Small groups, open doors: Fostering individual and group creativity within research communities

While abundant publications attempt to analyze and understand what makes humans creative, much less attention is being paid to institutional conditions which may enhance or impede creative work. On the basis of evidence from Cambridge and AT&T's Bell Laboratories, and as a condensation of the Janelia Experiment, an institutional focus on "small groups" and "open doors" may foster individual and group creativity. The evidence suggests that small organizational units of up to seven scientists and open door concepts could nurture interactions within and between groups and enhance the critical mass for individual and group creativity.