Managers, Nurture Creativity. Don’t Kill It!
Tanmay Vora
Bob, the project manager, was busy communicating with client via MSN Messenger, his eyes focused on the computer screen and fingers fiercely hitting the keyboard in a fine synchrony with his brain.
Jay, the team member, approach Bob with a suggestion – “Sir, for this particular requirement of the project, I have a suggestion that can save us a few lines of code, time and may also improve the performance”, there was a spark on Jay’s face as he put forward the suggestion.
Bob was half-attentive with his eye-balls still skimming through the lines of chat with client on MSN.
“See, we are already running short of time. So, I am sorry. Please do as we discussed this morning and keep your creativity for a later date. We surely need it, but not now!”, Bob said in a deep and authoritative tone.
Jay was taken aback with absolute lack of empathy and understanding demonstrated by his boss. Had Bob accepted Jay’s suggestion, it would have actually saved some time and effort. But Bob was simply not receptive.
This is a sad, but often a real story in many organizations. Managers kill creativity instead of nurturing it.
Managers and leaders ought to nurture creativity if they want to get best out of people. How does one do that?
- Listen and Pay Attention– Bob’s biggest mistake was not to listen. He partially attended Jay’s suggestion and missed the details. Had he been attentive, he would have been in a better position to appreciate it. Without attention, you cannot go far in your thoughts or relationships.
- Challenge – People need problems to ‘solve’. They don’t always need solutions which they just need to ‘implement’. If you always ask people to implement your ideas, you are killing their creativity.
- Give Targets and Measure– Throw reasonable constraints at your team. Give a problem but also give a reasonable deadline. Constraints can fire up creativity. Measurement can track progress of improvement.
- Share Larger Perspective – When you give problem statement to your people, also tell them how this problem (and its respective solution) fits the larger picture.
- Respect – people who are respected will walk “extra-mile”. Respect is the soil on which seeds of creativity are sown.
- Clarify Expectations – People who know what is expected out of them will do much better than the one’s who don’t.
- Play by their strengths – Give them assignments where they can best use their inherent abilities and strengths.
With Bob’s one mistake, do you think Jay will ever choose to be creative in Bob’s assignments? What do you think Bob should have done differently to fire up creativity in his team member?
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QAspire Blog: Managers Nurture Creativity! [link to post]
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Without attention, you cannot go far in your thoughts or relationships. – [link to post]
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People need problems to ‘solve’. They don’t always need solutions which they just need to ‘implement’. – [link to post]
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Respect is the soil on which seeds of creativity are sown. – [link to post]
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@tnvora urgers managers: Nurture Creativity, Don’t Kill It![link to post]
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QAspire Blog – Quality, Management, Leadership & Life! » Managers … [link to post]
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Thx! RT @MiNutrition: RT @steveroesler: @tnvora urgers managers: Nurture Creativity, Don’t Kill It![link to post]
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Thanks for the RT Steve! RT @steveroesler: @tnvora urgers managers: Nurture Creativity, Don’t Kill It![link to post]
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After reading the article, I agree with its moral. However every coin has two sides and on looking at other angle, I feel Jay should have been little patient on submitting his creative ideas.
His idea was wonderful and should have been implemented, however the timing was not appropriate for him to approach his boss when Bob was completely involved in some other task. I feel that when Jay saw Bob busy in some task, he should have waited till Bob would have been free from his task. Bob would have definately listened to him with more attention. He would have appreciated Jay’s creative ideas and would also encourage him to go ahead with it.
But given the situation, I feel Bob should at least told Jay politely to meet him after some time as he was busy. Jay would have understood the situation gracefully and would visit Bob later and the idea he had would have been into action.
Thanks,
Devdeep
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QAspire Blog: Respect is the soil on which seeds of creativity are sown. – [link to post]
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Hi Devdeep – Thanks for stopping by and commenting. I agree with you, however, for the case I mentioned here, the team was running short of time already. This means, team could not have waited longer to put their ideas.
There are situations on the project when we just need to come out and express. If we wait to time our expression, we miss the bus!
Best,
Tanmay
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QAspire Blog: Managers Nurture Creativity! [link to post]
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RT @tnvora: QAspire Blog: Respect is the soil on which seeds of creativity are sown. – [link to post]
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I agree to Devdeep for the point he has put about two sides of a coin. But I understand that the lesson here is particularly for the managers who generally don’t understand their team’s creativity and listen them properly. Above example and situation may not fit exactly.
Yes Tanmay, I think you are saying the same in other way. Sorry I did not see your comment earlier.
Thanks for commenting Hasan – I appreciate your comments and participation!
Best,
Tanmay
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Interesting post on fostering creativity “Managers, Nurture Creativity. Don’t Kill It!” by @tnvora [link to post]
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Thanks! RT @fatboy1203: RT @tnvora: QAspire Blog: Respect is the soil on which seeds of creativity are sown. – [link to post]
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An urge to managers and leaders to nurture creativity, and not kill it – [link to post]
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Hi Tanmay, it also depends on how much critical/serious the situation was. Bob might be under too much pressure to meet the client expectations due to which he responded negatively to Jay [which he might not have done if the situation had not been too serious.]. Individual perspectives can also be considered while analyzing the scenario mentioned. But whatever points you have mentioned are very important for managers at various different levels to learn and follow.
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@tnvora Managers should nurture creativity [link to post]
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RT @tnvora QAspire Blog: Respect is the soil on which seeds of creativity are sown. – [link to post]
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Thank you so much for the RT! RT @culturalofferin: @tnvora Managers should nurture creativity [link to post]
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If Bob is in a conversation with a client (or anyone else), his first priority MUST be to focus on that conversation. His real mistake was to give Jay even half of his attention rather than making a note and getting back to him later, when he could give full attention.
Of course, that might be too late for Jay. If it was meant to be easy, Bob wouldn’t be getting the big bucks.
Respect goes two ways, of course. There is something wrong in a team where a team member feels happy to interrupt another when they are clearly trying to concentrate on a task.
Anything Bob does now is damage control: either he breaks off his discussion with the client or he puts off Jay. Whilst these situations do arise in real life and need to be dealt with, the more important lesson is to address your recommendations proactively, before you get to this stage.
For example, you say that the problem was already discussed in the morning. So I would expect that Jay has already had a chance to contribute his ideas. This should have take the form of handing him the problem and discussion his proposed solution(s). (This assumes that this was a general discussion. If “as we discussed” is code for “as I told you” then there is a problem with language (and probably unclear thinking) as well as management.)
I would say that the post has a subcontinental flavour to it, and there may be a general expectation that managers give clear instructions for subordinates to follow faithfully. In Western Europe, I would not expect my team members to follow my orders unquestioningly.