Stephan, Ute

Wach, Dominika

Wegge, Jürgen

Weinberger, Eva

LSE Research Online

Rest	and	constructive	thinking	feed	entrepreneurs’creativityCreativity	–	the	generation	of	new	and	useful	ideas	–	is	seen	as	essential	for	entrepreneurship.	Entrepreneurs	needto	be	creative	day	in	and	out	to	navigate	the	uncertainties,	constraints	and	challenges	that	starting,	growing	andmanaging	a	business	involves.	Anita	Roddick,	founder	of	the	Body	Shop,	once	said:	“Nobody	talks	aboutentrepreneurship	as	survival,	but	that’s	exactly	what	it	is	and	what	nurtures	creative	thinking.”	Creativity	is	importantfor	finding	the	“big	breakthrough	ideas”	for	business	opportunities	and	firm	innovations	as	well	as	for	tackling	theeveryday	challenges	of	entrepreneurial	work	such	as	managing	human	and	financial	resources.Researchers	and	practitioners	typically	treat	entrepreneurs’	creativity	as	an	in-born	personality	trait	that	is	stable	overone’s	lifetime.	This	implies	that	people	deeming	themselves	to	be	less	creative	might	refrain	from	entrepreneurialactivities,	because	they	think	and	are	being	told	they	do	not	to	have	the	right	skills	to	be	an	entrepreneur.Our	research	proposes	that	creativity	is	not	as	fixed	as	often	assumed.	Instead	we	see	creativity	as	a	skill	that	can,	atleast	in	part,	be	nurtured.	Such	a	view	on	creativity	entails	that	it	is	changeable	and	may	be	influenced	by	factors	thatthe	entrepreneur	can	control.	Specifically,	we	investigated	the	drivers	that	make	one	day	more	creative	than	another.Considering	that	entrepreneurs’	work	is	highly	stressful	and	demanding,	we	expected	that	their	strategies	to	recoverfrom	work	during	leisure	time	to	have	an	important	role.	Recovery	from	work	helps	to	“recharge	one’s	batteries”	and	itmay	enhance	entrepreneurs’	creativity.We	predicted	different	effects	for	physiological	and	mental	recovery.	First,	good	night-time	sleep	is	an	essentialindicator	of	physiological	recovery	that	may	fuel	creativity.	High	quality	sleep	enables	incubation	processes	duringwhich	creative	ideas	are	developed	unconsciously.	Second,	mental	recovery	after	work	in	the	form	of	constructivethinking	about	one’s	work	may	similarly	pave	the	way	for	creative	solutions	for	entrepreneurs’	business.In	particular,	we	predicted	beneficial	effects	for	entrepreneurs’	creativity	for	so-called	work-related	problem-solvingpondering,	but	not	for	work-related	affective	rumination	which	refers	to	repetitive	thinking	and	comes	along	withnegative	feelings.	In	other	words,	pondering	problems	may	benefit	creativity	but	only	if	it	is	not	associated	withfeeling	worried,	anxious,	and	tense	(affective	rumination).We	worked	with	62	entrepreneurs	who	wore	an	actigraphic	device	around	their	wrist	to	measure	their	night-timesleep	quality	for	twelve	days.	Each	evening,	we	contacted	the	entrepreneurs	individually	for	telephone	interviews.We	assessed	their	creativity	experienced	during	their	working	day	and	their	engagement	in	problem-solvingpondering	after	work.	We	also	collected	information	on	a	range	of	control	variables,	for	further	details	see	our	study.LSE Business Review: Rest and constructive thinking feed entrepreneurs’ creativity Page 1 of 3		Date originally posted: 2018-04-12Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2018/04/12/rest-and-constructive-thinking-feed-entrepreneurs-creativity/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/We	found	that	creativity	varies	for	each	entrepreneur	on	a	daily	basis.	Thus,	entrepreneurs	experience	changes	intheir	daily	creativity	and	are	more	creative	on	some	days	and	less	creative	on	other	days.	Critically,	these	dailyfluctuations	in	creativity	are	much	more	pronounced	and	substantial	than	creativity	differences	between	individualentrepreneurs.	Day-to-day	fluctuations	explain	about	77	per	cent	and	individual	differences	between	entrepreneursaccount	for	23	per	cent	for	the	total	variation	in	daily	creativity	observed	in	our	study.We	find	that	physiological	and	mental	recovery	are	indeed	drivers	of	entrepreneurs’	daily	creativity.	