Nine leadership and managerial practices are particularly helpful in fostering creative thinking, as revealed by the work of many researchers and observers. The organizational methods already described for enhancing creativity might also be interpreted as leadership practices. Hire creative people from the outside, and identify creative people from within. The most robust leadership and management practice for enhancing creativity is to hire people with the aptitude for, or track record in, being creative.

Intellectual challenge. Matching people with the right assignments enhances creativity because it supports expertise and intrinsic motivation. The leader or manager must understand his or her group members well to offer them the right amount of challenge. Freedom to choose the method. When workers are empowered, they are more likely to work through the steps for creative problem solving. Creativity can be attributed to empowered workers having a sense of self-determination, which sparks creative thinking.

Ample supply of the right resources. Time and money are the most important resources for enhancing creativity. Deciding how much time and money to give to a team or project is a tough judgment call that can either support or stifle creativity. Effective design of work groups. Work groups are the most likely to be creative when they are mutually supportive and have a diversity of perspectives. Blends of gender, race, and ethnicity or cross-functional teams are recognized as contributing to creative thought.

Supervisory encouragement. Leaders must develop a permissive atmosphere that encourages people to think freely. Praising creative work is important because, for most people to sustain their passion, they must feel that their work matters to the organization. Organizational support. Organizational leaders should encourage information sharing and collaboration, which lead to the development of the expertise so necessary for creativity and to more opportunities for intrinsic motivation.

Have favorable exchanges with creative workers. Another insight into encouraging a creative climate is for leaders to have favorable exchanges with group members, as defined by LMX theory. Creativity is self-rewarding to some extent because it is so exciting, but financial rewards for contributions to innovation help sustain a climate of innovation.