Goran Ekvall assessed the creative climate in a large number of Swedish organisations which have been independently classified by Harry Nystrom (Norwegian School of Management) as high, low, or average, in innovative development of products / services, or operational processes. High scorers were accordingly defined as ‘innovative’ and low scorers as ‘stagnated’.

Results show that, on average, innovative organisations scored differently on each of Ekvall's original 'Creative Climate Questionnaire' scales. The Dolphin Index Questionnaire (DIQ) is a substantial development on from Ekvall's original 'Creative Climate Questionnaire'.