Out with the old...

I had the pleasure of spending about an hour and a half with Richard Florida author of "Rise of the Creative Class" and "Flight of the Creative Class" this past Thursday night at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio.  (Okay, so I was one of about 100 or so in the audience so it wasn't one-on-one.)  For those unfamiliar with Richard Florida and his writings jump here for a brief primer.  Here is a post on his blog about his point of view on the event.

His talk was very good.  I have read his books so just sitting through a rehash would have been boring but he provided insights into how he arrived at his theories and the process and people who supported the development of the books.  Very interesting.  But to the point of the post...

During the question and answer session at the end a woman asked what public policies could be put in place to drive a creative environment that in turn would drive the economic success for a region.  I thought to myself then that the problem was in the assumption that some "rule" needed to be created to fix a problem.  The solution I thought, is that we should first look at the things that are preventing creativity and remove them.   Sometimes it's not about creating a new rule but about removing rules already in place. 

Not unlike the Windows operating system which can get bogged down over time with the addition on new programs and registry entries, policies and rules tend to grow and layer on top of each other so that in the end everything gets harder to accomplish.  The first step in fixing the problem should be to see if there are things already in place that prevent the desired outcome.

This comes into play quite a bit in reward and performance programs where clients want an incentive to drive a behavior yet we find many times the "rules" in place are preventing the behavior.  The client would be better off removing some of the obstacles and see if their results change before installing a program to force employees or channel partners to work harder to circumvent a broken system.

Word to the wise... seek first to remove obstacles before creating new ones.

Comments

[Sean Mayo]

In my opinion, some of the same principles that Florida outlines in his books and at the presentation can be applied to a work environment.

Creativity – The creative potential is inherent in all employees. Organizations are not typically structured to foster this creativity. Typically, the management is tasked with the creative factor, while the workers are tasked with execution. The workers are left to seek other avenues of creative outlet, either through their personal lives or at another job. Successful companies like Toyota have embraced a model that taps the creativity of each and every employee.

Environment – Florida talks about the importance of aesthetics within a community. Companies sometimes opt for function over form when considering their work environment. Concerns over perception of professionalism trump an individuals desire to have a comforting surrounding. Cube farms, uncomfortable chairs, or lack of natural light can lead to unhappy individuals and a lack of job performance. Progressive companies like Google have put great emphasis on the comfort of the individuals work environment.

Challenging Jobs – In a Florida survey, one of the top factors cited for why people live in a given community was satisfaction with their Jobs. In addition to the above mentioned factors, individuals without sense of purpose at their jobs may underperform or leave for something more challenging. Creating a challenging environment requires a management structure that evaluates the goals and objectives of each individual, and is flexible enough to model performance criteria that caters to individuals particular internal influencers.

Tolerance – Companies, like cities, are segregated. Higher levels of management are treated differently than those in the bowels of the organization. When considering what makes a company successful, or a great place to work, one should consider that it is at the lower levels where the gears that run the corporate machine turn. By recognizing that each level in the organization is just as creative and important in the “creative class”, a company breaks down some of the silos and status divides that tend to be common in companies. A company is a microcosm for successful urban planning. Treat all with same sense of importance and respect, and you can create a place where people like to work and reciprocate with better performance output.

My point is (like Florida’s); having an available job is not enough. There are much deeper underlying psychological principles at play when determining an employee’s satisfaction within an organization.

I believe that if an organization can address these issues on an individualized level, it will ultimately create a much more successful organization on the whole, and in-turn the community in which they are located.