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Creative workplace characteristics and innovative start-up companies

Young S. Lee,
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Facilities, Vol. 34 Issue: 7/8, pp.413-432, doi: 10.1108/F-06-2014-0054
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Creative workplace Creative

workplace
characteristics and innovative characteristics
start-up companies
Young S. Lee 413
School of Planning, Design and Construction, Michigan State University,
Received 19 June 2014
East Lansing, Michigan, USA Revised 27 December 2014
16 February 2015
14 April 2015
Abstract Accepted 6 May 2015
Purpose – This study aims to investigate the characteristics of the physical work environment that
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are known and used in practice to promote creativity for innovative start-up workplaces. The first part
of the study identified these characteristics from a content and visual analysis, and examined the
current state of implementation of these characteristics in the work environments of innovative start-up
companies. The second part of the study examined criticalness and practicality of these characteristics
in the workplace with a group of experts in the workplace design, evaluation and management.
Design/methodology/approach – A content and visual analysis for written and visual images was
conducted to identify a comprehensive list of characteristics of the physical work environment critical
to creativity of the workplace. With the seven characteristics identified, an instrument was developed
and interviews were conducted to assess the physical work environments of 22 innovative start-up
companies in Michigan. Following up the interviews, an expert group was formed with 26 professionals
including architects, interior designers, facility managers and CEOs. A survey was conducted with
them to understand the significance and implementation issues among the seven characteristics.
Findings – The most frequently incorporated characteristics in the innovative start-up companies in
Michigan were spaces for idea generation, technology interface for collaboration and spaces for a short
mental break or social hangout. The three most important physical work environmental characteristics
for companies to produce creative, innovative ideas and products/services for growth and market
competitiveness were balanced layout, technology interface for collaboration and spaces for idea
generation.
Originality/value – The study provides a comprehensive framework to evaluate creative workplace
regarding the physical environment. It also offers insights on the work environments of the innovative
start-up companies for increased creativity and innovation performance in the workplace.
Keywords Workplace, Design, Creative work environmental attributes, Creative workplace,
Creativity and innovation, Work environment of innovative start-ups
Paper type Research paper

Introduction
Entrepreneurship based on innovation has been a major contributor to the economic
growth of the USA (Drucker, 1985). Innovation is considered to be at the heart of
successful entrepreneurship, and creativity is a foundation of innovation. Creativity is
typically defined as producing novel and useful ideas, and innovation as successfully

While the author was not a member of the grant recipient team, the author would like to thank the Facilities
Vol. 34 No. 7/8, 2016
Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs for funding the Arts and the Innovative pp. 413-432
Workplace (AIW) Project where a part of this study was conducted, and the project team for © Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0263-2772
allowing the author to conduct the study and share the data. DOI 10.1108/F-06-2014-0054
 F implementing those ideas in an organization (Amabile, 1996, p. 1). When novel and
34,7/8 useful ideas are adopted to yield desirable products/services, outcomes or economic
values in an organization, it results in innovation. A more specific definition of
innovation is:
[…] the implementation of a new or significantly improved product (good or service), or
process, a new marketing method, or a new organizational method in business practices,
414 workplace organization or external relations [Organization for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD) 2005, p. 46].
Managing innovation has become important at the organizational level. This is because
organizations that cope with innovation challenges tend to outperform, and maintain
their market competitiveness, profitability and growth (Tidd et al., 2005). Thus,
encouraging creativity in the workplace has become a major concern for the survival
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and success of companies, especially start-ups. Many organizations are seeking key
strategies to foster creativity of employees to be innovative in the market (Hirst et al.,
2009).
Various researchers have attempted to identify diverse frameworks and key
components for how to enhance the creativity of employees in an organization. There is
also an agreement among researchers that creativity is a result of complex interactions
between individuals and the surroundings, not an intrinsic attribute of an individual
(Sailer, 2011). The work environment is typically believed as a critical component to
enhancing creativity. Rhodes (1987) simply but clearly identified four strands of
creativity as person, process, product and place. Creativity involves the cognitive
processes of a person who develops ideas in an environment that influences creativity
which result in a product (Batey and Furnham, 2006). Some other researchers further
articulate components of creativity. Sternberg’s (2006) six resources that are required for
creativity are composed of intellectual abilities, knowledge, styles of thinking,
personality, motivation and environment. Patmore et al.’s (2009) seven elements to
enhance creativity consist of management structure, incentive system, peer interaction,
societal recognition, knowledge system tools, physical environment and social
networks.
Thus, it is important to understand the work environmental characteristics that
promote employee creativity and, consequently, contribute to innovation at the
organizational level. While there are different aspects of the work environment, the
majority of studies in creativity and innovation management have focused on social and
psychological environments such as the climate of a workplace. There is little research
on the contribution of tangible physical environments such as workplace spatial design
attributes to promote creativity (Heinonen and Hiltunen, 2012; Sailer, 2011; McCoy,
2005). The lack of research is partly due to the difficulty of connecting the tangible,
quantitative nature of the physical work environment to the intangible, qualitative
nature of creativity and being able to measure the impact of the physical work
environment on the innovation outcomes of organizations. This is a widely
acknowledged problem among researchers examining the impact of the built
environment on occupants due to measurement limitations regardless of whether the
impact is direct or indirect. However, there is growing empirical evidence that the
physical environment enhances creativity when it is designed to stimulate people
cognitively as it positively influences creative behaviors in the workplace (Amabile
 et al., 1996). Many researchers argue that cue-rich or inspirational environments Creative
stimulate imagination and creativity, and certain layouts of spaces promote desirable workplace
behaviors necessary for team creativity (McCoy, 2005). characteristics
This study investigated the characteristics of the physical work environment that are
known and utilized in practice to promote creativity for innovative start-up workplaces.
Its purpose was to understand how to support the physical work environments of
start-up companies so that they are able to be more competitive in the marketplace and 415
contribute to the local economy. The study is composed of two sections. The first part of
the study, first, identified these characteristics from a content and visual analyses
perspective, and, second, examined the current state of implementation of these
characteristics in the physical work environments of innovative start-up companies.
This part was extended from a creative workplace study which was part of the Arts and
the Innovative Workplace (AIW) Project funded by the Michigan Council for Arts and
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Cultural Affairs. A total of 22 start-up companies in Michigan were used for this study.
The second part of the study, which involved a group of experts in the workplace design,
evaluation and management, examined the importance of and the difficulty level with
regards to implementing these characteristics in the workplace. This section of the
study aimed to understand the practicality and criticalness of these characteristics from
the perspective of a total of 26 experts in the field of workplace.

