CHAPTER
13

Developing a Creative Culture in Your Organization

In This Chapter

• How creativity affects the bottom line
• The importance of including everyone in the creative process
• What it takes to be creative at work
• Surrounding yourself with inspiration

The blog posts and articles are all over the internet. Many corporations, nonprofit organizations, governmental agencies, and small businesses are now asking employees to do more with less—and to do it creatively. Some companies are just jumping on the creativity bandwagon now, while others recognized the need long ago. But just what does being creative in the workplace mean? What does it entail? How do you go about developing a creative culture within your organization?

These are just a few of the questions that will be addressed in this chapter. Even if you are not in the workplace—perhaps you work out of your home or you’re retired—you may be able to glean some useful tips from this chapter.

Creativity and the Bottom Line

The internet has changed the way just about everybody conducts business, as the world is literally at people’s fingertips. As a result, business is conducted much more quickly for many companies and has led to increased competition, which demands generating and implementing new ideas to stay ahead of the pack. However, companies of any size, nonprofit organizations, various agencies, and entrepreneurs can use the entire process of creativity—from ideas and experimentation to innovation and completion—to positively affect the bottom line. Beyond contributing to profitability, other benefits of establishing a creative culture include a more motivated and enthused workforce, improved morale and teamwork, a reputation for attracting quality new hires and retaining happy employees, creative problem solving, and increased customer satisfaction.

For example, the Frito-Lay Corporation looked for innovative solutions to remain profitable while dealing with inflationary costs and keeping prices steady. Frito-Lay’s goal was to attain savings of $500 million over a five-year period, so they turned to a consulting company that specializes in creative problem solving. During this process, employees were trained in a creative problem-solving process that consisted of identifying opportunities, clarifying their challenges, and finding and executing solutions. The focus was on “big-dollar opportunities,” where savings could be made to offset the money being spent. The commonly asked question among employees became, “How might we …?”

In the end, Frito-Lay exceeded its savings goal time frame by one year—from five years to four years. Additionally, employees learned creative problem-solving skills they continue to use today. According to the consulting company, staff members’ motivation and enthusiasm rose significantly, as the entire company culture changed to a positive outlook of possibilities.

As you can see, there’s a need for more innovation in the workplace for everything from structuring organizations and involving employees to setting strategy and meeting financial challenges. In fact, according to an IBM survey, more than 1,500 CEOs from 60 countries and 33 industries worldwide identified creativity as the number-one leadership requirement to effectively work through the escalating business complexities involving major shifts, uncertainties, changes, and new regulations. They ranked creativity above “rigor, management discipline, integrity, and even vision.”

What has your company or organization experienced? Have you experienced how creativity has helped you in a positive way?

CREATIVITY KEY

Being an inquisitive employee can help develop your creativity and save your boss time. For example, if you have questions about how to proceed with a project, don’t automatically seek an answer from others right away. Use your creative thinking skills to come up with your own solutions before getting clarity from your manager. You may just hit upon an innovative idea that may have gone by the wayside had you looked outside of yourself first.

Creativity That Involves Everyone

Developing a creative environment works most effectively if every staff member feels included, from the janitor to the CEO. The traditional viewpoint is that creativity is limited to positions such as graphic designers, illustrators, marketers, PR pros, photographers, writers, production specialists, and editors. But for everyone to get on board and feel a part of a creative culture, ideas from all should be welcomed. If you are charged with instituting more creativity into your workplace or wish to be a part of that, what can you do to help bring this about? You may already have ideas of your own. If not, you could take a page from Michael Eisner, the former chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company. In an interview with Suzy Welaufer in the Harvard Business Review, he discussed how ideas come from “an environment of supportive conflict.” This means employees should feel free to speak up—unlike some working conditions in which they don’t dare risk speaking out of turn. The environment should also encourage employees to laugh and have fun.

One of the ways Eisner accomplished that was by launching his company’s version of the humorous NBC Gong Show from the 1970s, which presented acts that ranged from the absurd to the truly talented. The idea was to perform long enough to survive the gong. The Disney version involved weekly sessions in which all “cast members” (in other words, employees) were invited to attend and offer their ideas. Many were gonged, but some great ideas emerged, including ones that resulted in the movies The Little Mermaid and Pocahontas.

