6 ways to frustrate creative people
Creative people work and think differently. Unfortunately, by failing to understand that fact, business leaders often frustrate creative people and fail to tap into their true genius.
Here’s a list of ways to absolutely frustrate creative people and in the process kill off their creativity and passion. Guaranteed! Sadly, these things are seen all to often, so there are some tips on how to overcome them.
1. Tell them how to do something!
Creative people hate being told how to do something. They do however love to know what needs to be done and what the parameters are. As soon as you tell a creative person how to do something they’ll switch off - so just give them the ‘what’. Direct them, steer them, guide them and lead them BUT whatever you do, stop micromanaging and don’t tell them how to do their job!
2. Don’t respect them!
Creative people love to be respected for their talents and abilities. And yes they need to be told. In a recent survey we conducted, lack of respect, came up as one of the major frustrations creatives have, working for organisations. I’m not saying swoon all over them or dribble on their work, but I am saying let them know you appreciate them. But don’t do it because you’ve read this, do it because you really do, genuinely respect them.
3. Give them loads of red tape!
Creative people hate red tape! They tend to not be very good a detail. Now that doesn’t surprise me at all because it restricts your creative flow. If organizations bog them down in admin and bureaucracy then how are they meant to do the creative stuff?
4. Don’t tolerate their mistakes!
Having a workplace culture that tolerates creative risk and failure is paramount for creative people to thrive. Again one of the biggest frustrations of creative people is working for organizations that don’t tolerate mistakes or failure. Tata Group fosters a culture of sharing and learning from mistakes and failures. That’s where greatness lies. So creative people need to feel safe to throw an idea on the table without fear of ridicule.
5. Lock them into a finite process.
One of the great ironies is that creativity needs structure to thrive but that structure also needs to allow creative freedom. It’s a kind of loose/tight quality. Unfortunately business likes certainty and method and so in it’s quest to make creativity work it often implements cookie cutter processes that only inhibit creative flow. You need to have a framework that knows when to turn on and off the creative controls and direct creativity to your desired outcomes.
6. Lock them into 9 to 5!
Creativity doesn’t work 9 to 5. The creative process needs time to do it’s thing and so leaders need to harness it’s potential by providing environments that let our people be flexible with time. Am I saying come and go as you please? No. However, remember creative people like boundaries but within those boundaries they also require freedom. So a workplace environment that allows freedom to utilise time to get results is where you need to aim.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
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Reader Comments (9)
I think most of these things would frustrate anybody, not only creative people.
i have to agree with the first comment I guess those things could be frustrating for most people unless you like being kept in a box and on a tight leash, being told what to do and criticised for your mistakes. -just dsaying
It's amazing how many of these have frustrated me in the past, even though I was an IT guy (and manager and consultant). IT has lots of built-in structure, but many people don't realize that the good people (if I say so myself) need space and support to be creative.
All of what you stated is so true for the creative person. Sure - and many others too. However - those 'many others' can and often do continue to effectively work in that environment - even if feeling frustrated. This type of environment will greatly, if not totally impair the creative person rendering them ineffective in their work.
I had a business partner who was so focused on time-frames, "..we have to get this done this morning, and then ....... and then...... by this time". "And this is what you need to do now.....!"
Every cell in my body was screaming for OUT! She had her strengths and I appreciated those - and actually loved the supporting systems - but it didn't take long for me to feel unappreciated, frustrated with the restrictions and the 'cutting-across' creative moments with other things that had to be done ..."right now.....". Confidence lost, supreme unhappiness, my mind in a frozen state, I wondered if I'd ever snap out of it. Of course I did when the partnership split - and the weight of the environment lifted. I couldn't stop jumping for joy!
Generally when i brief creative guys i tend to give them a project overview and also share with them the over all campaign objective even if his/her contribution is minimal . Whereas i have seen people telling what they require and when it shld be done. Clients briefs are mostly confusing for creative people coz it wanders in all directions .
I absolutely agree with the view points above as being into creative field for past 2 decade, if am left free on my own I give the best but if other then the brief of the client am asked to go about doing the Dos n Don't....then it really bugs me and my ideas get blogged!! am sure creative people over the other side agree with me.....
Still survival and the boss ticks.....
:-) Sneha(Creative Gifts n Life Style Products)
Great points. The first few seem fairly common sense. Number six is quite interesting though and I think often gets overlooked in the mad rush for profitability.
Great ideas can happen before you've even finished reading the brief. Or sometimes they can happen weeks after the deadline. There is no formula that allows you digest a brief and poop out gold pencils. It's not just 9 to 5, it's about coming up with great stuff in the time allotted. How many times have you said, 'you know what I would have done if I'd had the time?"
Don't get me wrong, this is business. The agency needs to make money and the client needs to make money. There's a balance that needs to be struck. A good manager knows how to provide creatives the time they need, and use it the way they want.
The trick about number 5, regarding structure, is to understand what structure supports, and what structure impedes. That's the real hard part to get right, especially for organizations led by non-creatives.
Even Michelangelo had constraints and commissions. But, the Pope did not tell him "I want 15 saints, three patriarchs and 8 angels, but I'll let you figure out how many Cherubim." Whereas I've encountered this kind of instruction many times and the instructor believes they're encouraging creativity because they've left the number of Cherubim up to the painter.
Instead, I've found the best balance is to set forth clear values, success criteria that describe what a successful conclusion will do (not what it is), and clear constraints and why they are constraints. This last point is the key to real innovation, because sometimes an acknowledged constraint is not really a constraint, and by knowing why it's considered a limitation up front, you've given your creatives license to challenge that perception.
Clear goals, measures and constraints allow creatives, in whatever field, to find the best solution, and that's what they're being paid for anyway, correct? As someone who considers themselves a creative, and who's run teams of very creative people, I've mainly tried to set up the environment in which I work the best, and let my team do its thing. Give them the destination, the timeline, and what they have to work with, and let them find the best way to achieve it.
I worry about the use of the term "creative people". I believe that we can all be creative if we are given the permission to be so, though that creativity may be manifested in a number of ways - the big picture and the new ideas for some, for others its the ingenuity of problem solving details need to be done. Perhaps it is not about making a place in businesses for creative people - rather it is about creating a culture where creativity, in all its various forms, is both recognised and appreciated.