Overview of studies on work environmental characteristics for creative

workplace
The importance of workplace design and spatial features has recently been emphasized
in relation to creativity and innovation management in organizational behavior research
and corporate business literature. However, the volume of literature on this topic
available from peer-reviewed journals is still limited. There is, in general, a limited
amount of literature that links the physical work environment to creativity in the
workplace from the available scientific literature database and publishers (Martens,
2011). This section aims to provide an overview of these studies to understand the
current state of this issue, so it does not address a comprehensive list of attributes of the
physical work environment in relations to creativity by any means. McCoy (2005)
conducted a literature review of physical work environmental components linked to
team and organizational creativity in offices, and identified various components that fit
into five categories: spatial organization, architectonic details, views, resources and
ambient conditions. The components of spatial organization included factors that
increased interaction and communication such as proximity to team members and
resources, efficiency of layout, dedicated shared spaces, informal spaces, visual access
for interaction and meeting spaces; components supporting focused activities, privacy
and autonomy such as traffic and visual enclosure, multiple spaces to work and flexible
and adaptable spaces; and a component assisting optimal functionality such as size of
space. Architectonic details included displayed thinking; cues and cue-rich environment
through decorative styles, treatment of boundaries, signs, colors and artwork; and
personalization and participation in the design process. Views included views and
visual access to nature and daylight; resources included access to facilities, equipment,
information, technology, funds and people; and ambient conditions included acoustics,
lighting, thermal comfort and air quality as these affect sensory systems.
 F Landry (2012) studied the physical work environmental features that encourage
34,7/8 creativity in the workplace and found that the nine most creativity-encouraging themes
are: daylight and view, work surfaces, personal items, privacy, collaboration, ergonomic
furniture, multiple work/play areas, artificial lighting, nature, air conditioning, décor
and color. All positive attributes identified in the survey were ergonomic chair, mobile
pedestal with seat, lounge chair, adjustable work surface heights, multiple computer
416 monitors, amount of work surface, eating and drinking at workstation, posting surfaces,
heating and cooling adjustments, fresh and clean air, computer set-up, ample storage,
privacy achieved with panels or walls, shared work surface, layered surfaces, a private
office, personal music, seeing other people, others able to see you, vertical drawing
surfaces, ability to personalize space, plant at workstation, landscape photos, photos of
family or friends, pet(s) at workstation, flexible workstation, window with view of urban
horizon, window with view to natural horizon, view to interior horizon, ability to open a
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window, visual access to unique interior views, natural finishes and materials, colors
and textures, illumination levels, accent, task and general lighting scheme, access to
photocopy area, adjacency to a coffee area, access to a closed meeting room, private
closed room, private room for phone calls, access to outdoor seating, outdoor walking
paths, small rooms with lounge furniture, access to a variety of spaces to work, shared
standing height work surfaces, sound masking, skylight, view of sky, daylight through
a window, visual access to team members and visual access to non-team members.
Through a literature review of ergonomics, environmental psychology, architecture
and interior design and other relevant fields to the physical work environment, Dul and
Ceylan (2011) identified 12 physical attributes of the work environment that contribute
to creativity. They used these attributes to develop an instrument called creativity
development quick scan (CDQS). These attributes consisted of furniture, indoor plants/
flowers, calming colors, inspiring colors, privacy, window view to nature, any window
view, quantity of light, daylight, indoor physical climate and sound and smell. In
another study using CDQS, Lukersmith and Burgess-Limerick (2013) found that
privacy, window view to natural elements, any window view, quantity of light, daylight,
indoor physical climate, sound and smell were the most important physical elements of
the work environment for creativity to health-care professionals in Australia.
In addition to these studies, some other studies investigated purposely built
workspaces to promote creativity to understand the relationship between these spaces
and creativity in innovation. There has recently been a trend suggesting that advanced
companies explore the concept of creative spaces, innovative laboratories or innovation
spaces as a way to nurture a culture of creativity and innovation, as well as dedicated
spaces for producing creative ideas (Heinonen and Hiltunen, 2012; Moultrie et al., 2007).
These spaces are meant to support: inspiration by sharing interest in creativity and
innovation; knowledge and interaction by exchanging information; imagination by
developing future visions and flexibility; and innovation by stimulating new ideas (van
der Lugt et al., 2007). For instance, van der Lugt et al. (2007) examined the Future Center,
called the Shipyard, of the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration, which was a
dedicated creative space with similar attributes featuring unusual and unconventional
architectural and interior design elements, home-like comfortable settings, coffee
bar-like hangout space, as well as low- and high-tech tools to support instant
brainstorming and idea exchange to stimulate creativity and innovation.
 Lewis and Moultrie (2005) examined innovative laboratories of three different types Creative
of organizations including Royal Mail, Department of Trade and Industry and workplace
University of East Anglia in the UK in terms of architectural and interior features and characteristics
technology infrastructure. They found that all three places had a common design
philosophy and similar spatial and design features despite different organizational
types and sectors. All three places strategically utilized architectural and interior design
as a tool to stimulate and inspire creativity, incorporating unconventional layouts, 417
unusual shapes of walls and non-hierarchical furniture such as curved triangular tables
and comfortable seating. They also emphasized capturing brainstorming ideas,
simultaneous information input and expediting decision-making processes through the
integration of both low and high technology. In addition, the innovation laboratory at
the University, in particular, underscored the importance of fun and playful elements in
stimulating creativity and innovation through toys, glove puppets and children’s guitar.
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In a comparative study, Haner (2005) examined innovation spaces, using the

