18 Research-Backed Ways to Be More Creative at Work

Boost creativity at work with 18 science-backed strategies. Learn environment hacks, mindset shifts, and team techniques to unlock your best ideas.

Here’s a stat that should stop you in your tracks: 98% of five-year-olds score at the “creative genius” level on a NASA divergent-thinking test. By adulthood, that number drops to 2%.¹

Creativity isn’t a gift you either have or you don’t. It’s a skill that got trained out of you. The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report ranks creative thinking among the most critical skills for the next decade. In IBM’s 2010 Global CEO Study of 1,541 CEOs across 60 countries, creativity ranked as the single most important leadership quality.²

These 18 strategies are organized into five categories so you can start with whatever fits your situation right now.

I sat down with creative genius Sarah Moyle to talk about how to be more creative at work:

Set Up Your Environment for Creative Thinking

#1: Dim the Lights for Brainstorming

Researchers Anna Steidle and Lioba Werth tested this across six studies and found that dim lighting (~150 lux) produced significantly more creative solutions than standard office lighting (500 lux). Dim light creates a feeling of “freedom from constraints.”³

Creativity may begin in the dark, but it shouldn’t end there. Dim lights for brainstorming, bright lights for execution.

#2: Add Ambient Noise (~70 Decibels)

A study in the Journal of Consumer Research found moderate ambient noise — about 70 dB — is the sweet spot for creative thinking. Too quiet keeps you analytical; too loud overwhelms you.⁴

#3: Fuel Your Brain with Fruits, Not Cookies

Research by Dr. Tamlin Conner found people who ate more fruits and vegetables reported measurably higher creativity. A follow-up RCT showed fresh produce improved vitality within just 14 days.⁵

Train Your Creative Mindset

#4: Treat Creativity as a Skill, Not a Gift

IDEO’s Tom and David Kelley call this “creative confidence.” Their research found most adults who call themselves “not creative” had a specific childhood moment when someone told them their idea was wrong.⁶

Action Step: Reframe “I’m not creative” to “I haven’t practiced this yet.”

#5: Cultivate Curiosity

Psychologist George Loewenstein’s “information gap” theory: curiosity is triggered when we notice a gap between what we know and what we want to know.⁷

#6: Use Positive Affect to Unlock Creative Thinking

Psychologist Alice Isen found that people in a positive mood generated significantly more creative solutions. Positive emotions broaden your attentional scope, allowing more distant connections.⁸

#7: Reduce Stress to Unlock Your Creative Networks

Cortisol shuts down your prefrontal cortex and prevents your Default Mode Network from collaborating with your Executive Control Network.⁹ Walking, meditation, or stretching can lower cortisol within ~45 minutes.

Use Structured Creative Techniques

#8: Ask “Why” Five Times

The 5 Whys technique from Toyota forces you past surface-level thinking. The real creative opportunity almost always lives at Level 4 or 5.¹⁰

#9: Reframe the Problem

The elevator example: instead of “How do we speed up the elevator?” → “How might we make waiting feel shorter?” Solution: install mirrors in the lobby.

#10: Use Empathic Design

IDEO’s framework: Desirability (what people need), Feasibility (what’s possible), Viability (what’s sustainable).⁶

#11: Try Reverse Brainstorming

Instead of “How do we solve this?” ask “How could we make this problem worse?” Then reverse every answer into a solution.

Build Creative Habits Into Your Day

#12: Take Walking Breaks

Stanford researchers: walking increases creative output by an average of 60%. 81% of participants were more creative walking than sitting — and the boost persisted after sitting back down.¹¹

#13: Allow Incubation Time (The “Shower Effect”)

Graham Wallas (1926) called this the “incubation” stage.¹² Recent research calls this the “Shower Effect”: moderately engaging activities are better incubation triggers than doing nothing.¹³

Your best ideas arrive when you stop trying. Moderately engaging activities like walking or showering are better incubation triggers than doing nothing.

#14: Seek Diverse Perspectives

Inclusive teams make better decisions up to 87% of the time and deliver 60% better results. Companies with above-average diversity report 19 percentage points higher innovation revenue.¹⁴

#15: Embrace Experimentation (and Failure)

At X, The Moonshot Factory, teams receive bonuses for killing their own projects. Only 13% of companies describe themselves as “creative risk-friendly,” yet those brands are 33% more likely to see long-term revenue growth.¹⁵

Foster a Creative Workplace Culture

#16: Create Psychological Safety

Google’s Project Aristotle: psychological safety was the single most important factor in high-performing teams.¹⁶

#17: Start a “Failure Thread”

A shared doc where team members post experiments that didn’t work — and what they learned. Format: What did we try? What happened? What did we learn?

#18: Keep It Warm (Celebrate Small Wins)

Teresa Amabile’s “progress principle”: the single biggest driver of positive inner work life is making progress on meaningful work — even small progress.¹⁷

Creativity Frameworks: Quick Reference

The 4 P’s (Mel Rhodes, 1961): Person, Process, Press, Product.¹⁸

The 5 Stages (Graham Wallas, 1926): Preparation → Incubation → Illumination → Evaluation → Verification.¹²

The 5 Components (Teresa Amabile): Expertise, Creative Thinking Skills, Intrinsic Motivation, Social Environment, Innovation Process.¹⁷

Creative at Work Takeaway

1. Change one thing about your environment today. Dim the lights, add ambient noise, or swap cookies for fruit.
2. Practice one mindset shift this week. Reframe “I’m not creative” to “I haven’t practiced this yet.”
3. Try one structured technique in your next meeting. The 5 Whys, Reverse Brainstorming, or “How Might We.”
4. Build one creative habit. Walking breaks, incubation time, or seeking diverse perspectives.
5. Start one culture practice. Psychological safety, a Failure Thread, or Keep It Warm.

You were born creative — 98% of us were. These strategies help you reclaim what got trained out of you.

Frequently Asked Questions