Collaborative work is often emphasized in society and education as a productive way to promote creativity. However, research into collaborative work suggests otherwise. On the one hand, the involvement of many participants in a creative process may lead to the production of more original and valuable ideas due to an increased level of mutual associations, quantity of ideas, combinations of ideas and unpredictability. On the other hand, collaborative work may entail less creativity as a result of 'social loafing', evaluation apprehension, 'group thinking' and loss of 'psychological ownership'. In the present study, a pass-the-baton design approach was constructed and tested among students in higher education to find new ways to promote flexible thinking and creativity in collaborative processes. The study was designed as a mixed methods comparative study based on design-based research and semi-experimental methodology. In the course, groups of students developed different educational games meant for children. During the process, students handed over their ideas and products to other groups who continued the process of ideation and development. The study indicated that the-pass-the-baton design, in general, did not promote increased flexible thinking and creativity. In fact, the students who handed over ideas lost both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. A feeling of lost ownership and a feeling of lost responsibility appears to have caused this reduced motivation. Furthermore, lost motivation was caused by mutual mistrust among the students in terms of their peers' intentions and work ethics. At the end of the article, connections are made to current trends within society and education.
