Creative Reaction

Fortune Magazine completely misses something here while they are trashing Google in a PRI/Marketplace interview, the transcript of which is here.

(EXCERPT)
INTERVIEWER:
They’ve got this culture where anything goes and you can learn from your mistakes. Do you ever get fired, though, from Google? I mean, I’ve never heard of anybody losing their job there.

FORTUNE MAGAZINE:
In fact, one of Google’s most senior executives Sheryl Sanberg, who’s a vice president and runs all of the automated advertising systems that Google has, told me about a multimillion-dollar mistake that she made. And when she realized her mistake she walked across the street at the Googleplex in Mountain View and she told cofounder Larry Page about it. What was interesting was his reaction. He said, “Yeah, we shouldn’t have done that. We’ll know better next time. But, oh, by the way, it’s good that you made this mistake. I’m glad,” he told her, “because we need to be the kind of company that is willing to make mistakes. Because if we’re not making mistakes, then we’re not taking risks. And if we’re not taking risks, we won’t get to the next level.”

INTERVIEWER:
You think about that for a second. I mean, if you and I made a million-dollar mistake, even a $100,000 mistake, we’d be gone.

FORTUNE MAGAZINE:
Right, but this is a company that makes so much money, first of all, that it can afford it.
(END EXCERPT)

These guys are both oblivious to something really important here. They are fixated on the money. And they’re wrong to do so. This is about allowing - even encouraging - their employees to take risks and possibly make mistakes. This is part of the corporate culture and more importantly, it is supported all the way up the chain to the CxO level, because they know this is the path to success.

Companies must be eager to extend forgiveness to employees who make mistakes, and then take complete responsibility for their mistakes. These are good, honest people. Be assured, such employees will be grateful, loyal, and willing to work hard for you.

(Full disclosure - I am an IT Pro. I wrote this essay some time back because time after time I am brought in to a business to untangle IT messes which could have been avoided. The point is that the importance of networks and servers, especially in a creative setting, is often underestimated and managers tend to think of infrastructure as an expense, and not as a tool for success. On numerous occasions, I myself have chosen the “cheap” option, only to have it come back to bite me in the, uh, hinter regions, as they say.)

The Delta family wanted more space in their home. All the toys they bought their children could no longer fit in the bedrooms and there was little room to play. They decided they couldn’t afford to spend too much money, and they wanted a solution before Christmas, because they knew they would be buying more toys. They hired a carpenter who converted their garage into a family room just in time for the holiday. It wasn’t much, but the kids seemed to like it - for a few months, after which, it became another storage space. The family’s vehicles remained outdoors.

The Alpha family was also looking for more space. A relative strongly suggested hiring an architect, an idea which they initially fought because it seemed expensive. After making little headway with their own ideas, they relented and hired an architect.

The architect observed how they lived, and after asking scores of questions, made some wonderful suggestions. With some creative thinking, the Alpha family found that the proposed renovation qualified them for a loan. Once the project was complete, the renovation enhanced their lives so much, they could not imagine how they lived without it. Adding to their enjoyment was the fact that the increased value of their home exceeded the cost of the renovation by thousands of dollars.

Five years later, both homes, which initially were identical designs in similar neighborhoods, went up for sale. The Alpha family’s home, enhanced by the renovation, quickly sold. The Delta family’s home was on the market for some time, and eventually sold - once they re-converted the family room back into a garage - at their expense. Although the real estate values had increased 50% in both neighborhoods over the years, the Alpha family had a net gain of 80%, while the Delta family had a net gain of 30% - technically a loss.

Information Technology works the same way. Fast, cheap, or DIY solutions usually come at a cost in terms of lost time and unexpected problems, which make IT an expense. If on the other hand, you hire a consultant who will start with your business goals, form a strategy, guide your purchases, and provide expert installation, you are making choices that will allow IT to be an investment in your business.

So instead of thinking, “I cannot afford a consultant”, ask, “how can I afford a consultant?”

“I cannot afford” is an excuse; it’s a dead end. “How can I afford?” makes you think creatively. “How can I afford?” forces you to weed the wants from the needs. You will have to determine your business’ priorities. You will have to think how you might reallocate existing resources. You will have to think how investing money in one area could provide big returns in another area. Yes, creative business manager, now you are thinking creatively. If you spend wisely, not only will IT save you money, it will also bring in more money in the form of happier clients, new revenue streams, and competitive advantage.

Last Thursday’s post was about a Harvard Business School study (in progress) on “how the work environment can influence the motivation, creativity, and performance of individuals and teams”.

In our third and final installment we look at what people term, “having a good day” or “having a bad day” (and I’m going to use that word again) - this is something we need to be sensitive about.

The researcher, Professor Teresa M. Amabile, said in an interview,
“We analyzed the connection between the daily events that people reported, their reactions to those events, and the effect of those reactions on their performance, including their creativity as a central aspect of performance”

“There are three main points…

One, people have incredibly rich, intense, daily inner work lives; emotions, motivations, and perceptions about their work environment permeate their daily experience at work.

