After all, what stimulates your creativity the most in the workplace today? A recent survey asked hundreds of professionals from across Brazil and found the answer: at least for nearly 70% of respondents, the autonomy to test new ideas — more important for creative work than challenging goals, as well as investment in various trainings and courses.
The finding comes from Conquer Business School, a business school that, in recent weeks, asked Brazilians from all regions to share details of their creative lives, among the factors that most stimulate them professionally, the most common obstacles to exercising their own creativity, and the impacts of this skill on their self-esteem.
For most respondents, while obstacles such as a rigid culture and excessive demands tend to weaken creative work, independence in companies (69%), collaboration with colleagues (58%) and access to adequate technologies (55%), on the other hand, would be the key factors for more creativity in daily life—whether in leading major projects or performing operational tasks.
Key findings:
- 74% of the professionals surveyed feel creative at work currently;
- 83% of them also recognize positive impacts of AI on their creativity;
- Autonomy (69%) and collaboration (58%) are what most stimulate them to be creative professionally;
- The biggest barriers to more creative work today are mental fatigue and burnout (45%)
Mental fatigue, the number one villain of creativity
Overall, something that the experiences of respondents surveyed by Conquer only confirm is how positively creativity tends to reflect on professional motivation — with impacts on how a person perceives themselves, their work projects, and the company they are part of.
This is because, while studies like the State of Creative report have already identified that exploring creative potential increases productivity in companies by 78%, the business school’s survey actually discovered how respondents feel when they can use creativity professionally. For most of them, in fact, the effects are always encouraging, ranging from feeling more motivated and engaged (59%), productive (49%), and proud of their activities (34%).
Even though 74% of respondents today recognize that they frequently exercise this skill in the workplace, obstacles to a more creative journey in companies seem to abound. When asked, for example, certain digital distractions, such as Instagram and WhatsApp (29%), the lack of tools (23%), and the rigid organizational culture (17%) were among the most common barriers, alongside the worst of the problems: the constant feeling of mental fatigue or burnout (45%).
In a context where GenerativeArtificial Intelligence is being increasingly explored in companies, on the other hand, for most Brazilians, its use has also translated into more space to create: while 42% of them shared feeling stimulated by so many ideas and references, for 41%, the gain has been the automation of simple tasks, which would allow more free time to create.
For a more creative work—and life—
Now, if offices from North to South are full of factors that prevent a more creative routine, on the other hand, what would most encourage creativity in the corporate world according to Brazilians? As a company focused on professional development, this was one of the questions Conquer shared with respondents—who identified the aspects that most stimulate their creativity at work today.
Among access to different tools, more free time to create, and challenging goals, what tends to most contribute to creative work is autonomy to test new ideas, cited by 69% of respondents.
Not just that, in fact: proving the importance of investing in people, as well as the role of teamwork, collaboration and idea exchange with colleagues (58%) and access to appropriate technologies and tools (55%) also appeared in respondents’ answers, alongside more free time to think (48%).
“At a time when so many tasks are being automated within companies, investing in employees’ creativity (whether through training, tools, or adjustments to organizational culture) means betting on a differentiator with lasting results for the most diverse teams and businesses,” comments Juliana Alencar, Marketing Director at Conquer. “Creative teams tend to be more strategic, collaborative, and attentive to market developments—characteristics increasingly in demand today. Everyone wins.”
Methodology
To understand Brazilian professionals’ relationship with creativity, over the past weeks, 500 adults (over 18 years old) residing in all regions and connected to the internet were interviewed. The reliability index was 95%, and the margin of error was 3.3 percentage points.
In total, respondents were asked 5 questions, which explored what most stimulates them creatively, certain obstacles, and the impacts of AI on their creativity. The organization of responses enabled the creation of different rankings, where you can see the percentage of each alternative indicated by respondents.
