Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Key Factors of Creativity and the Art of Collaboration in Twenty-First-Century Workspaces

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Thriving in Digital Workspaces

Abstract

According to the Chinese Admiral Zheng He, the Art of Collaboration is guided by the principle “Know your collaborators, know yourself”. This principle grows in importance when we take the rapid changes in workplaces—the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR)—in global and local contexts into account. In this chapter, it is argued that not only intra- and interpersonal knowledge is needed to collaborate. It is contended that the Art of Collaboration in the twenty-first century needs a theoretical foundation which takes the strengths as well as the weaknesses of new ways of collaboration into account. These strengths and weaknesses, in addition, must not be limited to cognitive and experienced-based knowledge, but need to be expanded to the exploration of emotions and collaborative behaviour as well. Creativity, therefore, becomes a key factor in the art of collaboration in the Industry 4.0 workspaces. The positive psychology Wave II (PP 2.0) is viewed as providing a valuable foundation to work together creatively, peacefully and effectively across diverse cultural contexts. In this chapter, key factors of creativity and the Art of Collaboration will be reflected on cognitive, affective and behavioural levels. Selected examples will be discussed taking present collaborative challenges on global and local levels into account, such as growing intersections of nationality, culture and gender, the transformation of negative experienced emotions and the importance of collaborative behaviour during the breakthrough of the 4IR. Responses towards these challenges will be discussed. Conclusions and recommendations will be presented for future discourses on creativity and the Art of Collaboration in digital workspaces in the twenty-first century.

It is in collaboration that the nature of art is revealed.

Steve Lacy (1934–2004), US-American Saxophonist and Composer

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Baer, J., & Kaufman, J. C. (2006). Creativity research in English-speaking countries. In J. C. Kaufman & R. J. Sternberg (Eds.), The international handbook of creativity (pp. 10–38). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Bennett, M. J. (2017). Online debate. Has multiculturalism in the West reached its limit? Email communication, 30.4.2017.

    Google Scholar 

  • Biron, C., & Karanika-Murray, M. (2014). Process evaluation for organizational stress and well-being interventions: Implications for theory, method, and practice. International Journal of Stress Management, 21(1), 85–111. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0033227.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Biron, C., Karanika-Murray, M., & Cooper, C. L. (2012). Improving organizational interventions for stress and well-being: Addressing process and context. New York: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Chaudhry, A. A., & Saif, M. I. (2012). Presence and potential of emotional intelligence (EI) in organizational settings. African Journal of Business Management, 6(20), 6117–6122.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chumg, H.-F., Cookie, L., Fry, J., & Hung, I.-H. (2015). Factors affecting knowledge sharing in the virtual organisation: Employees’ sense of well-being as a mediating effect. Computers in Human Behaviour, 44, 70–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coates, K. S., & Morrison, B. (2016). Dream factories. Why universities won’t solve the youth job crisis. Toronto: Dundurn.

    Google Scholar 

  • Compton, W. C., & Hoffman, E. (2019). Positive psychology: The science of happiness and flourishing (3rd ed.). Belmond, CA: Wadsworth.