divergence and convergence process of creative thinking flow, in two organizations in
different geographical locations: Interactive Creativity Landscape (ICL) of the
Fraunhofer Office Innovation Center in Germany and Learning Garden (LG) of a
financial institution in Scandinavia. Both spaces exhibited commonalities in a
sequential spatial layout and design accommodating the flow of creative thinking and
a critical use of interior design components such as rooms and furniture with unusual
shapes and forms, color, materials, light and furnishings. Both places used break or fun
elements. ICL implemented three different zones to allow divergent and convergent
thinking, including action zone, interaction zone and retreat zone, and LG incorporated
games to the space designated for creation of ideas. Hybrid infrastructure was used in
both places, and IT and digital communication equipment were enhanced for
information-sharing, electronic communication and collaborative teamwork.
Moultrie et al. (2007) proposed a framework to evaluate creative and innovation
spaces and various physical work environmental characteristics of innovation spaces,
building upon available literature, empirical evidence and the Creativity and Innovation
Management workshop held in Oxford in 2005. Under the physical space category, they
include such factors as:
• geographic location (physical location of the space);
• scale (physical size of spaces);
• real vs virtual (real and virtual teamwork and communication);
• flexibility (re-configurability and alternative use of the space and resources);
• design values and imagery (design concepts such as futuristic, playful and
minimalistic and unconventional interior design components encouraging
creative divergent thinking);
• IT resources (IT enabling group work and processes);
• data and information (availability of information such as libraries and electronic
information systems and database);
• modeling and visualization resources (availability of equipment, facilities and
tools for instance realization of ideas such as flipchart, electronic devices and
cardboard);
 F • constraints (constraints such as availability of spaces, finance and skills); and
34,7/8 • evolution (evolution of the physical space to cope with organizational goals and
strategies).

Overall, earlier studies have components that are less relevant to the contemporary
workplace and recent studies are limited to the particular characteristics and attributes
418 that are important to specific organizations examined. Some studies also included broad
attributes that are not critical to creativity per se but are more fundamental functions of
spaces to be productive. Thus, the only common features found across all the examined
articles were relevant to the atmosphere and décor intended to stimulate creativity.
Features relevant to spatial layout/flow and views and daylight were also mentioned by
over half of the articles. A summary of the peer-reviewed journal articles reviewed above
is illustrated in Table I, showing some common characteristics among certain studies.
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The summary focused on the workplace design and spatial features that intentionally
promote creativity in the workplace, and excluded basic needs to be productive such as
ergonomic furniture or air conditioning.

