Creative Energy in Successful Team Collaboration

Pay close attention to the frequency of healthy debate, constructive challenge and openness to new and divergent ideas that takes place in your teams. If the frequency is low… …there is the risk of creating the illusion of performance because people readily ‘understand’ each other, agree on everything, collaboration seems to flow smoothly and there is a collective sensation of progress. However, the opportunity cost is teams gets trapped in their own paradigms, opportunities get overlooked, risks ignored - and ultimately their output becomes derivative not innovative, performance diminishes as opposed to improving and compounding. If the frequency is high… …there is a level of psychological safety that allows for team members to be more objective, to speak up with relevant ideas, to constructively challenge each other, and bring their diverse perspectives and experiences to the table - in the knowledge it won’t be held against them. This opens up the opportunity of reframing the paradigm, and connecting different perspectives and ideas. Ingredients for creativity, innovation, resilience and performance. You see homogeneous teams might feel easier, but easy doesn’t translate into Performance. Here are a few ideas to experiment with your teams… 1. Intentionally foster a team environment that replaces scepticism with intellectual curiosity, an open and learning mindset.   2. Consider how you can create a ways of working that allows all ideas and perspectives from everyone in the room to be heard. 3. Encourage dissenting perspectives. Surrounding yourself with people who are willing to disagree with you and challenge your perspectives and each other. 4. Consider whether you may need to invite others to that creative or idea generation meeting to ensure you get a broader perspective. 5. De-stigmatise failure through sharing past mistakes and celebrating lessons learnt. 6. Institutionalise a team culture of healthy candour. Candour is one of the key attributes to improving the quality of output, levelling up creativity and enabling effective collaboration. What would you add? 👇🏽 #culture

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞? If you are responsible for managing a team that is expected to be creative and come up with innovative solutions, you may be interested in the findings of Byron et al.'s (2023) meta-analysis of team-design-related antecedents of team creativity and innovation. The meta-analysis aggregated results from 134 field studies (11,353 teams) and 35 student studies (2,485 teams) and revealed the following regularities, among others: ➡️ Structuring teams to work interdependently (i.e. with greater interdependence of tasks and goals) is supportive of team creativity and innovation. ➡️ Leaders providing autonomy to team members have teams that are more creative and innovative and this relationship is stronger when leaders emphasize team autonomy than when they emphasize the autonomy of individual team members. ➡️ Related to the previous point, leaders who limit follower control also limit team creativity and innovation. ➡️ ️Team size, demographic diversity, and job-related diversity show only a weak relationship with team creativity and innovation. ➡️ Team task interdependence and supportive leadership are positively related to team creativity and innovation via processes of team collaboration (the extent to which team members work together to share information and knowledge) and team potency (the extent to which team members believe they can be effective). ➡️ There is evidence for a curvilinear relationship between team tenure and team creativity and innovation. Specifically, when teams are relatively new (~1 yr), being together longer leads to a slight decrease in team creativity/innovation; when teams are of moderate tenure (~2.5 yrs), being together longer has no effect on team creativity/innovation; and, when teams are quite mature (~9 yrs), being together longer leads to an increase in team creativity/innovation. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬?  ✅ Focus on selecting team members who are diverse in terms of job-related factors such as educational background. ✅ Ensure task and goal interdependence - design projects to require collaboration, provide team-level feedback, and create team accountability systems. ✅ When leading innovative teams, adopt an approach aimed at supporting and encouraging - not controlling - the team as a whole as opposed to the individuals within the team. ✅ Try to keep high-quality people in the team as team tenure is positively related to team creativity and innovation. Link to the original study: https://lnkd.in/dpn-2A7u Note: The attached chart was created based on the results presented in the original study, but is not part of the study itself. #teamdesign #innovation #creativity #leadership #metaanalysis

