Use of Government Scientists: Ageing and Effectiveness project

This was a collaborative project with the Behavioural Sciences Research Division of the Civil Services Department, undertaken by Michael Foster on behalf of the Tavistock Institute. Following a paper by Lord Rothschild which argued that creativity wanes in later life, the Civil Service Department was invited to conduct a study of the relationship between age and effectiveness amongst scientists working in Government laboratories. The project addressed three principal issues: 1. The importance of creativity to scientific effectiveness; 2. Whether creativity does wane with advancing age; 3. Whether, if creativity does decline, does scientific effectiveness decline in the same way. Research was conducted through individual interviews and group meetings and was a supplementary part of the development of a manpower planning scheme within the Civil Services Department. Includes report on 'Creativity and laboratory effectiveness', papers and reports on creativity and effectiveness, and Management in Confidence report 'Use of Government Scientists: Studies of Effectiveness at the Military Vehicle Engineering Establishment'.

1972-1976

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