Method
Framework
To investigate the comprehensive characteristics of the physical work environment
which promote creativity, and to examine them in the work environments of the
innovative start-up companies in Michigan, a new, comprehensive list of these
characteristics was developed. The study used a research method called content and
visual analysis to establish the list. Content and visual analysis is a research method,
frequently used in social science and behavioral studies, that analyzes the content of
written or visual material in a systematic manner (Sommer and Sommer, 2001). This
method is, in general, utilized to find patterns that may be underlying in written or
visual language to identify the categories of search words or visual images that appear
repeatedly (Guerin and Dohr, 2015).
The content and visual analysis in this study examined wide and in-depth literature
of published articles and visual images to identify the components of only the physical
work environment that were linked to the enhancement of creativity in the workplace.
Such a method was used due to a limited amount of literature that links the physical
work environment to creativity in the workplace from the available scientific literature
database and publishers (Martens, 2011). Thus, the content and visual analyses
expanded the search beyond peer-reviewed articles and used various types of sources,
focusing on the attributes broadly used and implemented in practice. The search of
written and visual materials used various keywords including innovative,
high-performing and productive in addition to creative, as these words were
simultaneously used to describe creativity in workplace-related literature. This is
because creativity is considered as an indicator of innovation and performance in
knowledge-based economies (Lukersmith and Burgess-Limerick, 2013; Dul and Ceylan,
2011). The keywords in the search also included workplace, (physical) work
environment and office design to find literature published in various resources.
Published articles included many of design professional/expert’s articles. The visual
images came from professional magazine articles, professional/expert articles and other
workplace-related articles that used these images to explain or claim creative
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Spatial layout/Flow Space types Atmosphere and décor Views and daylight Resources

McCoy Proximity to team Dedicated, shared space Displayed thinking Views/visual access Accessible technology
members and resources Informal spaces Cue-rich to nature
Efficiency of layout Multiple places to work Daylight
Visual access Meeting spaces
Traffic, visual exposure
Flexible, adaptable
spaces
Landry Privacy, Multiple work/play Décor, and color Daylight and view
Collaboration areas Nature
Dul and Ceylan Privacy Indoor plants/flowers Window
Calming colors, inspiring View to nature
colors Daylight
Sound
Smell
van der Lugt et al. Hangout space Unusual and unconventional Low and high-tech
architectural and interior tools
design elements
Home-like comfortable
settings
Lewis and Fun and playful elements Low and high
Moultrie Unconventional layouts, technology
unusual shapes of walls, and
non-hierarchical furniture
Haner Sequential spatial layout Fun elements IT and digital
and design Rooms and furniture with communication
accommodating the flow unusual shapes and forms, equipment
of creative thinking color materials, light, and
Break spaces furnishings
Moultrie et al. Flexibility Futuristic, playful and IT resources
minimalistic, and Data and information
unconventional interior Low and high tech
design components tools for modeling and
visualization

articles
Table I.
419

reviewed journal
Summary of the
Creative

innovation from peer-

for creativity and
and spatial features
workplace design
characteristics
workplace
 F workplaces. Because there were few written articles, the analysis of visual images was
34,7/8 a substantial amount of this review.
Based on the review, similar themes were analyzed and categorized among the
design and spatial features found from the search. When creating categories of themes,
the purpose of the features was the main consideration. A total of seven themes
representing the characteristics of each category were found with a set of specific
420 attributes in each category from the analysis. Each category was given a thematic name
to capture the overall characteristics of the attributes in the category. The seven themes
consist of disengaged space, doodle space, unusual/fun atmosphere, relaxing
environment, stimulating senses, technology interface for collaboration and balanced
layout.
Disengaged space is where people can take a short mental break individually or do
non-work-related activities together while building camaraderie. The attributes include:
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play space that is intentionally provided for physical or virtual activities and games
such as billiards, darts and karaoke; solitude space for personal lounging, break or nap
without other people’s interruption; and social hangout space for social interactions
such as café and open lounge.
Doodle space is where people meet to generate ideas through such activities as
brainstorming, charretting, doodling, design improvisation, model making and
role-playing. The attributes include: formal meeting space for intended formal meetings,
typically closed and equipped with appropriate low-/high-tech tools; informal meeting
space for intended but informal meeting spaces where tools for doodling are provided;
and impromptu meetings space for less intentional meetings, typically provided in the
hallways, corners or other paths of traffic to increase serendipitous interaction.
Unusual or fun atmosphere means unconventional, fun or whimsical interior
architectural or interior design components to inspire people’s creative mental state. Its
attributes include stimulating art, design or craft work with a significant presence of a
creative ambience; unusual or fun interior architectural elements such as
unconventional shapes and forms of windows, stairs or ramps; and interior design
elements such as unconventional shapes and forms of walls, ceilings, furniture and
finishes and dramatic lighting; and unusual or fun decorative objects such as fun
signage and toys.
Relaxing environment means the environmental features that reduce stress and
promote health and well-being through relaxation. The attributes include natural
elements such as daylight, outside views, interior vegetation or plants, water features
and other natural elements integrated to the spaces; and home-like settings mimicking
typical room settings found in homes such as den, living room and porch, using
furniture that is typically used in a home environment such as a family room couch and
allowing pets at work.
Stimulating senses means the features that stimulate human sensory systems. The
attributes include olfactory sense through smell and scent such as the smell of beverage
or food; auditory sense through sound and music such as sounds of nature; and visual
sense through accentuated colors that visually stimulate via accentuated monochrome,
intensive color contrast and accentuated patterns of colors.
Technology interface for collaboration means technology support for teamwork
through various tools, including both manual and low-tech and electronic and high-tech,
that allow access to information and group sharing, creation and display of information.
 Manual and low-tech includes such tools as writing surfaces or pin-up tools. Electronic Creative
and high-tech includes such technology as wireless connectivity, audio-visual display workplace
tools for group sharing of electronic information and devices for multiple inputs for
group content creation.
characteristics
Balanced layout means spatial layout, first, supporting effective work flow for
conceptual creative ideas to easily evolve to realization; second, accommodating various
work modes, especially between collaborative mode and focused mode; and third, 421
assisting with easy communication, interaction and collaboration for group work. The
attributes include flexible and open space to accommodate easy evolution and flow of
ideas, as well as to encourage communication, interaction and collaboration between
team members; and balance between work modes to provide an appropriate amount and
types of spaces for different work modes, especially for both collaborative work
requiring interaction and individual focus work requiring focus within visual and
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acoustical privacy. Table II summarizes the seven themes and the specific attributes of
the comprehensive physical environmental characteristics of the creative workplace.

