Emergence of creativity in IS development teams: A socio-technical systems perspective

Despite the crucial role of creativity in the dynamic and intricate practice of Information Systems Development (ISD), our understanding of its emergence in ISD teams is limited. Prior research has focused on isolated interventions into the people, structure, task, and technology components of ISD practices. However, the synergistic interactions between these components are often overlooked, resulting in interventions that may be ineffective or counterproductive. Drawing on Leavitt’s Socio-Technical Systems (STS) theory, this paper explores creativity as a synergistic outcome of interactions within and between the people, structure, task, and technology components. Our qualitative study at a multinational banking software provider reveals that creativity emerged from within-component interactions when innovators and facilitators in ISD teams interact empathetically during idea generation and evaluation, visualize ideas using technologies for representation and collaboration, and align their creative styles with the organization's formal and informal structures. Additionally, we found that interactions between the STS components in ISD team practices created stimulating environments for creativity to emerge. Our study advances an STS perspective on the emergence of creativity in ISD teams, emphasizing synergistic interactions between people, structure, task, and technology rather than isolated interventions. Practically, our findings provide insights into how IS professionals can nurture creativity by fostering empathetic leadership, aligning creative styles with organizational structures, and balancing tensions between control and drift.