by Justin Ferguson, Ph.D., Lead Strategist, and Steve Barber, Senior Architect, BHDP Architecture
Innovation, the desired outcome of the discovery process, is not typically conceived in a silo. It comes from the many diverse direct and indirect interactions of people. In turn, space, or better yet, “places,” need to be designed to enable and support such interactions. Today, companies focused on discovery and science are realizing the benefits of creating places for people to collaborate and innovate together, whether it’s in the lab, the office, or at the coffee machine.
Innovation in the laboratory
Lab spaces represent a place of work and focus, but they are not the only areas where innovation happens. In fact, research shows that other kinds of activity play important roles in creativity. A 2014 article in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience suggests that doing an undemanding task that is very different from the main task provides the most creative benefits. Similarly, a 2020 study in the Journal of Vocational Behavior found that when people participated in casual leisure activities that had high similarity to their jobs or more serious leisure activities that were unlike their jobs, they were more likely to see benefits to their self-efficacy.
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