In organizations, teams are often charged with generating new ideas. This book provides insights into two questions related to creativity in teams. What processes are in play when creativity emerges? What are the conditions that enable creativity within teams? Participants in groups develop new ideas through collaboration and learning. One pattern is for members to engage in dialogue with socially influenced new ideas coming from their work. Another pattern is the development of socially constructed ideas that emerge as a product of the group''s interaction. While functional group dynamics and having a purpose are important, additional conditions within the groups provide the fertile ground upon which creative groups'' ideas grow. Creative teams display a set of facilitating conditions that enable new idea generation. Professionals in training and development, team coaching and OD will find this information useful as they develop organization members'' abilities to engage in creativity in the group environment. In addition, practitioners who are expected to generate new, creative solutions will gain insights into how they can contribute more effectively to their groups.

Elizabeth Watson, MBA, EdD, Associate Professor Rider University, earned her doctorate at Teachers College, Columbia University in NYC. She studies social creativity and the link between higher order cognition and adult learning. Prior to her work in the university setting, she was Director of Marketing for an international pharmaceutical firm.