Encouraging creative workers

It’s not all about sweetness, light and encouragement. Creativity can also be a reaction to:

• Limitations
• Constraints
• Challenges
• Failure

Watch Marjolein Caniels who says that constraints can help her be creative: 

In some interviews and training workshops, people are asked to make up songs, consider what type of food or animal they might be and why, and to generally participate in activities that are designed to foster creative thinking. There are many examples of when being able to think differently works in your favour, so it's worthwhile taking the time to practice. The following are examples of questions you could practice answering to help foster creativity:

• Pretend that you get to make one rule that everyone in the world must follow. What rule would you make? Why?
• You can have any three things that you want. In return you must give away three things that are about the same size as the things you get. What do you get and what do you give away?
• What are some ways you could celebrate "Backwards Day"?
• If you could choose one thing that costs money and make it free for everyone forever, what thing would you choose? Why?
• Design a traffic system that does not rely on coloured lights.
• What are the 10 most important jobs in the world? Do you want to do any of these jobs? Why / why not?
• If you could invent a new subject that would be taught to in school, what would the subject be? Why do you think children need to learn this subject?