Creativity in the workplace has become a critical driver of organizational resilience, adaptability, and inclusion. In the face of rapid technological change, shifting labor markets, and growing socio-political complexity, organizations must continually evolve to thrive. Creative work practices, such as idea generation, experimentation, collaborative problem-solving, and strategic reframing, not only fuel innovation and high performance but also support employee well-being and buffer against workplace strain. At the individual level, creativity-related resources like self-efficacy and emotion regulation, along with social capabilities such as political skill and contributions to psychological safety, are essential. At the team level, inclusive leadership and learning-oriented climates are associated with more effective creative processes, greater adaptability, and improved team health.
Despite these advances, our understanding remains fragmented. Existing research often fails to connect micro-level creativity mechanisms with the team routines and broader organizational structures that sustain innovation. Questions linger regarding how to design equitable and inclusive environments that broaden participation in creative endeavors. Emerging challenges around hybrid and remote arrangements further complicate how organizations can support and fairly distribute creative opportunities, avoid the erosion of creative bandwidth, and address possible trade-offs between creativity and well-being.
This Research Topic aims to position creativity as the primary mechanism driving workplace resilience, agility, innovation and inclusive performance. It seeks to clarify how specific creativity practices and psychological resources produce adaptive outcomes at individual and team levels, examine boundary conditions—including time pressure, psychological safety, and identity dynamics—that may alternately enhance or strain well-being, and translate current theory into scalable interventions, tools, and metrics. By connecting evidence with actionable practice, the topic invites contributions that address the complexities and emerging questions facing modern organizations, with an emphasis on inclusive participation and practical impact.
Focusing strictly on creativity mechanisms, routines, and enabling conditions at the individual and team level within the workplace, this Research Topic excludes research on consumer behavior, macro strategy, or finance unless directly tied to employee or team creative practices. We encourage submissions addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:
Core creativity processes and practices: mechanisms of idea generation, incubation, insight, and elaboration; routines that cultivate divergent and convergent thinking; constraint-as-catalyst effects; individual and team-level practices (e.g., brainstorming variants, brainwriting, design sprints, structured reflection, creative micro-breaks); and conditions that enable creative flow, persistence, and recombination in day-to-day work
• Human–AI collaboration in workplace creativity: how generative/assistive AI shapes idea generation and evaluation, optimal human–AI role division, effective prompting and workflows, bias-aware and ethical use, and effects on ownership, motivation, trust, and team coordination. • The impact of psychological resources such as self-efficacy, growth mindset, optimism, and grit on creative ideation and learning from failure • Social intelligence, political skill, and social capital as drivers of idea implementation and creative influence within teams • Well-being dynamics: when and how creative roles buffer stress or contribute to exhaustion, and protective routines that support sustainable engagement • Mechanisms expanding access to creative work and recognition for marginalized or underrepresented employees • Leadership behaviors and team climates—such as psychological safety, learning orientation, and inclusive leadership—that foster team-level creativity and agility • Micro-routines and interventions for hybrid/remote teams to sustain creative output, promote learning, and support well-being • The influence of power, status, and informal networks on creative idea selection and team or organizational adaptation
Methods spanning multilevel and longitudinal research, experimental interventions, social network analysis, and cross-cultural or DEI-focused inquiry integrating major theoretical frameworks
We welcome Original Research, Systematic Reviews, Meta-Analyses, Brief Research Reports, Conceptual or Theoretical Papers, Registered Reports, Practice Notes, and Intervention Case Studies with rigorous methodology and measurable outcomes. Studies centered on consumer behavior, financial decision-making, macro-strategy, or non-work contexts, as well as clinical mental health treatments outside organizational settings, are excluded.
Article types and fees
This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:
Brief Research Report
Conceptual Analysis
Data Report
Editorial
FAIR² Data
FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
General Commentary
Hypothesis and Theory
Methods
Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.
Article types
This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:
Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
