Membership Change in Groups: Implications for Group Creativity

Choi, H-S. and Thompson, L. (eds.). Membership Change in Groups: Implications for Group Creativity. In Thompson, L. & Choi, H-S. (2006). Creativity and innovation in organizational teams. Mahwah: NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, p.87-108.

Abstract

Creativity is one of the most sought after of team skills and management competencies. A walk through a local bookstore suggests that creativity and innovation are experiencing nothing short of a heyday in the business world. In 2002 alone, over 25 books were launched on creativity and innovation, brandishing titles like Weird Ideas That Work: 11½ Ideas for Promoting, Managing and Sustaining Motivation (Sutton, 2002) and The Do It Yourself Lobotomy: Open Your Mind to Greater Creative Thinking (Monahan, 2002). In fact, since 1996, over 250 books on creativity and innovation have been released, each with their own take on creativity, ranging from jazz (e.g., Jamming; Kao, 1996) to the practices followed by a given company (e.g., The Art of Innovation; Kelley, 2001). A recent BusinessWeek issue article touted creativity as the single most important skill for new business era (July, 2002).