Instrument and data gathering

Based on the comprehensive list developed, a questionnaire was constructed to evaluate
the seven characteristics of the physical work environment of the workplace. The
questionnaire incorporated visual images as examples of the seven categories in
addition to narratives explaining the meaning of these seven characteristics. The
images were selected from the visual images of creative workplaces examined during
the content and visual analysis, and at least one image was selected to represent each
attribute under a category. The images were reviewed and refined by an advisory board
of the AIW Project, which consisted of nine experts from fields of workplace design, arts
and entrepreneurship. In addition, a script further explaining each category was written
to be used during interviews to control consistency and quality of data gathering. The
questions and measurement are shown in Table III.
The first part of this study examined the physical work environment of only start-up
companies who participated in the AIW Project. These companies were the recipients of
two state governmental funds for local innovative companies: the 21st Century Jobs
Fund and Accelerate Michigan Fund. Once the companies were identified, a request was
made to each company for a 30-min interview. The interview intended to identify which
characteristics were strategically implemented and what the perspectives of the
management were on these characteristics with regard to the most characteristics to the
companies. Those companies were requested to select someone who was in a position to
make strategic planning and financial decisions and who represents the company such
as the founder, CEO or a senior manager for the interview to verify the presence or
absence of those characteristics in their workplace. The sectors of these companies
consisted of such businesses as alternative energy, life sciences, defense and
manufacturing. The study selected only 22 companies all of which were established in
the 10 years or less. While some of the companies also had laboratories and
manufacturing sites, for the purpose of evaluating the knowledge workplace, the study
focused on only office areas.
The second part of the study conducted a survey with an expert group that consisted
of some of the participants of the interviews in the first part of the study and industry
experts relevant to workplace design, management and evaluation including architects,
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422
34,7/8

Table II.

environmental
Seven physical

creative workplace
characteristics of the
Technology interface
Disengaged space Doodle space Unusual/fun atmosphere Relaxing environment Stimulating senses for collaboration Balanced layout

Play space Formal meeting Stimulating art/design/craft Natural elements Olfactory sense Manual and low-tech Flexible and open
Solitude space space work Home-like settings Auditory sense Electronic and space
Social hangout Informal meeting Unusual/fun interior Visual sense high-tech Balance between
space space architectural and interior work modes
Impromptu design elements
meeting space Unusual/fun decorative
objects
 Questions Measurement
Creative
workplace
Presence of disengaged space No, Yes, Not Sure characteristics
Presence of doodle spaces No, Yes, Not Sure
Presence of unusual/fun atmosphere No, Yes, Not Sure
Presence of relaxing environment No, Yes, Not Sure
Presence of elements for stimulating senses No, Yes, Not Sure
Presence of technology interface tools for collaboration No, Yes, Not Sure
423
Presence of spatially balanced layout No, Yes, Not Sure
Choice of the most important characteristic(s) to the 1. Don’t know;
firm to producing creative and innovative ideas and 2. Disengaged Space
products/services for growth and market 3. Doodle space
competitiveness. (Choose up to three) 4. Unusual/fun atmosphere
5. Relaxing environment
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6. Stimulating senses
7. Technology interface
8. Balanced layout Table III.
Ranking of the seven workplace characteristics for the Most important (1) – Least important (7) Questions and
importance to producing creative and innovative ideas measurement in the
and products/services for growth and market instrument for the
competitiveness interviews with
Ranking of the seven workplace characteristics for Easiest (1) – Most difficult (7) innovative start-up
easy implementation/incorporation to (your) facility companies

interior designers, workplace strategies, facility management personnel and CEOs.