Good	night-timesleep	is	beneficial	for	entrepreneurs’	next	day’s	creativity.	Furthermore,	we	find	differences	between	entrepreneurs:entrepreneurs	who	tend	to	ponder	work	problems	in	their	leisure	time	are	more	creative	than	those	who	tend	to“switch	off”	from	work.We	also	explored	the	effects	of	age	on	creativity.	There	is	a	common	stereotype	that	older	workers	and	by	extensionentrepreneurs	are	less	creative.	We	found	indeed	that	older	entrepreneurs	were	less	creative	compared	to	youngerentrepreneurs.	However,	our	findings	suggest	that	this	may	be	a	choice	rather	than	a	biological	inevitability.	Olderentrepreneurs	spend	less	of	their	leisure	time	with	pondering	work	problems	and	hence	generate	fewer	creativeideas	than	younger	entrepreneurs.Taken	together,	our	study	highlights	that	creativity	is	malleable	and	not	as	fixed	as	often	assumed.	This	finding	isimportant	for	policymakers,	business	support	consultants	and	educators.	It	means	that	they	can	support	potential	andexisting	entrepreneurs	to	enhance	their	creativity	for	instance	through	developing	tailored	strategies	of	recovery	fromwork	stress.Entrepreneurs	can	also	self-regulate	their	recovery	and	influence	their	creativity	accordingly.	For	instance,entrepreneurs	might	strive	for	good	sleep	quality	and	avoid	sleep	problems	(e.g.,	by	listening	to	relaxing	music	priorto	bedtime	or	by	practicing	yoga).	They	may	consult	health	advisors	if	they	notice	severe	sleep	problems.	Ourfindings	also	show	that	thinking	about	work	in	a	constructive	and	emotionally-neutral	way	during	leisure	time	hasbeneficial	effects	on	their	creativity,	and	helps	to	make	sense	of	some	conflicting	findings	regarding	detachment	andcreativity	in	the	literature.We	hope	to	inspire	future	work	on	entrepreneurs’	recovery	–	recovery	is	a	strategy	under	the	control	of	theentrepreneurs	and	likely	a	key	tool	for	entrepreneurs’	to	deal	with	their	stressful	jobs.♣♣♣Notes:This	blog	post	is	based	on	the	authors’	paper	Having	a	creative	day:	Understanding	entrepreneurs’	daily	ideageneration	through	a	recovery	lens,	Journal	of	Business	Venturing,	2018The	post	gives	the	views	of	its	authors,	not	the	position	of	LSE	Business	Review	or	the	London	School	ofEconomics.Featured	image	credit:	Photo	by	Gift	Habeshaw	on	UnsplashWhen	you	leave	a	comment,	you’re	agreeing	to	our	Comment	Policy.Eva	Weinberger	is	Lecturer	in	Entrepreneurship	at	the	Aston	Business	School,	UK.			Dominika	Wach	is	Senior	Lecturer	in	Work	and	Organizational	Psychology	at	the	TU	Dresden(Technische	Universität	Dresden)	in	Germany.		LSE Business Review: Rest and constructive thinking feed entrepreneurs’ creativity Page 2 of 3		Date originally posted: 2018-04-12Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2018/04/12/rest-and-constructive-thinking-feed-entrepreneurs-creativity/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/Ute	Stephan	is	Professor	at	Aston	Business	School,	the	Director	of	the	Aston	Centre	for	Researchinto	International	Entrepreneurship	and	Business	(ACRIEB)	and	Editor-in-Chief	of	Applied	Psychology.		Jürgen	Wegge	is	full	professor	of	Work	and	Organizational	Psychology	and	chair	of	the	Center	forDemography	and	Diversity	(CDD)	at	the	TU	Dresden	(Technische	Universität	Dresden)	in	Germany.				LSE Business Review: Rest and constructive thinking feed entrepreneurs’ creativity Page 3 of 3		Date originally posted: 2018-04-12Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2018/04/12/rest-and-constructive-thinking-feed-entrepreneurs-creativity/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/

Rest and constructive thinking feed entrepreneurs' creativity

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Rest and constructive thinking feed entrepreneurs' creativity

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