From adaptability and agility to innovation, creativity is at the heart of what businesses need to thrive. And it’s not relevant just to those in creative industries. In every sector, from pharmaceuticals to finance, understanding what employees need to think and act creatively holds the potential to build resilience in a business and happiness for individuals.

“Everyone has creative potential,” says Ben Hamley, data-driven design, innovation and strategy director for APAC at Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL). “The natural diversity of perspectives is super-important for companies to be able to transform, do new work or create new value in the future. More than anything else, companies have to enable their employees to realize that potential. Talented people look for workplaces where creative work thrives—where they can do the best work of their life.”

For Hamley, employment is an activity increasingly dominated by knowledge. As the information age rapidly becomes the age of artificial intelligence (AI), it’s crucial that organizations create a healthy working environment for the human mind. There’s a danger that returning to the bland corporate offices people left in 2020—designed to promote homogeneity rather than encourage individuality—will stifle that. Little wonder many have stayed home.

“Talented people look for workplaces where creative work thrives—where they can do the best work of their life.”

- Ben Hamley, Data-driven Design,Innovation and Strategy Director, APAC, JLL

To facilitate this, he’s turned to the insights of Dr. Andy Walshe. A global expert in the field of elite human performance, Walshe works with teams across sports, business, culture and the military, and has extensively researched the science of human creativity.