There were a total of 26 members in the expert group. The survey focused on
understanding the important characteristics (criticalness) in producing creative and
innovative ideas and products/services for growth and market competitiveness, as well
as the easiness/difficulty (practicality) of implementing them in practice. These
questions were formulated as a ranking type from 1 being most important or easiest to
implement to 7 being least important or most difficult to implement. An open-ended
question followed each question asking respondents to explain the rationale behind
their answers.

Findings and discussions

Physical work environment of innovative start-up companies
The most frequently incorporated environmental characteristics across the 22
innovative start-up companies in Michigan was doodle space (82.6 per cent) and
Technology interface (82.6 per cent). Disengaged space (78.3 per cent) was also
frequently incorporated (Figure 1). Thus, these three types of characteristics seem the
most essential to those companies. Doodle space, spaces intentionally built to generate
ideas, is the most necessary space in producing creative ideas and innovative
inventions. As mentioned earlier, these spaces are meant to be a dedicated space to
produce creative ideas and serve as a symbolic center of a culture that fosters creativity
and innovation (Heinonen and Hiltunen, 2012; Moultrie et al., 2007). Among various
types of doodle spaces, impromptu meeting spaces are gaining popularity as a way to
promote serendipitous meetings and the exchange of ideas. This is because the majority
of interactions in that workplace happen spontaneously (Sailer, 2011; Heerwagen et al.,
 F 2004), and many of the most innovative ideas come from hallway conversations or
34,7/8 impromptu meetings (Lindsay, 2013). Thus, companies such as Google have
strategically integrated a spatial plan to carefully orchestrate serendipitous meetings as
people tend to work with others in a close proximity and miss opportunities to attain
complementary ideas that may exist on the other side of the building (Lindsay, 2013).
Technology interface is another highly prevalent characteristic for creative and
424 innovative workplace. Technology for communication and effective decision-making is
a core element of innovative work environments (Moultrie et al., 2007). Most innovation
processes come from workplaces where a wide range of technology resources are found
from low-tech tools such as whiteboards and flip charts to high-tech tools such as
computers, visualization tools and knowledge displays, and technology supports,
especially in doodle spaces, are the most productive in the innovation processes (Peschl
and Fundneider 2012, pp. 11-12). The concept of disengaged space is increasingly
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popular due to the realization that the ability to recharge is a necessary and essential
function of creative and innovative processes at work. These spaces, or even simple
features integrated to the same workspaces, offer employees a chance to take a short
mental break from their work, free their mind and focus on themselves, or socially
hangout with others at work while building camaraderie and a social network. Such
spaces as stress reduction rooms, exercise rooms, game rooms, social lounges and break
rooms can promote not only relaxation and reflection (Ford et al., 2003) but also better
thinking and idea generation (Peschl and Fundneider, 2012). A study shows that
employees had a greater capacity to think creatively by nearly 50 per cent and to focus
better by 30 per cent after a break every 90 min compared to those who did not take these
breaks, proving that recharge is one of the core needs of employees to be productive
(Schwartz and Porath, 2014).
The results of the study indicate that the innovative start-up companies examined
actively address more basic needs to be productive and easier environmental features to
implement, such as spaces for idea development and technology for collaboration. This
is clearly shown in their answers regarding the most important characteristics. Two of
the most important characteristics to those companies chosen were doodle space (36 per
cent) and technology interface (Figure 2). Balanced layout was rated as the third most
important characteristic. Such characteristics as disengaged space, unusual/fun
atmosphere, relaxing environment and stimulating senses were rarely observed in these
companies. This is due to their financial capacity and the stage of organizational life

Figure 1.
Frequency
distribution of the
seven characteristics
across the companies
 cycle. Enhancing the quality of workplace requires a financial investment. Small Creative
start-up firms in general lack financial capacity to accommodate better resources and workplace
other environmental strategic planning to enhance their work environment. They tend
to focus rather on tackling business and organizational challenges and overcoming
characteristics
challenges such as a lack of resources with a higher level of motivation and
determination to be successful (Martens, 2011).
Despite of a lack of resources, the majority of them incorporated as many 425
characteristics as possible within their limited means. Over 80 per cent of the companies
had at least four characteristics or more incorporated into their work environments, and
over 20 per cent of them six to seven characteristics incorporated (Figure 3). Only three
companies out of 22 had all seven characteristics, though.

