|
Want to tap the world's greatest renewable source of creative energy?
They're already on your payroll. Your people are full of ideas. All you have to do is
encourage creative thinking, and listen.
Which is why some managers have so much trouble dealing with creativity. Even in
organizations where creativity is the principal product, managers will fail to achieve the
highest possible level of creative productivity simply because they kill so many good
ideas.
I know such a place. An employee there tells me that if one of their competitors could
just get to their trash cans, they could survive on the ideas the boss has rejected.
If you want more great ideas from your people, why not look in the trash cans? Sound
crazy, I know. But it's what Walt Disney did. And more recently,
Michael Roux, brains behind
Absolut Vodka's phenomenal success. And he didn't stop at the
dumpster. Ideas for Absolut's ads come from all over, not just from the ad agency. They've even invited the readers of Spy magazine to draw
their ads.
Creativity comes only when you let it go. It happens when you're having fun. Unfortunately we all know how threatening fun can be to some
managers. Most employees are willing to have fun. Not all companies are willing to let
them.
You can spend a lot of time and money training individual employees to improve all sorts
of professional skills. But nothing pays the kinds of dividends you get when your people know their ideas are valued. And especially when they see
their ideas making a real contribution.
|
