2016
Article
Research in Organizational Behavior

The Dynamic Componential Model of Creativity and Innovation in Organizations: Making Progress, Making Meaning

By: Teresa M. Amabile and Michael G. Pratt

Format:Print

Abstract

Leveraging insights gained through a burgeoning research literature over the past 28 years, this paper presents a significant revision of the model of creativity and innovation in organizations published in Research in Organizational Behavior in 1988. This update focuses primarily on the individual-level psychological processes implicated in creativity that have been illuminated by recent research and highlights organizational work environment influences on those processes. We revisit basic assumptions underlying the 1988 model, modify certain components and causal connections, and introduce four new constructs into the model: (1) a sense of progress in creative idea development, (2) the meaningfulness of the work to those carrying it out, (3) affect, and (4) synergistic extrinsic motivation. Throughout, we propose ways in which the components underlying individual and team creativity can both influence and be influenced by organizational factors crucial to innovation.