Another technique employed was discussing ideas in the same room for up to two days and treating all who participated equally—” no pecking order,” Eisner said. Eisner spoke about the importance of diversity—including ethnicity and differing viewpoints—and how it aided creativity in those situations. Contrasting opinions got shared and often led to dissension, slowing the process and in turn causing creative ideas may light up. He also described how the best ideas emerged toward the end of the process and how eventually someone said something to bring it all together (see Chapter 14 for how being tired can lead to the discovery of creative ideas).

Like Eisner, you could organize or suggest innovation teams that then feed the ideas to an executive committee. This may work for your company; if not, organize or suggest a structure that does. Even more important than structure is the business sending a message that all employees’ ideas and opinions are valued.

INSPIRATIONAL INSIGHT

“Innovation—any new idea—by definition will not be accepted at first. It takes repeated attempts, endless demonstrations, monotonous rehearsals before innovation can be accepted and internalized by an organization. This requires courageous patience.”

—Warren Bennis

Building a Creative Environment

In addition to making sure everyone has the opportunity to be heard, how do you go about establishing a creative culture in your organization? If you’re the boss and get to call the shots, it’s important to recognize it starts at the top. You set the example (more on this in Chapter 15), and if you’re not willing to do what it takes to demonstrate your own creativity and encourage your employees’ efforts, your staff isn’t going to buy into it. Your creativity quest must be believable through your actions. In other words, that old adage applies—you must talk the talk and walk the walk. If you are an employee who is not charged with making overall organizational decisions, your input still matters—at least in a truly creative work environment. Whether you’re a manager or employee, the following are other considerations in setting the tone for a more creative environment.

Rewarding Employees

Recognition goes a long way. If you have employees who report to you, consider setting up a formal rewards program. To do this, think about ways you can reward them for creative thinking, even if the ideas don’t pan out. Determine if you want to acknowledge individuals or if there’s a way to have staff members work as teams to be recognized together. Monetary rewards may be used but remember, the best ideas often emerge more from an intrinsic motivation rather than extrinsically. Ask your staffers what would be meaningful to them. Obtaining that feedback could be structured as a creative activity in which your employees make suggestions on what would excite and motivate them. If you’re not in a position with anyone reporting to you, you can always contribute by letting your boss know what would motivate you to be more creative at work.

Employee flextime is another workplace benefit to consider. As a manager or owner of a company, this can work wonders for your employees’ creativity because it gives them a sense of freedom and allows them to play with ideas. For example, many articles have been written referencing Google’s 20 percent program, in which Google’s employees may use up to 20 percent of their workweek to spend time on projects that have nothing to do with their normal job responsibilities. Some of these pursuits have resulted in actual Google products. However, if you’re going to do this, you have to come from a place of trust that they won’t take advantage of this opportunity.

If you’re an employee who is not in a managerial role, you can always request flextime. First, find out if your company has a flextime policy. If nothing formal is in place, be specific when you approach your boss about being given some flextime. Is this a one-time request or something you wish to do on a regular basis? Are you looking for flextime within the office, or does it involve a different location? For example, are you looking to work a certain number of days or hours at home? Be ready to talk about how the company will benefit, which could be due to improved morale, efficiency, and productivity. Flextime also can mean the difference between an employee staying with the company or leaving. If that’s the case for you (perhaps it has to do with child care or a situation that’s critical for you to work out), be sure to voice your concern without sounding threatening.

Being Tolerant of Mistakes

Creating a culture in which failure is accepted will help employees to assume risks they might not otherwise take and keep them from playing the “blame game.” There’s no need for blame if mistakes are viewed as a way to learn and grow.

Remember the discussion on mistakes in Chapter 7 and the response of saying “How fascinating” after making a mistake? Have you adopted a phrase yet that works for you? If you knew your boss would be accepting of mistakes, would this encourage you to explore outside the box more? Chances are, an attitude that is indulgent of mistakes will make you more apt to take responsibility for your own actions as you generate and pursue new ideas.

Having a workplace that’s tolerant of mistakes and encourages employees to try new approaches doesn’t mean you should throw good judgment out the window. Taking balanced risks is the key, which means you or your co-workers are exploring ideas outside of the norm without putting the organization at serious risk—financial or otherwise. You’ll have to find that balance, and hopefully with the help of the overall creative culture, you and your co-workers can reach an understanding that works for everyone.

