When paying attention pays off: the mindfulness skill act with awareness promotes creative idea generation in groups

Abstract

Past work has linked mindfulness to improved individual-level creativity, but remained silent about group-level creativity. Of all mindfulness skills, the ability to observe and attend to various stimuli (Observation) is the most powerful predictor of individual-level creativity. Studies examining effects of specific mindfulness skills on factors pertinent to group creativity suggest that for group-level creativity, the ability to focus attention with full awareness (Act with awareness), may be equally, or even more, important. We tested the relation between mindfulness and group-level creative idea generation using two brainstorming studies: one exploratory and one confirmatory. Mindfulness skills were either measured (Study 1; N = 88 groups) or the Act with awareness skill was targeted with a short, incidental guided meditation session (Study 2; N = 68 groups). Results from both studies showed differential relations between mindfulness and group creative idea generation: Only Act with awareness positively predicted the originality of ideas (Study 1 and 2) and the number of creative ideas in groups (Study 2). How mindfulness skills relate to creativity thus depends on the particular mindfulness skill involved and whether creativity happens at the individual or group level.

A Conceptual Proposal: Does Improvisation moderate the relationship between Mindfulness and Employee Creativity

“…This study proposed that mindfulness is positively related to employee creativity and this proposition is in agreement with the extant literature that investigated this relationship (e.g., Baas et al, 2020;Cheung et al, 2020;Byrne & Thatchenkery 2019;Hassan, 2019;Montani et al, 2019;Ngo et al, 2020;Sajjad & Shahbaz, 2020;Wolever et al, 2018). Such relationship was attributed by scholars to that observation and openness to experience accompanied by acceptance in a non-judgmental inclination equip individuals with a cognitive superiority, thus nurturing their mind-sets in engendering creative responses in their pursuit to solve complex encountered problems as revealed by Ostafin and Kassman (2012) along with implying an interesting tendency to test ideas and experiences (Carson, 2014).…”

“…g.,Baas, Nevicka & Ten Velden, 2020;Cheung, Huang, Chang & Wei, 2020;Byrne & Thatchenkery 2019;Hassan, 2019;Montani, Setti, Sommovigo, Courcy & Giorgi, 2019;Ngo, Nguyen, Lee & Andonopoulos, 2020;Sajjad & Shahbaz, 2020;Wolever, Schwartz & Schoenberg, 2018).…”

Ecological Momentary Assessment of Creative Ideation

“…This does not mean that this approach is strictly limited to these aspects. For example, it can also be imagined to serve the investigation of Collaborations, as EMA data can easily be used to study interpersonal processes of dyads, families, and even groups (for more detail see, Bolger et al, 2003; for examples, see, e.g., Baas et al, 2020; Baten et al, 2020; Glăveanu et al, 2019). The application of multilevel analysis allows to decompose variances of creative ideation performance into between-company, between-person within-company, and within-person components to study synchronous and asynchronous changes in creative potential within days, weeks, or months (Bolger et al, 2003).…”

An Integrative Review on the Research Progress of Mindfulness and Its Implications at the Workplace

“…Predominantly, organization-wide mindfulness may be critical mainly in high-risk and safety-oriented organizations [106,107]. Mindfulness also improves workgroup relationships [8], group creativity [108], employees' basic abilities to work successfully in a team setup [19], reduces social loafing [109], and improves group cohesion, group performance, and well-being [110]. Therefore, mindful human resources may forestall team inertia and strengthen intra-team and inter-team relationships, and teamwork, and, in turn, lead to an enhanced organizational positive atmosphere, performance, and employee well-being.…”