Cultivating Creativity: What practices can make you more (or less) creative?

Practical Skills

Jennifer Kurkoski, Director of Google's People & Innovation Lab

Science Commentary

Modupe Akinola, Assistant Professor of Management, Columbia Business School

Abstract

Creativity is thought to be an essential element of 21st century organizations, differentiating successful companies from their competitors. One core competency for effective managers is identifying ways to foster creativity within their organizations. What methods can managers use to cultivate creativity in themselves and in their employees? What does research tell us about situations that can enhance or inhibit creativity? In this workshop, Jennifer Kurkoski, who directs Google's People & Innovation Lab, will share some ways that google tries to build and sustain a culture of innovation. Professor Modupe Akinola, who researches how biological and social pathways can affect creativity, will present a brief science component sharing insights that can be gleaned from decades of research on creativity. This will be followed by a Q&A with both the practice and science experts about related topics.

About the Speakers

Jennifer Kurkoski directs Google’s People & Innovation Lab (PiLab). Part of Google’s People Operations (a.k.a., Human Resources) department, PiLab members conduct research aimed at improving the company’s organizational practices. Recent studies have focused on developing managerial skills, encouraging healthy choices among employees, and helping new hires become productive quickly. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, and Slate, as well as on the BBC and ABC’s Nightline. Before joining Google, Jennifer was a senior community manager at Excite@Home and consulted with nonprofit organizations on leadership development. Jennifer holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration (Organizational Behavior) from UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business.

Modupe Akinola is an Assistant Professor of Management at Columbia Business School. Professor Akinola examines how organizational environments--characterized by deadlines, multi-tasking demands, and status hierarchies--engender stress, and how this stress affects performance. She uses a multi-method approach that includes behavioral and physiological measures. In recent award-winning research, she investigated the interactive effect of negative feedback and biological temperament on creative design performance. Learn more about Professor Akinola