The Best Workplaces report (Financial Times, April 28, 2005) notes many factors in common with Managing Creativity and Innovation.

Material reward is not the sole factor in determining satisfaction. Microsoft UK offers acupuncture and deep tissue massages. OC&C Strategy consultants offer skiing trips and Computer Future Solutions have BMWs and Porsches as company cars. Yet people rarely mentioned these perks when they rated their company.

This is because satisfaction is also related to i) the gap between the real and ideal self, ii) projects that can be classified as fun or amusing, iii) tasks are competency expanding or challenging, iv) goals are perceived as feasible, v) there is a degree of self-determination and vi) there is recognition.

These are the exact same conditions that enhance motivation and creative output.

What people noted was the degree to which people felt valued, productive and listened to. Further, they felt their superiors had a high degree of trust for them, allowed them to engage in projects in a self-determined way, there was a general lack of suspicion and an almost non-existent blame culture.

This is in accordance with the philosophy that people require psychological safety and freedom – the feeling that they are accepted as unconditioned worth, that it is recognised that they are capable of

About the Author: Kal Bishop is a management consultant based in London, UK. He has consulted in the visual media and software industries and for clients such as Toshiba and Transport for London. He has led Improv, creativity and innovation workshops, exhibited artwork in San Francisco, Los Angeles and London and written a number of screenplays. He is a passionate traveller. He can be reached on http://www.managing-creativity.com.