Publications

2013
Working Paper

Helping You Help Me: The Role of Diagnostic (In)congruence in the Helping Process within Organizations

By: Colin M. Fisher, Julianna Pillemer and Teresa M. Amabile

Through an inductive, multi-method field study at a major design firm, we investigated the helping process in project work and how that process affects the success of a helping episode, as perceived by help-givers and/or -receivers. We used daily diary entries and... View Details

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Knowledge Management; Performance; Cooperation

SSRN

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April 2001
Article

Beyond Talent: John Irving and the Passionate Craft of Creativity

By: T. M. Amabile

Although laypeople and creativity theorists often make the assumption that individual creativity depends primarily on talent, there is considerable evidence that hard work and intrinsic motivation-which can be supported or undermined by the social environment-also play... View Details

Keywords: Creativity; Performance; Performance Improvement; Motivation and Incentives; Personal Characteristics; Situation or Environment

January 2004 (Revised July 2007)
Case

Lumen and Absorb Teams at Crutchfield Chemical Engineering, The

By: Teresa M. Amabile and Elizabeth Schatzel

Large discrepancies have developed between two elite technology development teams at Crutchfield Chemical Engineering in terms of motivation and creativity. To investigate, Paul Burke, director of corporate technology development, commissioned a study of the day-by-day... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Managerial Roles; Projects; Groups and Teams; Behavior; Creativity; Motivation and Incentives

November 2007 (Revised May 2008)
Case

Creativity under the Gun at Litmus Corporation

By: Teresa M. Amabile and Yana Litovsky

Teaches students to diagnose the circumstances under which time pressure can facilitate or hinder creativity. A team's creative "genius", Miles Grady, who previously conceptualized a revolutionary material for an important new product, must now significantly change... View Details

Keywords: Situation or Environment; Creativity; Innovation and Management; Problems and Challenges

26 Sep 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, September 26, 2017

https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=52652 In Pursuit of Everyday Creativity By: Amabile, Teresa M. Abstract—Creativity researchers have long paid careful attention to individual creativity,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2022
Article

The Turn Toward Creative Work

By: Spencer Harrison, Elizabeth D. Rouse, Colin M. Fisher and Teresa M. Amabile

In this Academy of Management Collections essay, we curate a set of articles from the Academy of Management family of journals that showcase the evolution of creativity research within organizational scholarship. The articles reveal a shift from the study of... View Details

Keywords: Creative Work; Creative Process; Creativity; Organizational Culture

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02 Aug 2011
First Look

First Look: August 2

PublicationsThe Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work Authors:Teresa M. Amabile and Steven J. Kramer Publication:Harvard Business Press, 2011 Abstract The... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

July 1995 (Revised April 1996)
Case

Cambridge Technology Partners (A)

By: Teresa M. Amabile, George P. Baker III and Michael Beer

Cambridge Technology Partners uses a highly innovative product strategy, supported by a human resources strategy, that has been very successful. However, high growth rates jeopardize product quality while tension about relative compensation levels between sales and... View Details

Keywords: Growth Management; Compensation and Benefits; Organizational Culture; Quality; Human Resources; Relationships; Innovation and Invention; Consulting Industry; Massachusetts

January 2012
Article

How Leaders Kill Meaning at Work

By: Teresa Amabile and Steven J. Kramer

Senior executives routinely undermine creativity, productivity, and commitment by damaging the inner work lives of their employees in four avoidable ways. This article is based on analysis of hundreds of work diaries from professionals describing everyday events that... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Creativity; Performance Productivity; Motivation and Incentives; Innovation Strategy; Performance; Strategic Planning; Leading Change; Balanced Scorecard; Mission and Purpose

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16 Jul 2013
First Look

First Look: July 16

Colin M., Julianna Pillemer, and Teresa M. Amabile Abstract—Through an inductive, multi-method field study at a major design firm, we investigated the helping process in... View Details

Keywords: Anna Secino

05 Feb 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, February 5, 2019

January 2019 Perspectives on Psychological Science Educating Leaders Who Make a Difference in the World By: Amabile, Teresa M. Abstract— No abstract available. Publisher's link:... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

April 2025
Article

Transitioning Into Retirement: The Interplay of Self and Life Structure

By: Marcy Crary, Douglas T. (Tim) Hall, Kathy E. Kram, Teresa M. Amabile and Lotte Bailyn

This paper explores the psychological, social, and behavioral ways in which professionals end their corporate careers and reorient themselves and their lives in the transition from employment to retirement. Framed within life course theory, specifically the adult... View Details

Keywords: Retirement; Behavior; Transition; Identity

05 Feb 2008
First Look

First Look: February 5, 2008

both across and within firms. The cost to employees of loyalty is large, and can amount to nearly a 20 percent loss in retirement income. Creativity, Improvisation, and Organizations Authors:Colin M. Fisher and T. View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

January 2005 (Revised August 2006)
Case

Lean Forward Media

By: Teresa M. Amabile and Victoria Winston

Jeff Norton and Michelle Crames, the co-founders of Lean Forward Media, face several options for producing the world's first interactive DVD film for children. Their vision is to build a company whose products simultaneously entertain children, engage them actively in... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Early Childhood Education; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Management Practices and Processes; Risk Management; Partners and Partnerships; Opportunities; Creativity

14 Feb 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research: February 14

2016 Scientists Making a Difference: One Hundred Eminent Behavioral and Brain Scientists Talk about Their Most Important Contributions The Motivation for Creativity By: Amabile, Teresa M. Abstract—Scientists... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

18 Feb 2014
First Look

First Look: February 18

markets place on the pinnacle of quality, the enduring nature of reputation, and the effect of endogenous quality choices on status effect estimates. August 2013 American Psychologist J. Richard Hackman (1940-2013) By: Wageman, Ruth, and View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

08 May 2007
First Look

First Look: May 8, 2007

it matter, in terms of performance, if people have more good days than bad days? Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer's new stream of research, based on more than 12,000 diary entries logged View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

February 1985
Article

Motivation and Creativity: Effects of Motivational Orientation on Creative Writers

By: T. M. Amabile

72 members of the college community who identified themselves as actively involved in creative writing participated in individual laboratory sessions, in which they were asked to write 2 brief poems, to investigate the hypothesis that intrinsic motivation is conducive... View Details

Keywords: Social Psychology; Creativity; Motivation and Incentives; Performance; Personal Characteristics; Situation or Environment