Think your team isn’t innovative enough? Neuroscience says the problem might be psychological safety. -- >> Here’s a fact: your team’s brain can’t innovate if it doesn’t feel safe. If employees are afraid to speak up, share bold ideas, or make mistakes, their brains literally shut down creativity. That’s where psychological safety comes in. When the brain feels safe, cortisol (stress hormone) goes down, and creativity goes up. The result? A team that isn’t just working—they’re innovating. 👇 Here’s the 3-Step Neuroscience-based Framework for Building Psychological Safety and Boosting Innovation: Step 1: Reduce Cortisol by Creating an Open Feedback Loop High cortisol levels kill creativity. When your team knows they can give and receive feedback without fear, their brains are free to take risks. 👉 Action Tip: Create an open feedback culture where ideas are exchanged without judgment. Make it clear—every voice matters. Step 2: Activate Oxytocin to Build Trust Oxytocin, the brain’s trust hormone, is the secret sauce to collaboration and innovation. You want your team to work together and trust each other? Build real relationships, not transactional ones. 👉 Action Tip: Encourage team-building moments that foster personal connection. People innovate more when they trust the people they’re with. Step 3: Reward Curiosity to Trigger Dopamine Dopamine drives motivation, and nothing triggers it like curiosity. If you reward exploration and creative thinking, your team will keep innovating. 👉 Action Tip: Recognize and reward not just the results but the process of coming up with new ideas. If your team isn’t innovating, don’t point fingers. Check the brain chemistry. Build psychological safety, lower stress, and watch creativity and innovation soar.

Creativity and innovation are the driving forces behind successful marketing campaigns. Over the years, I’ve experimented with various tools and techniques to spark creativity in our marketing team, and it’s made a tremendous difference in how we approach projects and solve problems. Traditional brainstorming can be effective, but adding structure often yields better results. We use techniques like mind mapping (with tools like Miro or XMind) to visually organize ideas and find connections between concepts.  This helps break free from linear thinking and encourages team members to explore new avenues. During sessions, we also use SCAMPER (Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to other use, Eliminate, Reverse), a technique that prompts the team to think about problems or projects from multiple perspectives. Creativity often thrives through collaboration, and having the right tools to facilitate idea sharing is key. We use platforms like Trello and Slack to create dedicated channels or boards where team members can drop ideas as they come. indfulness exercises that help the team reset their minds. Studies show that taking mental breaks or engaging in mindfulness can significantly boost creativity. Even taking time for a quick walk or a stretch can lead to fresh insights when returning to the task at hand. AI-powered tools can be a great asset for sparking creativity. Platforms like ChatGPT (yes, even this one) or Copy.ai can provide prompts or creative suggestions to kickstart ideas when the team hits a creative block. These tools offer outside-the-box thinking that can lead to further ideation and innovation.

An Essential Workplace Exercise for 2025: The Team Energy Audit Productivity in teams isn’t just about tasks—it’s about energy dynamics between people. In every workplace, there are two types of individuals: 🔋 Energy Givers 🪫 Energy Takers Energy Givers inspire and motivate. After working with them, you feel energised and ready to tackle challenges. Energy Takers drain and demoralise. A meeting with them can leave you feeling like you need a nap. Here’s the challenge: energy is contagious. One Energy Taker can derail a team’s momentum. One Energy Giver can uplift the entire group. Ask yourself: - Who in your team sparks creativity and drives momentum? - Who leaves others feeling drained or stuck? The best teams cultivate Energy Giver traits like positivity, collaboration, and trust, while addressing behaviors that bring others down. How to conduct a Team Energy Audit: 1/ Reflect on recent meetings or projects: Who energised the team? Who didn’t? 2/ Discuss openly: Create space for conversations about team dynamics and improvement. 3/ Celebrate Energy Givers: Recognize and nurture their impact. 4/ Coach Energy Takers: Provide constructive feedback to help them grow. A team full of Energy Givers unlocks higher productivity, morale, and long-term success. So, what are you doing to protect your team’s energy in 2025?