing act to it. In fact, creativity seems to benefit from certain constraints.
Rosso (2014) explains that creative teams responded better to creativity when faced with constraints related to time, finance and the process itself. He also points out that an abundance of material actually has a ruining effect on creativity, as one can get too comfortable and thus less productive. As he notes:
When given fewer resources, individuals turn better at problem solving.
These “healthy tensions”seem to work wonders for project based teams, and many view them as a vital duality of the creative process itself. They may act as a catalyst to think different in a more effective way, and thus to come up with something truly original.
Yet there are some factors in order for this constrained creativity to spur: collaboration, communication and the social environment. These three moderators serve as the very foundation for creative motivation. If motivation is there, then you might be witnessing creativity reaching new heights.
Brent D. Rosso: (2014) Creativity and Constraints: Exploring the Role of Constraints in the Creative Processes of Research and Development Teams. Organization Studies. Vol 35. No 4.
Link to abstract here: http://oss.sagepub.com/content/35/4/551.abstract
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