Being constantly exposed to art has always been my natural way of functioning in life in all its aspects. Of course, growing up in the artist family and dedicating a big portion of my career to creativity and the arts industry made it not only natural but nothing out of ordinary. And, yet, the idea of how underrepresented, underestimated art is across industries and how exclusive it is for the creative industry, always strikes me as surprising.
Given today’s fast-paced and competitive business world, where innovation is all there is for businesses to stay ahead of the curve from their competitors, art is such a non-brainer-simple way to drive innovation, that it feels odd how little it’s utilized.
Although the strategy of incorporating art and creativity into the workplaces seems to be gaining popularity these days, it still has a long way to go to being a trend. As a creativity consultant for various companies outside of the creative industry, let me share some of my insights on the overall benefits that art, in the workplaces, will bring.
- Art encourages creative thinking, period! When you engage in artistic activities, you get to tap into your creative mind and think outside the box that consequently leads to new ideas and solutions that you might not have considered before and would not have come up with otherwise.
- Art improves problem-solving skills. Creating a simple painting requires a lot more problem-solving than you might imagine. It’s about constant play with combinations of shapes, forms, lines, colors and mediums. As a result, art teaches you to see problems from different perspectives. And the better you learn it, the easier it is to transfer this ability of seeing the problem from different perspectives to business cases. And this is exactly where innovation occurs.
- Art increases productivity. A study by the University of Texas found that employees in an office with art on the walls had a 12% increase in productivity compared to those in a plain office. Just think about it, if a 12% increase in productivity is gained by purely having artworks on the walls, imagine what 30 minutes of dedicated art and creativity hour would do?!
- Art reduces stress. Taking a break from work to engage in an artistic activity increases overall happiness and well-being. When you are feeling more relaxed and content, you are more likely to be productive and innovative in the office.
- And last but not the least, Art speaks volumes about your company culture: It can reflect the company’s values and contributes to a cohesive and positive work environment.
So regardless of the medium you decide to bring art into your office, whether it’s by having artworks on the walls or organizing regular exhibitions at the office or having a weekly art and creativity hours during the company time, it sure is going to be the most powerful and effective tool for boosting innovation and creativity in your business.