Second, these feelings powerfully affect people’s day-to-day performance.

And third, those feelings, which are so important for performance, are powerfully influenced by particular daily events…

An example of the influence of these feelings on performance is my finding that if people are in a good mood on a given day, they’re more likely to have creative ideas that day, as well as the next day, even if we take into account their mood that next day. There seems to be a cognitive process that gets set up when people are feeling good that leads to more flexible, fluent, and original thinking, and there’s actually a carryover, an incubation effect, to the next day.”

Lets do what we can to enable our coworkers and staff to have more “good days”. Re-read Last Thursday’s post to remind ourselves what we can do. Pick one thing. Make a conscious effort. And try to tell us it didn’t help…

When you think of creativity resources, you may not immediately think of BusinessWeek. We were happy to discover this article on their website, which makes some excellent points.

A few points of interest:
•An environment where people feel safe to offer their ideas is of critical importance.
•Brainstorming is of little use unless it leads to *doing*.
•Brainstorming is a skill which is developed over time.
•Participants should have time to brainstorm individually before and after the session.

Read the article…

Yesterday’s post was about a Harvard Business School study (in progress) on “how the work environment can influence the motivation, creativity, and performance of individuals and teams” and specifically we spoke of the positive behaviors that managers exhibit to positively impact creativity.

Today we look at negative behaviors we all hope to avoid.

Again, quoting the researcher, Professor Teresa M. Amabile:

“We found three leader behaviors that had negative impact.

One was the under- or overspecification of assignments… giving people either too little guidance or too much guidance…

The second one is monitoring in a negative form—that is, checking on assigned work too often or not often enough. Or, checking on it for too long, like hanging around and going too much into the details of what people are doing, and giving unconstructive feedback.

The third negative (behavior) has to do with problem solving—either avoiding solving problems that crop up in the team or the project, or creating problems.

Seemingly ordinary, trivial, mundane, day-by-day things that leaders do and say can have an enormous impact. My guess is that a lot of leaders have very little sense of the impact that they have. That’s particularly true of the negative behaviors.”

Wow. Heavy Stuff. This, coupled with yesterday’s post shows there’s something to be said for “being sensitive”, particularly if you do not feel compelled to be the sensitive sort. It looks like that’s something we need to consider if we want to be successful. Again, a direct link between “people skills” and good creative.

Are we aware of how our behavior affects our coworkers and staff in negative ways? What are we doing to remedy the situation? If you have any advice or anecdotes, please tell us for the benefit of all (in the comments).

The key to making a great cup of coffee is using enough (freshly ground) coffee.

2 Tablespoons per 6 oz. of (filtered) water.

Yes, that sounds like a lot. Yes, it’s more “expensive”. No, it’s not a Starbucks conspiracy - it’s scientific.

Ground coffee contains a finite amount of good flavor. Putting hot water through it extracts this flavor. Putting too much water through too little coffee pulls out bad flavors and results in bitterness.

So it is with creatives.

People have finite amounts of time, energy and creativity. If you try to extract too much of any of these, the quality of the work suffers.

Good creative drives your business. Your reputation depends upon it. It is often the *primary source* of income.

Your business has invested thousands, tens of thousands, or possibly millions of dollars in infrastructure, staffing and training - all so that the creatives can make their magic.

Over-extract at your own peril.

A Harvard Business School study (in progress) on “how the work environment can influence the motivation, creativity, and performance of individuals and teams” is already yielding some encouraging, and sometimes sobering, findings.

The link above is to an interview with the study’s researcher. Since it involves research, it is dense with insights, so we’ll stick to one insight per posting.

Todays thought: “ordinary, seemingly mundane things (Managers) do or say carry great influence on workers” We’ll focus on the positive behaviors today.

Quoting the researcher, Professor Teresa M. Amabile:

“There are five leader behaviors that have a positive influence on people’s feelings…

One of these is supporting people emotionally.

The second is monitoring people’s work in a particularly positive way… giving them positive feedback on their work or giving them information that they need to do their work better.

The third behavior is just plain recognizing people for good performance, particularly in public settings.

The fourth is consulting with people on the team—that is, asking for their views, respecting their opinions, and acting on their needs and their wishes to the extent that it’s possible.

And the fifth category was a grab bag of things. But the most important aspect here was collaborating—that the team leader rolled up his or her sleeves and actually spent time collaborating with somebody on the work.”

(Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed that it’s uncanny how much of this parallels the Dale Carnegie classic, How To Win Friends and Influence People published in 1936?!)

As we see, there’s a direct link between “people skills” and good creative. What are we doing to improve our skills? If you have any tips, please post them in the comments.

Welcome to Creative Reaction, a new blog to invigorate and excite those who manage or work within creative businesses or departments. Creativity and the business of creativity often butt heads, so I guess that makes us… a helmet manufacturer?

We’re still “in beta” as they say and we’ll be finding our feet for the next few weeks as we choose categories and subject matter and start posting. Then we’ll spruce up the joint and work out some of the kinks.

Thanks for visiting!