Getting work done, helping others
How can we help others be creative, or work together to foster creativity?
I’ve just finished week 3 of the new job. Every time I get to about that stage, I feel I have to reflect on how I can foster creativity and not get sucked into endless problem solving and ‘fixing’ things that need to improve. In other words, creativity is at risk! It’s a challenging balance to get right, which in the past I haven’t always managed. But more on that in a bit.
It’s not about you
If creativity is fundamentally about combining things, ideas and experiences (which is what I believe), then our relationship with other people has to be one of the most valuable sources of creativity. I think we all have moments in our lives when meaning is transformed, an insight reveals itself, or a new chapter opens up, but nearly always this is a reaction to how the people – either individuals or groups we know – have affected us or reacted to us, even if that’s just a feeling of what it means for those people..
“A growing body of evidence suggests that the single greatest driver of both achievement and well-being is understanding how your daily efforts enhance the lives of others.”
Tom Rask, author of “It’s not about you, a brief guide to a meaningful life”
Before you get worried I’m starting on a whole self-help narrative here, let’s bring it back to creativity, and more importantly, how you can work better, do more, and connect with others to do creative work.
Distraction and inaction
Whether it’s self imposed due to procrastination, external factors like work schedules, the social media attention vortex, or the remarkable ability of young children/difficult family members/health challenges to make completing a mundane task feel like emerging into a clearing after a week in a dense jungle, it’s sometime difficult to get around to that creative project you ‘want’ to do.
These dangers lie in wait for all of us. But I’ve found that just being aware of these factors gives you a good chance to get around them. For example:
Procrastination. I think we all suffer from this, but keeping in mind some simple steps to get you to your goal, and repeating tiny actions to get there really helps (I always want to fix everything straight away, don’t manage it, and have to constantly remind myself that this approach is actually better). For example, writing an article is easier if you write notes on different parts of the subject out of order, whenever they occur to you, before turning them into a terrible first draft (it’s important it’s terrible, you can worry about great later).
Work & meetings. Modern work seems designed to distract, and the bigger the organisation the more mundane the distractions – meetings are especially dangerous, and the more people in them, the more irrelevant to actually getting things done they are. ALWAYS ask - is there another way to achieve this rather than a meeting? A well written note, memo or shared document is nearly always more useful. Be proud of short meetings with few people. Have long meetings when you want to solve problems together, or celebrate some great wins, or brainstorm, where social ‘riffing’ on a theme has a value.
The blank page. Just. Get. Started. Easier said than done, but something is always better than nothing, and these somethings can be turned into a great piece later (see Procrastination above). It’s important to remember when it comes to creative projects or ideas, you are always just practising so you can do your best work in the future (which you will only realise in retrospect, and are likely to hate/think is rubbish at some stage of creating it). Take some pressure off. For example, in photography when taking portraits, it’s often the ‘practice’ shot when you get the best image.
Beware heroes and geeks bearing gifts
But these points are about YOU, what I really want to talk about is EVERYONE ELSE. In marketing - my day job - there is a myth that great work is either the outcome of a great process (usually driven by data), or by an amazing leader with a vision - the ‘Steve Jobs Myth’ we could call it. But both these ideas are totally wrong.
I’m not denying that great, inspiring people can drive great results, or data can reveal an opportunity or a trend that can lead you to have a real impact, but these factors are circumstantial not fundamental. But the ability of a group, team or community to use creativity to create success is not only a reliably powerful way to do great things, there are far fewer downsides.
An inspiring figure can get people to do more, work harder, create more based on her take on the world. But that interpretation is fragile, and when wrong, can put everyone on the wrong path, fast. How do you tell if your leader is more Steve Jobs and less Elizabeth Homes?
Similarly, the ‘god of data’ which marketing has worshipped largely unchallenged for the last ten years, can tell you about past behaviours of your customers, it can tell you lots about the what, when and how, but very little about the whys of the future customer. Plus, whilst data is a great teacher about average person, he’s pretty rubbish on the individual – on average, taste tests before launch showed that ‘New Coke’ would be a success, and Red Bull would be a failure. It turned out to be the other way around.
The point is not that either of these approaches are wrong – they clearly have value – but that it is as much the people following these approaches that affect the results (with their naturally human, biases, habits and traits), as much as the approaches themselves.
We, us and them
I think the biggest failures I’ve made in my professional life have hinged on not trusting my team enough, or more accurately, not sharing my challenges more fully so that they can help me solve them. Also the companies I’ve worked at which have struggled the most, are the ones that don’t embrace the talents, creativity and collective energy to solve their most difficult problems. The same leadership group trying to solve the same problems with the same way of thinking is, in my view, the definition of stupidity (and often poor financial performance).
The other reason for embracing a more open approach to solving problems and being creative is diversity. I’m not talking about the moral imperative here (because their clearly is one) but the creative imperative, the performance imperative and the cultural imperative which all flows from diverse thinking. I have no scientific basis for this (maybe someone out there does), but I think that the research that has highlighted higher performing companies having more diversity, is much more about diversity of thinking than anything else1.
The reason no one pays more attention to this (they do pay attention, just not enough), is cultural – the talent myth fits neatly alongside the ‘entrepreneur hero’ myth; professional – it’s easier to tell people what to do than empower them to perform; and short termism – it’s harder to invest in building diversity of talent, thinking and insights if you’re looking for a return on investment in 3 years.
Doin’ the do
To add more creative thinking to your process, involve more people, being open to ideas from all walks of life and embrace ways of working is often not easy. But it is much more rewarding when you get it right.
I don’t pretend I have all the answers here, but thinking about the Design Thinking approach I’ve used for many creative projects, team performance, and talking to others who have led teams successfully, there seems to be some common approaches which are more important:
Create an environment of trust. Simon Sinek emphasises this in his work, and it’s certainly borne out from other research, that people can be most creative when they feel safe to try things (and fail), are clear of what is expected, and can ask questions if they need to.
Create room for growth. Growth – creative, business or personal – does not take place in a straight line. There needs to be explicit permission to try to be something different, create outside normal conventions, in a quest to discover new things.
Welcome challenge. In an age where everyone has an algorithm that curates content based on the past, it’s difficult to seek out, welcome or have an honest debate about contrary views. But to avoid doing the same things again and expecting different results, it is important.
I know that my challenge in my new job is to welcome other opinions, be open to ideas from unexpected quarters, and to empower my team as much as I possibly can to create new possibilities for us all. Only then will my own goal, of keeping creativity at the heart of decision making, new projects and new possibilities, be achievable.
Keep curious!
James
Some ‘Cold Coast’ updates
I’ve struggled to fit as much photography in as I would like, but hoping this will improve as ‘new job overwhelm’ syndrome subsides. Below is a selection of images taken a few weeks back on the South Coast of England. Would love to hear what you think!
Lymington
New Milton
Two photography-related links
Post on 15 street photography tips
I’ve booked tickets for the exhibition of the Sony World Photography Awards, At Somerset House, including to a talk by Sebastião Salgado, one of the greatest (IMO) photojournalists of the last 50 years.
McKinsey reported diversity drove better performance