Leading Creatives
Leading Creatives
I had some thoughts on the plane yesterday on my way to Newark from Columbus about leading creative people. Leading creatives can be challenging. Leading me can be challenging. Here are some thoughts I had on why that is and how to do it.
1. Give Them Laboratories
Creative people need a place to test, research and implement the ideas and thoughts flying around in their head. A lot of my friends are very creative people and most of them get bored easily. It can almost come across as disinterest, but creative people need to be challenged. And the challenges need to be new and constantly changing. I have what I call professional-ADD. I need to be doing different things all the time. I’ve had people point at it as a weakness… I think it’s a strength.
2. Let The Team Create The Vision
The vision of the organization HAS to come from a team. It has to. If it doesn’t, then hire minimum-wage, non-creative people to simply perform tasks exactly as you lay them. out. You will spend less money and have less stress. If you are going to have creative people on your team, then you have to allow the vision to be shaped by their different styles, personalities, perspectives and talents. Which will cost you more and probably create more stress. Learn to operate from a creative team - where input is valued. Because the vision is a journey. Not a destination. And there is a lot of distrust for the one-man, rock-star show.
3. Reward Them
Creative people need to be rewarded. They need to know that their work, thoughts and style is valued. With that said, there is no greater reward than to allow their work to shine. Don’t stick them in a lab for the sake of giving them a place to have fun. Implement it. Allow them to lead change. Push them to the front and say, “Alright, now let’s do it.” Creatives have to have buy-in, they have to be invested. Allow them to work/act/live like everything depends on them. One last note, reward them by budgeting funds for their experiments. Cirque de Soleil puts 70% of their profits back into new shows. There’s nothing worse than investing days and weeks into a something and then watching it die. Reward them by allocating resources.
October 16th, 2007 at 9:43 pm
I like the way you think.
October 19th, 2007 at 3:02 pm
I think you hit the nail on the head there. It’s a common misperception that there is no creativity in people who work in places like law firms, accountancy, banks etc but actually there is - it’s just that the style of management and operation never allows for it to surface. Good post.
October 19th, 2007 at 3:06 pm
[…] You want to lead creatives? Great post from Josh on how to manage creatives. If you’re a creative (and everyone is to an extent, because that’s part of being made in the image of a creator God) then you should identify with a lot of this. I particularly liked this: […]
October 21st, 2007 at 7:01 am
I love this post. I’ve been so lucky that my new employer ended up changing the role I applied for, allowing me to be involved in a variety of different things. Some challenges are old, some are new, but the development is ongoing, and my work is always changing.