Transition rather than balance: Organizing constraints for collective creativity in pharmaceutical development

Abstract

When it comes to organizing for collective creativity, management scholars typically advise balancing between constraint and freedom. However, this suggestion to balance is often too enigmatic in practice, neglects the dynamics inherent in creative processes, and predominantly highlights the inhibiting aspects of constraints. Thus, the present article aims to rethink this balancing proposition by asking how constraints unfold during collective creative processes. Based on four cases of pharmaceutical development, it illustrates how collective creativity is enabled by constraints from two distinct sources, namely restraint and contingency. The article further shows how and why these constraint sources alternate along the development trajectory. While constraints can enable collective creativity, phases of constraint transition are eventually necessary to revitalize the development process. Building upon these findings, the article concludes that organizing constraints for collective creativity is a matter of transition rather than balance.

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“…From the latter perspective, the human capital of companies (managers and workers) can react to creativity differently, depending on the economic context (de Vasconcellos et al, 2019). From a social point of view, creativity can emerge temporarily as a necessity to face crises (Caniëls & Rietzschel, 2015; Fortwengel et al, 2017), or in dynamic environments when creativity becomes a matter of survival (de Vasconcellos et al, 2019), where these barriers can inspire creativity (Vogelgsang, 2020). When barriers hinder creativity, crisis scenarios can have a detrimental effect, where creativity decreases because of scarce financial resources (Amabile & Pratt, 2016; Pellegrino & Savona, 2017).…”

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