If you’re in the role of manager, there are many different ways to promote “out of the box” thinking. One way is to set up an actual box on a table with colorful sticky notes and announce to your employees that whenever they think of an idea—however large or small—to grab a note, write it down, and stick it on the outside of the box. Their thoughts will literally be “outside of the box” for all to see. Okay, you don’t have to set it up exactly that way; that was just my thought of making a fun suggestion box. But you get the idea. It’s about letting staff members know they have a place where they can submit ideas either openly or confidentially if they prefer to be anonymous. It’s a good practice to give employees opportunities for both private and open sharing to make them feel comfortable with taking risks.

CREATIVITY KEY

Having an environment in which you and any other employees don’t feel like you’re being watched is vital. How exploratory would you be if you felt like someone’s eyes were monitoring your every move?

Promoting a Fun, Casual Environment

While being too casual should be avoided, an environment in which employees can have fun and feel relaxed can help encourage creativity. Remember the benefits of humor that I discussed in Chapter 9? They also apply to a business setting. Research has shown that joking around, especially as it relates to the job itself, can improve the workplace in terms of increased creativity, bonding with co-workers, and accomplishments. Jokes depend on a punch line you don’t see coming, just as creativity often depends on linking two unrelated things together, which can lead to innovations. People who can make others laugh easily are often perceived as creative as well. So lighten up and laugh a little more at work—and encourage others to do the same!

Dress-down days are another way to encourage creativity. This enables employees to show their personalities through their clothing, as opposed to a uniform, a dress, or a suit. For example, many companies adopted “dress-down Fridays” a while back to give people a chance to be casual at the end of the week. Of course, all of this depends on your line of work and what’s appropriate and what isn’t. Still, don’t assume you or your co-workers must dress a certain way. “We’ve always done it this way” isn’t acceptable in a workplace that is striving for a more creative climate. Whether you’re a manager or employee, closely examine the dress code to see if you think it’s time to throw out the old rules and create new policies.

Balancing Deadlines with Flexibility

There’s a fine line that separates the need for flexibility and no or low time pressure and the need for constraints or deadlines. On one hand, giving employees flexibility creates more freedom for them, which can be conducive to creativity, because it gives them time to explore and play with ideas. They can examine possibilities to questions such as “How might this work?” On the other hand, too much leeway may take some of the motivation away and lead to procrastination and being unproductive.

A deadline requires you to discipline yourself to create against the clock. Studies show that working under time constraints often results in more productivity but less creative thinking and innovative ideas. In an online Harvard Business Review article, “Creativity Under the Gun,” the authors suggested that managers should avoid putting employees under extreme time pressure, especially where creative ideas and experimenting with new concepts are involved. There are cases when this can’t be avoided, and when that happens, the authors say to develop a mentality of being on a mission in which the employees understand the work is genuinely urgent and critical. In such cases, interruptions and other distractions should be minimized to offset the time pressure and still allow for creativity.

If you’re not the decision maker and you feel more time on a particular initiative will lead to a better decision or a more creative process and outcome, take the initiative to ask your supervisor for more time. In the meantime, start to observe your own tendencies when you’re working against a deadline and when you are able to function in a more lax atmosphere. Notice if your creativity really thrives when you’re on a deadline or if you’re being prolific but without the creative insights. You can then do the same when you’re working without any kind of time constraints. This kind of observation will help you understand your own needs better.

Designing an Office Space That Speaks Creativity

Whether you work in a home office, a large corporate space, or something in between, how would you assess the design of your workplace environment? Does it inspire you to pursue new ideas, take risks by venturing into the unknown, and energize you? Or are you surrounded by plain, boring beige walls with poor lighting, no windows, and cramped quarters? Are you in an open office space; a cubicle; or a private office with four walls, a ceiling, and a door? If you are serious about establishing a creative climate within your organization, it may be time to take a fresh look at your office space.

The look and atmosphere of your workspace should match your company’s mission. Still, even if your business is conservative in nature, that doesn’t mean you can’t have designated “creative think tank” areas. Of course, it depends how far you’re willing to go. One thing’s certain: gone are the days where all offices have a traditional layout.

As you read about the possibilities, notice if you are allowing possibilities to swirl about or if you are automatically shutting them down. You know you’re keeping an open mind if you’re having more positive thoughts, such as “How interesting” or “I’m wondering how that might work in our organization.” The negative, closed-minded thinking is what so often gets in the way of creativity. Having more promising thoughts, even if it’s something that isn’t feasible for your workplace, can lead to new ideas on how to set things up.

Allowing Play in Your Office

What does allowing play in your office mean? No, it isn’t intended to encourage goofing off. It just means you recognize the importance of allowing yourself and/or your employees to take breaks and be inspired by their surroundings. Some people spend more time in their workspace than at home yet oftentimes so little thought is put into how an office looks and feels. Challenge yourself to design your office space in a way that beats the typical uninspiring, white walls and lifeless cubicles. Granted, some of the aforementioned items may not be appropriate for your workspace, not to mention the hefty price tag they carry. But what can you do to begin to spruce up your space to encourage more creativity?

CREATIVITY KEY

As you modify your workspace, pay careful attention to how you’re affected. See if even the slightest change brings about positive or negative feelings or impacts your inspiration and productivity levels. Keep making changes until you feel you’ve arrived at the ideal workspace. You can then check in at regular intervals to see if it’s still working for you.

Google is one company that is leading the pack when it comes to unconventional office design. A quick internet search of Google’s office space reveals photos that show a very colorful, fun, funky, yet functional office space. The colors they use are limited to those in their logo: blue, red, yellow, and green, which reinforce their brand. These colors are featured in signage, lounge furniture, wall accents, and seating. Employees can literally slide from one floor to the next. Wouldn’t you love to slide into your workspace? And how about a free haircut on your work premises? That’s yet another Google benefit.

Want more unusual examples? How about installing wooden swings, hammocks, billiard tables, full-size basketball courts, video game rooms, beanbag chairs, and a bowling alley—yes, you read that right. You’ll find this pastime in one of the Infosys offices. St-rike! These things and more can be found in the comfort of office spaces around the world. If you worked in one of them, you might never want to go home. And that’s part of the idea. If employees are surrounded with objects and activities that send a message the organization is serious about play, the results can pay for themselves.

Behind Closed Doors or Open Spaces?

When is the last time you really thought about how your space supports—or doesn’t support—you? Look at how your space is currently structured. Whether your setup contains traditional closed offices, open or closed cubicles, or is a wide-open space, ask yourself if the organization would benefit from changing how it’s organized.

Open workspaces are becoming more commonplace these days. A more open design encourages more spontaneity and connection among employees and can reduce the amount of internal emails, texts, and instant messages. For example, GlaxoSmithKline reportedly stated that its email traffic decreased by more than 50 percent after its employees moved from cubicles to unassigned worktables. Decision making also was expedited by 25 percent because workers readily met informally rather than turning to emails, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The downside to open workspaces is there isn’t much privacy, making you possibly feel like Big Brother is watching you—either a co-worker who’s tracking your comings and goings or your boss. Being in the open also can mean having to deal with more distractions, including noise and loud conversations.

A way to give more of an open feeling while still maintaining some privacy is to consider the use of glass walls or offices with lots of windows. This is aesthetically pleasing and provides a degree of privacy in that conversations are not out in the open yet happen in a welcoming environment. Glass walls also provide the perfect backdrop to post sticky notes or even use removable paint markers (colorful, of course) to add your points or encourage doodling. Along those same lines, erecting a giant white board in a common area is another way to record ideas, inspirational thoughts, or encourage employees to take a break and doodle. If there’s room, put up several white boards in different locations throughout the workspace.

Another common layout that falls somewhere between the totally open-space concept and the conventional office space is cubicles. There are many ways you can spruce up your cube to encourage creativity. For example, Cartoon Network employees deck out their cubicles with cartoon characters, brightly colored furniture, stickers, toys, and stuffed animals, sometimes with themes. Perhaps you can theme your office in a way that supports your creativity day in and day out.

