Want to foster a creative environment in the workplace? Encourage people to defy their superiors and fight amongst themselves.

According to an article entitled, Think you Manage Creativity? Here's Why You're Wrong, in HBA Working Knowledge, some of the most innovative breakthroughs at companies like 3M (Scotch tape) and HP came about when employee's ignored orders to stop working on a project.

In addition, truly innovative work is often best done in isolation and, in particular, far from critical, evaluative eyes and outside ongoing concerns about money.

William Coyne, former vice president of R&D at 3M, remarked in a speech at Motorola University, "After you plant a seed in the ground, you don't dig it up every week to see how it is doing." In an age of customer centricity, this may border on the heretical. But if you want to develop new products and services, I urge you to keep your creative people away from your biggest customers—and for that matter from critics and anyone whose primary concern is money.

Finally, in a creative organization, the only 'bad' thing is not doing anything. According to research by Dean Keith Simonton creativity results from action. People recognized as creative don't have a greater percentage of successes, they have more total attempts.

So, what are you doing in your organization to foster creativity?