Rice University | Explore Rice

1/15/2007

Coming to work in a bad mood just may be a good idea. As it turns out, those perennially happy, smiling employees may not be the most creative or productive at the office. According to research by Rice University Associate Professor Jing Zhou, creativity is at its highest when a mix of negative and positive moods is supported in the workplace, an idea that challenges traditional management thinking.

Bad moods and negative attitudes have gotten a bad rap at work. For years, negativity has been considered an unavoidable — and unfortunate — part of organizational life; something that should be minimized, criticized, even stamped out. But if you want creativity that leads to innovation in your workplace, those naturally occurring bad moods can play a fruitful role; in fact, they’re necessary to make things better. It happens when you have the right kind of supervisory support, according to Jing Zhou, associate professor of management at Rice University’s Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management.

What is the big message to businesses and managers from your research?

Negative moods should not be viewed as detrimental. They should be understood and treated as a necessary part of the creative process. I’m not advocating that managers go out and promote bad moods. But bad moods occur naturally, and when they do, managers should use these opportunities to encourage employees to identify potential problems and think of ways to improve things.

How can a bad mood be used for good?

With the right support, a bad mood alerts us to shortfalls and motivates us to work really hard to identify and correct problems. A sense of dissatisfaction with the status quo, with the way things are right now, can push people to develop ideas and find creative solutions. That happens in the workplace if the environment allows it.

Where does a good mood fit into the creative process?

Positive moods inform us that all is going well at the moment. So we’re not so focused on the here and now. We feel very confident, and this frees us to think more expansively. As our thoughts broaden, we come up with new strategies, long-range plans and novel ideas, often lots of them.

So positive moods and negative moods really interact to influence creativity?

Exactly. Both mood states have the potential to contribute to creativity in important and different ways. Managers should embrace this concept and understand how to support this duality. Good and bad moods should not be treated in isolation from each other because they work jointly to promote creativity. And creativity is a necessary precursor to innovation, which is increasingly recognized as critical for organizational effectiveness.

Can employees achieve this balance of creativity without management support?

Our research very clearly points out that supervisory support is a key component. Without it, creativity levels will not be as strong. When supervisors provide a supportive environment, good and bad moods have the strongest, positive links to creativity.

What’s your advice to managers?

From our research, we suggest three ways that supervisors can support creativity. The first is to provide development feedback. Give employees useful and valuable information that is focused on learning, development and performance improvement. When employees are in positive moods, this helps them take advantage of their expansive and playful thinking and focus on the development of new ideas. When they’re in bad moods, developmental feedback helps employees approach and solve problems with a proactive, improvement-oriented focus.

The second way to support creativity is something we call interactional justice. This means being forthcoming with relevant knowledge and information about job-related decisions — including why these decisions are being made. This shows a real sensitivity and respect to employees. It also helps employees feel safe, which gives them the freedom to take risks no matter how they’re feeling. And risk taking, a scary thing for people to do at work, is how creativity happens.
Third, managers need to prove themselves to be trustworthy. When employees are in positive moods, trust in their supervisors gives them the confidence that it is worthwhile to pursue new ideas because their supervisors can be depended upon to take them seriously. When employees are in negative moods, trust in their supervisors provides the reassurance that their supervisors have the dedication and knowledge to appreciate their efforts to discover and address problems and areas for improvement.

For more information, contact Jing Zhou at jzhou@rice.edu or Laura Hubbard of the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management at lhubbard@rice.edu.