Creative Reaction

David Rock‘s Your Brain at Work blog explores the importance of dopamine levels in having a positive attitude and staying inspired. Managers and creatives can find a number of simple, practical suggestions, but since you probably do not want to spend your time wading through a bog of psychological wonkdom, I’ll do my best to make a pithy summary here.

Rock explains the tendency for moods to either spiral upward positively or downward negatively, and dopamine levels play a key role. Managers should pay attention to this for two reasons:

1. Higher dopamine levels correlate to positive, cheerful attitudes and
2. Higher dopamine levels are necessary for clear thinking.

According to Rock, dopamine is created in three ways;

1. Novelty – taking delight in new, often “small” things
2. Social Connections – at work and especially outside of work
3. Positive Expectations – being part of some bigger than oneself

Moods and attitudes are heavily influenced by those of others around us, so it is of utmost importance for managers to carefully guard their own attitudes and take time to be inspired. In addition, we should take a look at the above list, ensuring that our management skills and workplaces are conducive to positive, inspirational experiences.

There’s a great illustrated post over at the Times and if it didn’t hit the Internet over a week ago, I would have simply tweeted about it. It’s largely about inventors and it’s very inspirational. Just read it and smile. And then follow it’s advice, “Don’t mope in your room. Go invent something. That is the American message.”

Believe, and help others see why they should, too on the Management-Issues blog offers some excellent advice on creating a passionate, self-motivated team.

Quoting the article, “effective managers and leaders know what they believe and why they believe it”, though success lies beyond confidence and a positive attitude. The key is hiring the right people for the job, showing that you have confidence in them, and helping them find their own motivations to follow the leader’s vision. Good stuff.

Excellent, quick post over at Harvard Business Publishing and without giving too much away, having passionate employees starts with owners/managers/CEOs themselves.

(The attitudes of leaders have a huge impact on employees, so there are quite a few posts related to this topic. See The Power of Happiness Part I and Part II,  Attitude Adjustment, the Day-to-Day Management Affects Creativity series, Part I, Part II and Part III  and Negativity is Poison!)

I came across this really interesting article on Boston.com today, entitled, How the city hurts your brain …And what you can do about it. Recent research is showing that the hustle and bustle of the city – traffic, retail signage, noise, crowds, people talking on cell phones and especially navigating (on foot) through all of the above - essentially overwhelms the brain, leaving little processing power for much else.

“While the modern city might be a haven for playwrights, poets, and physicists, it’s also a deeply unnatural and overwhelming place.”

“Scientists have begun to examine how the city affects the brain, and the results are chastening. Just being in an urban environment, they have found, impairs our basic mental processes. After spending a few minutes on a crowded city street, the brain is less able to hold things in memory, and suffers from reduced self-control.”

The cure for this urban-induced mental blight is nature, even in small amounts. Trees, plants, gardens and parks can have a significant, positive counter-effect. “Natural settings, in contrast, don’t require the same amount of cognitive effort.”

“While people have searched high and low for ways to improve cognitive performance, from doping themselves with Red Bull to redesigning the layout of offices, it appears that few of these treatments are as effective as simply taking a walk in a natural place.”

There are a number of considerations here for managers/owners of creative businesses, all of which affect attitude and creativity:

• Where are our businesses located?
• Should we consider relocating once our leases are up for renewal?
• Can we include plants and small trees in our workspace designs?
• Can we design our workspaces in a manner that allows outdoor views of greenery?
• How can we encourage our employees to spend more time outdoors during the workday and over the weekends?

I happen to spend quite a bit of time on Newbury Street in Boston, which is mentioned twice within the article, so I especially need to be aware of the dangers here! Looks like I should spend a little more time a block over on Commonwealth Ave., which has a mall. (The green kind; “a shady public walk or promenade”.)

It seems happiness is a powerful force, not only affecting people we meet, but also cascading outward through up to three degrees of separation. Being Happy Affects Even Those You Don’t Know, details research carried out over a twenty-year period, offering these astonishing findings.

Study co-author James Fowler says, “To think about the way we’re connected to one another has caused me to take more responsibility for my own actions… If I head home in a happy mood, I’m not just making my son happy, I’m potentially making my son’s friend happy. I’m not just making my wife happy, I’m making my wife’s mother happy.”

Managers and owners, you can already tell where I’m going with this. (See Attitude Adjustment, the Day-to-Day Management Affects Creativity series, Part I, Part II and Part III  and Negativity is Poison!)

“Don’t care what people say, I got my attitude”
-”Attitude” by Bad Brains

I’m definitely not one of those vapid “positive attitude” people. While a positive attitude is foundational to shaping thoughts and leading to actions, it means nothing in and of itself.

So when I clicked on Phil Gerbyshak’s 5 Ways to Make a Positive Attitude and it opened by wishing me a “Happy Positive Attitude Day” I almost closed the web browser window in disgust. Once I realized it was grounded with elements of gratitude and perspective, I continued to read.

I find a lot of what passes for “Positive Attitude” is actually perspective. Good things and bad things of various degrees happen to everyone every day; keeping things perspective helps us moving forward through the bad stuff. I would put the first three tips into that category. So, here they are:

1. Reframe the situation.
2. Count your blessings.
3. Give thanks to those who’ve helped you.
4. Read or listen to something that makes you smile.
5. Smile or make a silly face for no reason.

So why am I blogging about this? As owners and managers, our attitudes have an huge impact on everyone around us; it is vital for us to keep our attitudes in check, if for no other reason than that it’s good for business. (See my Day-to-Day Management Affects Creativity series, Part I, Part II and Part III  and Negativity is Poison!)

This short post over at HR World, Dress to Impress, sites a CareerBuilder.com survey where 41% of employers admit to having a tendency to promote those who dress more professionally.

Is that fair? I’m sure that there are readers whose immediate response to this is that “people shouldn’t judge…” or that this is superficial; and yet I would have to disagree.

Selling the Invisible author Harry Beckwith explains that in any business that is a service, and thus has no tangible product, the intangibles, such as how we dress become far more important.

There’s a somewhat well-known story involving management guru Tom Peters, an airline executive, and coffee stains, in which the airline executive explained that when passengers see coffee stains, they have a tendency to wonder if other aspects of the airline, such as its maintenance, are also sloppy. The airline made a better effort to clean the planes and profits rose.

So perception matters; it’s simply a reality of life. How we dress is something we have complete control over. And “dressing up” can another effect; it can actually improve our attitudes – if we let it.