Practicality and criticalness of the characteristics

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Balanced layout (2.85) was the highest ranked characteristics for the criticalness for
companies to produce creative, innovative ideas and products/services for growth and
market competitiveness by the expert group, followed by technology interface (2.88) and
doodle space (3.04) (Figure 4). These three characteristics were also the same three most
important characteristics selected by the innovative start-up companies in Michigan,
but they selected doodle space as the most important. Balanced layout was selected as
the most important characteristic and technology interface as the second most

Figure 2.
Most important
characteristics to the
innovative start-up
companies

Figure 3.
Frequency
distribution of the
numbers of
characteristics that
the innovative
start-up companies
implemented
 F important characteristic by over 40 per cent of the expert group. There has recently been
34,7/8 an emphasis on balanced layout in the workplace design field. This is because the work
environments of the top-performing companies were found to equally support all four
work modes of organizational knowledge creation: focus, collaboration, learning and
socialization (Andreou et al., 2009). The most creative and innovative workplace needs
to address not only the environment promoting interaction and collaboration but also a
426 balance, especially between collaborative spaces and individual focus spaces, as both
are critical to creative and innovative processes.
An open layout has been used as a typical method to increase interaction and
communication between coworkers (Davis et al., 2011). In addition, it has also been a
mechanism that offers freedom to choose and change workspaces, which accommodate
the flexibility and personal autonomy in the workplace (McCoy and Evans, 2002).
Promoting flexibility, autonomy and freedom is essential to an organization to foster the
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culture of openness and trust that is critical to achieving innovation. While many
organizations have focused on an open layout to increase interaction and collaboration,
there has recently been a realization that the different stages of creative work require a
balance between collaborative spaces and private spaces (Sailer, 2011). A recent study
shows an overall decrease of workplace performance due to a decrease in the
effectiveness of focus work and knowledge workers’ time spent on more focus work than
collaborative work in 2013, compared to the study conducted in 2008 (Gensler, 2013).
In the same study, the knowledge workers in the balanced workplace outperformed
the ones in the unbalanced workplace, and the balanced workplaces were rated for a
higher contribution to creativity and innovation. Addressing a balanced layout for
different work modes also offers a choice of spaces to people with various work styles
and personalities. The spaces that provide visual and acoustical privacy can
accommodate more introverted work style in addition to offering quieter spaces to
focus away from other distractions in an open office (Bryant, 2012). Introverts tend to be
more adversely affected by noises and distractions when it comes to complex cognitive
tasks (Furnham and Strbac, 2002). Employees who are offered choice and autonomy of
spaces are not only more satisfied with their jobs but also outperform the ones who are
not offered the same opportunity in terms of the effective performance across various
work modes (Gensler, 2013). Figure 4 exhibits the average rankings of criticalness rated

Figure 4.
Average rankings for
criticalness and
practicality among
the seven
characteristics by the
expert group
 from 1 (most important) to 7 (least important), as well as practicality rated from 1 Creative
(easiest) to 7 (most difficult) among the seven characteristics by the expert group. workplace
The highest ranked characteristic for easy implementation was doodle space (2.73),
followed by disengaged space (3.50) and technology interface (3.58) (Figure 4). This
characteristics
explains why these three characteristics were the ones most frequently incorporated to
those innovative start-up companies in Michigan. Two of the most difficult
characteristics to implement were unusual/fun atmosphere (4.95) and stimulating 427
senses (4.88). These were also two of the least important characteristics selected by the
expert group above. The reason that these two characteristics received the lowest
rankings, based on answers to the open-ended question, was the difficulty of obtaining
approval and funding, as the executives and CEOs do not consider these characteristics
as critical to the work. The expert group noted that the concept of fun, stimulating
sensory systems and relaxing environmental features has become more valued in the
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workplace, but has not reached a level of “critical” to the real estate investment as a
whole. Another reason for the difficulty of sensory stimulating design strategies was the
challenges with individual differences and health issues such as allergies to certain
smells and plants. Some other experts noted the reasons from the design point of view,
not from approval for funding to implement these characteristics: the more impacting
items would be the ones that are most difficult to change and complex to implement
within the organizational needs such as balanced layout and technology integration,
while creating fun atmosphere or relaxing environment would be easy, as these are
small items that can be easily incorporated to the spaces without the same level of a
comprehensive planning in spatial layout.
While it was rated as one of the most difficult characteristic to implement, unusual
and fun atmosphere has been popularly used by many technology companies to
stimulate their employees to produce innovative ideas. When one of the purposes of the
work environment is to support generating radically innovative ideas, playfulness and
visual inspirations become especially important (Moultrie et al., 2007). This is because
such an organizational pursuit needs to be reflected in the workspace. The work
environment needs to become a tool to promote inspiration for creative ideas by a
carefully deliberate planning to encourage employees to be fun and spontaneous while
instilling a sense of whimsy (Hardy, 2014). A cue-rich environment, full of visual stimuli,
promotes creativity and the controlled chaotic work environment tends to stimulate the
imagination (McCoy, 2005, p. 168). This trend is now spreading to other types of
industries such as banking that intend to escape from a typical corporate environment
and incorporate unusual, fun, funky interior design and decorative elements to generate
an ambience where creative energy is charged (Martinez, 2013).
Stimulating human sensory systems has also been utilized as a strategy to stimulate
employees at work:
Multisensory experiences engage and stimulate people. Visual, tactile, auditory, and
kinesthetic experiences all influence memory […]. Diverse stimulation raises mental
awareness and allows people to absorb the information and ideas that the environment
facilitates (Gee, 2006, p. 10).
There are, in general, more design strategies to create visual stimuli utilizing colors and
patterns than auditory stimuli with sound/music or olfactory stimuli with smell/scent.
This is due to the human neurophysiological condition that 30-40 per cent of human
 F cerebral cortex is allotted to vision, making vision the most dominant sense in the
34,7/8 human body, while the cerebral cortex for auditory sense is only 3 per cent (Lasbury,
2011). Visual complexity and visual interest are associated with intellectual and
cognitive stimulation that assist creative behaviors (McCoy and Evans, 2002, p. 424).
When analyzed by two different expert groups: one for the workplace
design/management professionals group (a total of 15 people) and the CEOs/founders
428 group (a total of 11 people), there were subtle differences in their perspectives. The
workplace professionals group rated balanced layout (1.92) as the most important
characteristic which was followed by technology interface (3.08), and both disengaged
space (3.23) and doodle space (3.23) (Figure 5). The rating for balanced layout was
substantially higher than the ratings for the other characteristics. The CEOs/founders
group rated doodle space the most important (3.31), which was followed by balanced
layout (3.38) and technology (3.46), but the differences between these characteristics
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were small. These differences represent the perspectives from each of the respective
groups between the group with more professional knowledge on the workplace design
and the other group with more executive management responsibilities. Both groups
rated doodle space as the easiest to implement (2.27 – workplace professionals; 2.64 –
CEOs/founders) and technology interface (2.91 – workplace professionals; 3.73 – CEOs/
founders) the second easiest. Both groups rated usual/fun atmosphere and stimulating
senses as two of the most difficult characteristics to implement in the workplace
(Figure 6). However, unusual/fun atmosphere was rated the most difficult (5.27) by the
workplace professionals group, while stimulating senses was rated the most difficult
(5.45) by the CEOs/founders group. However, the differences did not result in a
statistical significance from the analysis of variance tests at this time. This is likely due
to a relatively small size of groups used in the study.