    Google Scholar 

  • Csíkszentmihályi, M. (2014). The systems model of creativity. The collected works of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dalcher, D. (2018). Working in the shadows: Exposing our inner demons. PM World Journal, 7(4), 1–7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dean, M., & Spoehr, J. (2018). The fourth industrial revolution and the future of manufacturing work in Australia: Challenges and opportunities. Labour & Industry: A Journal of the Social and Economic Relations of Work. https://doi.org/10.1080/10301763.2018.1502644.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fincham, F. D., & Beach, S. R. H. (2010). Marriage in the new millennium: A decade in review. Journal of Marriage and Family, 72(3), 630–649.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frederickson, B. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-& build theory of positive emotions. The American Psychologist, 56(3), 218–226.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • George, G., Khayesi, J. N. O., & Haas, M. R. T. (2016). Bringing Africa in: Promising directions for management research. Academy of Management Journal, 59(2), 377–393. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2016.4002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glăveanu, V. P. (2015). Creativity as a sociocultural act. The Journal of Creative Behavior, 49(3), 165–180. https://doi.org/10.1002/jocb.94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goleman, D. (1998). Working with emotional intelligence. London: Bloomsbury Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grandey, A., Diefendorff, J., & Rupp, D. E. (2013). Emotional labor in the 21st century: Diverse perspectives on emotion regulation work. New York: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Grant, A. M. (2007). Enhancing coaching skills and emotional intelligence through training. Individual Commercial Training, 39(5), 257–266. https://doi.org/10.1108/00197850710761945.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gruman, J. A., Lumley, M. N., & González-Morales, M. G. (2018). Incorporating balance: Challenges and opportunities for positive psychology. Canadian Psychology, 59(1), 54–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guerra Guerra, A. (2019). Organizational transformation and managing innovation in the fourth industrial revolution. Hershey, PA: IGI Global.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Henriksen, D., Mishra, P., & Fisser, P. (2016). Infusing creativity and technology in 21st century education: A systemic view for change. Educational Technology & Society, 19(3), 27–37.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hilgers, M. (2013). Scham. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hinds, P., Liu, L., & Lyon, J. (2011). Putting the global in global work: An intercultural lens on the practice of cross-national collaboration. Academy of Management Annals, 5(1), 135–188. https://doi.org/10.1080/19416520.2011.586108.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hum, S. H. (2011). Zheng He’s art of collaboration. Understanding the legendary Chinese admiral from management perspective. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Idan, O., Braun-Lewensohn, O., & Sagy, S. (2013). Qualitative, sense of coherence-based assessment of working conditions in a psychiatric in-patient unit to guide salutgenic interventions. In G. F. Bauer & G. J. Jenny (Eds.), Salutogenic organizations and change: The concepts behind organizational health intervention research (pp. 55–74). New York: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Ivtzan, I., Lomas, T. Hefferon, K., & Worth, P. (2016). Second wave positive psychology. Embracing the dark side of life. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johannessen, J.-A. (2019). The workplace of the future: The Fourth revolution, the Precariat and the death of hierarchies. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jonck, P., & Swanepoel, E. (2015). Exploring the theoretical link between cultural and emotional intelligence: A system analysis for human resource management. South African Journal of Business Management, 46(4), 77–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jung, C. G. (2014). The archetypes and the collective unconscious. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kauffman, C., & Scoular, A. (2004). Toward a positive psychology of executive coaching. In P. A. Linley & S. Joseph (Eds.), Positive psychology in practice (pp. 287–302). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lazovic, S. (2012). The role and importance of emotional intelligence in knowledge management. Paper presented at the ‘Management, Knowledge and Learning International Conference’, 20–22 June, Celje, Slovenia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, J., Bagheri, B., & Kao, H. A. (2015). A cyber-physical systems architecture for Industry 4.0-based manufacturing systems. Manufacturing Letters, 3, 18–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lerner, J. S., Li, Y., Valdesolo, P., & Kassam, K. S. (2015). Emotion and decision making. Annual Review of Psychology, 66, 799–823.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Linley, P. A., Joseph, S., Harrington, S., & Wood, A. M. (2006). Positive psychology: Past, present, and (possible) future. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 1(1), 3–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760500372796.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lomas, T. (2016). The positive power of negative emotions: How harnessing your darker feelings can help you see a brighter dawn. London, England: Piatkus.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ludewig, K. (2005). Einführung in die theoretischen Grundlagen der systemischen Therapie. Heidelberg: Carl Auer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Luhmann, N. (2001). Soziale Systeme. Grundriss einer allgemeinen Theorie. Frankfurt/M: Suhrkamp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayer, C.-H. (2011). The meaning of sense of coherence in transcultural management. Internationale Hochschulschriften Series. Münster: Waxmann.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayer, C.-H. (2017). Shame—”A soul feeding emotion”: Archetypal work and the transformation of the shadow of shame in a group development process. In E. Vanderheiden & C.-H. Mayer (Eds.), The value of shame—Exploring a health resource in cultural contexts (pp. 277–302). Cham, Switzerland: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayer, C.-H., Boness, C. M., & Louw, L. (2017a). Chinese managers’ views on cooperating with Tanzanian employees in a Chinese organisation in Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania. Poster presentation at the European Congress of Psychology, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 11–14 July 2017.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayer, C.-H., Boness, C. M. & Louw, L. (2017b). Perceptions of Chinese and Tanzanian employees regarding intercultural colloboration. South African Journal of Human Resource Management, 15, 11 pp. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajhrm.v15i0.921.

  • Mayer, C.-H., Boness, C., Louw, L., & Louw, T. (2016). Intra- and inter-group perceptions of Chinese and Tanzanian employees in intercultural cooperation. 28th SAIMS (The Southern Africa Institute for Management Scientists) conference “Managing in Resource Restricted Times: Make Everyday Matter”, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa, 4–7 September 2016.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayer, C.-H., Surtee, S., & May, M. (2015). The meaning of work for a diverse group of women working in higher education institutions. South African Journal of Higher Education, 29(6), 182–205.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayer, C.-H., & Tonelli, L. (2017). “Dream on—There is no salvation!”: Transforming shame in the South African workplace through personal and organisational strategies. In Vanderheiden, E., & Mayer, C.-H. (Eds.), The value of shame. Exploring a health resource in cultural contexts (pp. 135–156). Cham, Switzerland: Springer International.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayer, C.-H., & Vanderheiden, E. (2019). The bright side of shame. Transforming shame in cultural contexts. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International (in Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayer, C.-H., Vanderheiden, E., & Oosthuizen, R. (2019). Transforming shame, guilt and anxiety through a salutogenic PP1.0 and PP2.0 counselling framework. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 29(1), 1–17. https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/udNsNQC2anH5qp9YZzSZ/full?target=10.1080/09515070.2019.1609421.

