Revising Creative Work: How Workers’ Curiosity and Reviewers’ Feedback Influences Creative Drafts

Evidence suggests that creative works requires committing a significant amount of time to revising - acquiring information about early versions of an idea (e.g., a prototype, draft, or working model) that directs subsequent reworking of the idea with the intention of enhancing its overall novelty and usefulness. To date, the role of revising has largely been ignored in the creativity literature creating a significant opportunity for developing new theory that might guide creative workers and their managers to better understand the revising process. In this paper, we develop a multi-level model that focuses on an individual trait (Level 2, between persons) that might enhance revising – curiosity – and the feedback that creative workers receive (Level 1, within persons) that can guide their revision efforts. Our results suggest a mediated model where curious individuals spend more time revising drafts and produce more creative products (Level 2) and that ambivalent, tentative, and inclusive feedback is most likely to lead to revisions (Level 1).