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I'm thinking of the last time I rode a bus full of school children. It's not pleasant, but I'm doing it so you don't have to. It's a long trip and someone eventually pipes up with, "99 bottles of beer on the wall..." An eager chorus, all those with nothing better to do, chimes in. At the same time, another group, including the parents pleads, then demands that they stop.
Have you ever sang or heard "99 Bottles of Beer" from beginning to end? I'd rather rip out my fingernails. It would probably be more fun to visit the 99 Bottles of Beer
website. It claims to represent the song in 1154 different programming
languages and variations. I haven't looked into it, but probably beats
singing it. I think I know why. When the
definition of success is little more than following a pattern of previous
success, creative people don't seem to enjoy the process very much or for
very long. We don't consider it a great success, for example, to work on an
assembly line, to deliver the same thing to the same places day after day,
to answer the phone with the same greeting. No great innovator relishes
doing the dishes, the laundry, or yelling at your neighbor's dog to shut up.
We hate repetition so much that we organize social events around challenge
that can be routine or strenuous such as quilt making, barn raising,
harvesting, and pub crawling. We invent machines to perform the most
distasteful repetitive tasks. Machines don't necessarily perform them
better, but they work longer without whining, striking, or calling in sick.
Humans loathe monotony because we love to create and vice versa.
So when it's this clear that we prefer creative work--where we can make
original contributions rather than repeat a successful process--it makes
sense to take full advantage of this powerful human passion.
Creative work is also the kind of work on which companies thrive. Once
again, it just makes good sense to solicit and incorporate the creative
contributions of every employee. How much of
your success amounts to simply repeating past success with modest variation?
If it's more than you like, get your co-workers together, storm the boss's
office and start singing "99 Bottles of Beer." |
