Co.Create: Creativity \ Culture \ Commerce: When the Harvard Business Review published a post called Seven Rules For Managing Creative People a few months back, the reaction was an almost universal, Oh, please! This was due to the fact that most of the advice in the piece was bizarrely off base ("surround them with semi-boring people." What?), but also because of the patronizing tone and the assumption that "creatives" are a breed of brats demanding a different set of operating instructions.
via The Producer's Perspective
3 comments:
The topic of how to best encourage creativity is always very interesting. While the way that the information was presented seemed like it was encouraging manipulation of "creatives," the points that they make do have some footing.
After re-reading the article a couple of times however, they do seem to be encouraging the manipulation of creativity. They say to keep them producing, to lead by example and maybe the creatives will want to churn out work and "suggest -- but don't necessarily impose -- a process." That sounds like something teachers will do to students so that they think they are getting the answer on their own but really they were having their hand held.
I think the best way to encourage creativity and to get the most out of "creatives" is to let them know what needs to be accomplished and then leave them to their own devices. Creativity cannot be forced or artificially brought in. Creativity must just be given it's own time to grow - corporations and companies cannot and will never be able to control it - so they should stop trying to. They should really start trying to understand how it can work - not just how it can benefit them.
After doing some research into the post, the poster of this article may have mistakenly used the work managing in place of a more restrictive word, such as containing, in order to make a more enticing article. I personally believe that said seven reasons do not truly uphold the name sake, and seem to be the negative channeling on ones energy into a semi-insulting/restrictive post. In one rule, it says only involve yourself fin meaningful work, however sometimes it requires one to do something useless to really find him or herself in the work, which is how I ended up becoming involved in theatre.
The idea of managing and dealing with creative people is relatively new. The old model for dealing will all types of people and business used to be pay people more so that they are motivated and have greater output. This turns out to be untrue for many jobs. Most creative jobs are actually hindered when there are material rewards at stake. In this world where new ideas and innovations are everything, creative people have become much more valuable. Managers need to manage completely different than they would have on a factory floor. Sometimes dealing with creative people can be difficult. You occasionally run into the stuck up and arrogant types who value their own ideas above all else. But a good manager with adept people skills can bring many people of different creative aspects together to create something great.
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