Want to truly engage your workers? Help them see their own progress.
The Big Mobile, 2004, metallic structure, 25 spheres in PVC with diameters from 29.5″ to 137.8″; exhibition view, 3rd Biennial of Contemporary Art of Valencia Xavier Veilhan
What is the best way to drive innovative work inside organizations? Important clues hide in the stories of world-renowned creators. It turns out that ordinary scientists, marketers, programmers, and other unsung knowledge workers, whose jobs require creative productivity every day, have more in common with famous innovators than most managers realize. The workday events that ignite their emotions, fuel their motivation, and trigger their perceptions are fundamentally the same.
A version of this article appeared in the May 2011 issue of Harvard Business Review.