According to a 16-year study by Idea Champions, only 3 percent of the 10,000 people they interviewed said that they come up with their best ideas at work. The other 97 percent said their best ideas come to them while they are in the shower, on vacation, taking walks, enjoying a glass of wine, or just doing nothing. While a highly structured, tightly scheduled workplace may foster productivity, a more relaxed, unstructured environment unlocks creativity.
Employers can extend this “creative space” by allowing flexibility in where and when people work, and by providing the collaboration and mobility tools to allow them to work anywhere, any time.
via The Workplace of the Future: Connected, Collaborative, Creative
This is a call for redesigning our physical, virtual, social and psychological work spaces for creativity. Notice that in each case where new ideas flowed more easily, people were more in the present than they normally are at work where presence is less prevalent. Spaces that bring about presence bring about creativity. Simple.