  • Mayer, C.-H., & Viviers, R. (2016). Systemic thinking and transcultural approaches in coaching psychology: Introducing a new coaching framework. In Zyl, L. E., Stander, M. W., & Odendaal, A. (Eds.), Coaching psychology: Meta-theoretical perspectives and applications in multi-cultural contexts (pp. 205–230). Cham: Springer International Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayer, C.-H., & Walach, H. (2018). Workplace spirituality in contemporary South Africa. In S. K. Dhiman, G. E. Roberts, & J. Crossman (Eds.), The Palgrave handbook of workplace spirituality and fulfillment (pp. 1070–1094). New York: Palgrave Macmillian. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61929-3_41-1.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morley, L. (2013). The rules of the game: Women and the leaderist turn in higher education. Gender and Education, 25(1), 116–131.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oeji, P., Rus, D., & Pot, F. (2017). Workplace Innovation: Theory, Research and Practice. Cham: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oxford Dictionary. (2018). Collaboration. https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/collaboration.

  • Palti, I. (2017). Creativity will be the source of our next industrial revolution, not machines. Quartz, 11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenbaum, M. (1990). Learned resourcefulness: On coping skills, self-control and adaptive behaviour. New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rothmann, S., & Cilliers, F. V. N. (2007). Present challenges and some critical issues for research in industrial/organisational psychology in South Africa. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, 33(1), 8–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Runco, M. (2015). Meta-creativity: Being creative about creativity. Creativity Research Journal, 27(3), 295–298.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwab, K. (2017). The fourth industrial revolution. London: Penguin Random House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seligman, M.E.P., & Csikszentimihalyi, M. (2000). Positive psychology: An introduction. American Psychologist, 55, 5-14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seligman, M. E. P., Steen, T. A., Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2005). Positive psychology progress: Empirical validation of interventions. American Psychologist, 60, 410–421.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stacey, R. D. (2007). Strategic management and organisational dynamics: The challenge of complexity to ways of thinking about organisations. London: Pearson education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sternberg, R. J. (2000). Handbook of intelligence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Sternberg, R. J. (2005). The theory of successful intelligence. Interamerican Journal of Psychology, 39(2), 189–202.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sternberg, R. J., & Lubart, T. I. (1995). Defying the crowd: Cultivating creativity in a culture of conformity. New York: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stubbings, C. (2018). Workforce of the future: The competing forces shaping 2030. PwC. https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/services/people-organisation/publications/workforce-of-the-future.html.

  • Vanderheiden, E., & Mayer, C.-H. (2017). The value of shame—Exploring a health resource in cultural contexts. Cham, Switzerland: Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Vanderheiden, E., & Mayer, C. -H. (2019). The double spell of shame. Existential Positive Psychology (PP2.0). Positive Living Newspaper, 27 March 2019. https://www.meaning.ca/article/the-double-spell-of-shame/?mc_cid=b38bb19b6b&mc_eid=aa17cc013e.

  • Von Schlippe, A., & Schweitzer, J. (2010). Systemische Interventionen (2nd ed.). Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wong, P. T. P. (2011). Positive psychology 2.0: Towards a balanced interactive model of the good life. Canadian Psychology, 52, 69–81.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wong, P. T. P. (2015). What is second wave positive psychology and why is it necessary? http://www.drpaulwong.com/what-is-second-wave-positive-psychology-and-why-is-it-necessary/.

  • Wong, P. T. P. (2017). Meaning-centered approach to research and therapy, second wave positive psychology, and the future of humanistic psychology. The Humanistic Psychologist, 45(3), 207-216.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wong, P. T. P. (2017). The positive psychology of shame and the theory of PP2.0. http://www.drpaulwong.com/the-positive-psychology-of-shame-and-the-theory-of-pp20/. Accessed June 20, 2018.

  • Wong, P. T. P. (2019). From shame to wholeness: An existential positive psychology perspective—A foreword. In C.-H. Mayer & E. Vanderheiden (Eds.), The bright side of shame. Transforming shame in cultural contexts. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International (in Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Wong, P. T. P., Ivtzan, I., & Lomas, T. (2017). Good work: A meaning-centred approach. In L. G. Oades, M. F. Steger, A. Delle Fave, & J. Passmore (Eds.), The Wiley Blackwell handbook of the psychology of positivity and strengths-based approaches at work (pp. 233–247). West Sussex, UK: Wiley Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Industrial Psychology and People Management, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Claude-Hélène Mayer

  2. Institut für Therapeutische Kommunikation und Sprachgebrauch, Europa Universität Viadrina, Logenstrasse 11, 15230, Frankfurt (Oder), Germany

    Claude-Hélène Mayer

Authors
  1. Claude-Hélène Mayer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Claude-Hélène Mayer .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Industrial and Organisational Psychology, University of South Africa, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa

    Melinde Coetzee

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Mayer, CH. (2019). Key Factors of Creativity and the Art of Collaboration in Twenty-First-Century Workspaces. In: Coetzee, M. (eds) Thriving in Digital Workspaces. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24463-7_8

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation