Turning errors to breakthroughs: dual motivation pathways linking error management climate to radical creativity

Purpose This study is designed to investigate how an error management climate (EMC) fosters employees’ radical creativity through distinct motivational mechanisms and how remote work conditions alter these effects. Design/methodology/approach Using three-wave, time-lagged survey data collected from employees in China’s Yangtze River Delta region, we tested a moderated mediation model in which EMC influences radical creativity via autonomous and controlled motivation, contingent on the extent of remote work. Findings EMC exerts its influence on employees’ radical creativity indirectly through two distinct motivational pathways and remote work shifts how EMC operates. Specifically, at lower levels of remote work, EMC enhances radical creativity primarily by strengthening autonomous motivation, while at higher levels of remote work, EMC promotes radical creativity by reducing controlled motivation. Practical implications Organizations should cultivate EMC while reinforcing the motivational meaning of error-based learning for breakthrough ideas. Remote work requires additional scaffolding – structured virtual learning routines, developmental feedback and recognition systems – to support employees’ internalization of error-positive climate. Originality/value This study disentangles autonomous and controlled motivation as dual mechanisms through which an EMC shapes radical creativity and reveals how remote work reconfigures these processes. It advances understanding of how organizational climates foster breakthrough ideas within contemporary hybrid work arrangement.