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Characteristics of Creative Teams

By Adrian Brown

Researchers who have investigated the characteristics of creative teams have identified the following five factors as particularly common to creative teams. (Note that you would expect to see several of these characteristics in any high performing team—others are unique to creative teams.)

1. Shared understanding of a clear goal.

It is common sense that a team with a clear goal will perform better than one without but all too often this basic rule is forgotten if the team is expected to think creatively.

Perhaps it is assumed that a goal will stifle the group’s thinking. On the contrary, a goal helps focus the team’s energy on the task in hand and allows creativity to blossom in a constructive way. Toyota’s G21 team had a very clear (and demanding goal) to improve fuel efficiency that everyone could focus on achieving.

2. Working to a deadline.

Another common sense rule for a healthy team is a deadline of some sort. As we shall see below a degree of time pressure can improve the creativity of a group, although as time pressure increases further, this rule breaks down.

In general, no deadline at all is a bad idea, as this reduces the need for the group to reach a firm conclusion. G21 was expected to meet a series of demanding deadlines culminating in the launch of the Prius in December 1997, one year earlier than originally planned.

3. Irreverent and non-hierarchical.

Hierarchy has little to add to the creative process. Creative teams tend to adopt extremely flat structures where roles are flexible and everyone is expected to contribute. Creative teams are also often somewhat irreverent as jokes and games are often the source of some of the best ideas.

We saw this was particularly important at Southwest Airlines. G21 was deliberately structured in a non-hierarchical manner to reduce functional silos and encourage open communication between team members. This model has now been adopted for all new product development teams at Toyota.

4. Diversity embraced.

A creative group exhibits a range of thinking styles and skills. If well managed, this diversity allows the group to attack a problem from a variety of directions and challenge conventional wisdom. Often this diversity presents a paradox in that the group is exhibiting contradictory skills or behaviors.

For example, the group may require deep functional expertise and yet be able to approach the problem with a “beginner’s mind.” It is the successful combination of these extremes that can often trigger the greatest creative insights. G21 brought together engineers from across Toyota and Uchiyamada was made team leader precisely because he would approach the problem with a beginner’s mind.

5. Empowerment of team members.

Creative teams will often have to “break the rules” and should feel comfortable doing so (within reason). The clear backing of a senior manager is very helpful in this respect. The G21 team took their orders directly from Eiji Toyoda, and were encouraged to disregard any Toyota components, systems or manufacturing techniques that they saw fit.

Managers who wish to encourage team creativity should think carefully about each of these characteristics within the context of their own organization and the particular task in hand.

This is an excerpt from Adrian Brown’s book “Creativity & Innovation” (MindEdge Press, 2007). Brown has worked as a consultant and advisor in both the public and private sectors. From 2002-2005 he served as an advisor to British Prime Minister Tony Blair covering a wide range of policy areas including health and transport.

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Copyright © 2007 Adrian Brown

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