Enabling group creativity

Creativity, through group interaction, can be achieved when several of the following conditions are met:

1. Clear goals (expectations and rules are discernible and goals are attainable and align appropriately with one's skill set and abilities).Concentrating and focusing, a high degree of concentration on a limited field of attention (a person engaged in the activity will have the opportunity to focus and to delve deeply into it).
2. A loss of the feeling of self-consciousness, the merging of action and awareness.
3. Distorted sense of time - one's subjective experience of time is altered.
4. Direct and immediate feedback (successes and failures in the course of the activity are apparent, so that behavior can be adjusted as needed).
5. Balance between ability level and challenge (the activity is neither too easy nor too difficult).
6. A sense of personal control over the situation or activity.
7. The activity is intrinsically rewarding, so there is an effortlessness of action.

In fact, the above points describe the conditions for flow, as defined by Csikszentmihalyi. He goes on to say:

When in the flow state, people become absorbed in their activity, and focus of awareness is narrowed down to the activity itself, action awareness merging.

Source: "Beyond Boredom and Anxiety," Csikszentmihalyi