Source: University of Texas at Austin
There is an effective formula for unlocking employees' creative potential, according to new research. Employers should incentivize workers to produce an abundance of ideas, even mediocre ones and then have them step away from the project for an 'incubation period.'
The researchers found that people who were rewarded simply for churning out ideas, whether good or bad, ultimately ended up producing more creative ideas than people who did not receive pay incentives or those whose pay incentives were based on the quality of their ideas instead of the quantity. All the study participants stepped away from the initial task for a time and returned to it later.