Conclusion
Under the economic turbulence, innovation is critical to the success of an organization.
This is because innovation is a key driver of economic competitiveness, which enables
output growth to exceed the input growth, where, in the traditional economy, the output
growth is only determined by an increase in input (The USA Department of Commerce
and National Economic Council, 2012). Thus, providing a physical work environment

Figure 5.
Comparison of
ratings for the
importance
(Criticalness) among
the seven
characteristics by the
workplace
professionals group
and the CEOs and
Founders Group
 that promotes creative and innovative ideas of employees is subsequently important to Creative
generating innovation outcomes in an organization. There have been various workplace
characteristics of the physical work environment available and utilized to promote
creativity in innovation management in practice.
characteristics
While certain characteristics are a better fit for certain purposes and pursuits among
different organizations, a general trend has been observed for innovative start-ups in
Michigan in this study. The three most important physical work environmental 429
characteristics for start-up companies to produce creative, innovative ideas and
products/services for growth and market competitiveness seem to be balanced layout,
technology interface for collaboration and spaces for idea generation. While balanced
layout is the most important characteristic from the expert perspective, it is not as easy
to achieve as technology interface or spaces for idea generation. Thus, start-up
companies tend to focus on achieving the most critical but also the easiest
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characteristics to implement such as spaces for idea generation and technology interface
for collaboration. They also highly integrate spaces for a short mental break or hangout
within their limited spatial and financial capacity. Start-up companies tend to do these
various activities in rather multipurpose spaces in an informal working environment, as
they are not able to afford separate spaces or zones to accommodate various activities.
While they were limited to only a handful amount of characteristics due to financial
capacity, the potential of becoming more innovative and competitive is significant in
these companies if they also adopt the other characteristics to stimulate their employees.
It is worth noting that there is an increasing effort to incorporate various design
strategies to promote creativity and innovation by more open-minded start-up
entrepreneurs and organizations. A growing number of organizations are interested in
adopting non-traditional workplace policies to support flexibility, as well as design
strategies to generate energy of creativity and innovation. Many co-working spaces,
designated for freelancers and small start-ups, have integrated designs of the fun and
whimsical ambience of coffee shops in this context. Well-being issues are also addressed
in these spaces through plants, daylight, etc. in addition to the critical spaces for
conducting businesses. Many of these spaces are subsidized by governments as part of
governmental efforts to support entrepreneurships in economically challenging periods.

Figure 6.
Comparison of
ratings for
easy/difficult
implementation
(practicality) among
the seven
characteristics by the
workplace
professionals group
and the CEOs and
founders group
 F It may also be desirable for governments to provide design personnel, shared resources
34,7/8 or governmental subsidies for those companies that are able to afford their own spaces
but still lack financial capacity to pursue diverse environmental settings to promote
creativity as a means to boost the local economy. It is evident that more environments
supports for people to be creative can only yield more innovative outcomes and
competitive advantages in the marketplace.
430
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432 About the author

Dr Young S. Lee is an Assistant Professor in the School of Planning, Design, and Construction at
Michigan State University. Her expertise includes workplace effectiveness, evaluation of indoor
environmental quality, occupant survey and sustainable indoor environment.
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