Hot Desking

Remember the game musical chairs? That’s where you would set up one chair less than the number of players. Music would play in the background, and when the music stopped, everyone would quickly sit down in a chair—except the one who wasn’t quick enough. That game came to my mind when I learned about an up-and-coming practice known as hot desking, also known as activity-based workplaces. There’s no music involved and everyone gets a seat, but it’s similar in that employees choose from among the different desks, tables, and work stations at will because no one has an assigned desk. You’re guaranteed a spot, but you might not always get the location you were after. As for storage, sometimes employees are given a storage locker to hold their office supplies and other belongings. Described as the “workplace of the future,” the idea is to prompt more employee cooperation, teamwork, and innovation.

Some companies are taking this approach as a cost-cutting measure (mostly with regard to real estate) and to address the fact that more of their employees are mobile or spend part of their time working from home and therefore spend less time in the office. Other organizations use this more “free for all” setup to encourage more unusual connections. Each hot desking system can be set up with its own set of rules, including allowing certain spaces to be reserved in advance and dividing the space into sections so employees in certain departments who work together often can be near each other.

DEFINITION

Hot desking is a way of organizing the overall workspace so employees do not have a designated desk of their own. They are free to choose a different desk, table, sofa, or station each day.

Like the other workspaces, hot desking has pros and cons. As for pros, some workers speak of having a higher degree of connection and contact with their fellow employees. Particularly in small offices of less than 20 people on staff, this method makes it feel like they’re more of a family. Others report greater collaboration between teams and opportunities. They often lunch together and sometimes enjoy dinner with one another on long days.

Being in close contact also encourages more impromptu conversations and learning opportunities by observing more closely what co-workers from a different division are doing. Also, shared positive energy can lead to even more passion on the job. Some employees also said they like the simplicity of an “instant office”—just grab a table, remove their backpack, fire up their laptop, and they’re ready to go. And with more documents being organized electronically due to people not having a standard desk at which to leave materials, there is less paper to file, which allows for a more streamlined operation overall.

The negative aspects to hot desking are a lack of privacy, especially where sensitive information is involved; arguments that can arise and cause disruption; dealing with those who “park” themselves at a workstation; the amount of time it takes to set up each day at a new station; not feeling organized; and the potential spread of germs. As one employee put it, sometimes you just want your own space. Others complained of a lack of identity by not having the opportunity for a personalized space, although in some situations, employees dress up a certain space with photos of their families and personal items that then give those who sit in that space a closer glimpse of what that person is about.

There’s no question there are a lot of variables when it comes to this technique, and it won’t make sense for every company and every situation. In fact, some companies have found that hot desking works for certain departments, while other divisions work better with a more traditional office setup.

In reading about hot desking, what are your thoughts and feelings? Was your immediate reaction one of negativity, such as “That would never work in our company” or “I would hate that”? Make sure you keep an open mind. Even if hot desking may not be ideal for your workplace, it may serve as a springboard to a whole new pool of possibilities.

How You Can Be More Creative at Work

Now that you have read the different considerations in developing a creative culture within your organization, it’s time to look at what you can do personally to contribute and develop your own creativity. Whether you are a supervisor who manages people or are only responsible for yourself, if you do your part toward generating a creative climate, it will happen that much more efficiently and quickly and you’ll start to see noticeable results. The following suggestions, in combination with what you’ve learned in previous chapters, can help you contribute creativity to the workplace.

Being Proactive

As you are now well aware, there are plenty of benefits to creativity, such as a feeling of accomplishment and a sense of renewal, as well as increased motivation and more meaning in life overall. In the workplace, more creativity can mean greater teamwork and bonding among co-workers, more commitment, improved morale, better problem solving, and more fun! So don’t wait for management to declare a creative revolution. If nothing is being done toward this end, you can take charge by sharing what you know with the “powers that be.”

The following are some steps you can take when discussing the creative changes you’d like to see in the workplace:

• Be clear with your intentions and be prepared to offer your ideas on how achieving them might work.
• Use an approach you feel confident will get management’s attention without putting them on the defense. You’re looking for buy-in.
• Acknowledge your gratitude for any steps that have already been taken (if any) and enthusiastically discuss your willingness to fulfill your role, perhaps as a leader.

CREATIVITY KEY

Before approaching anyone in management, you could see how many of your co-workers are on board. Or if you lead a group of people, you might consider asking for a meeting. That way, you can have a consensus on what everyone wants and can use that to back up your case for more creativity in the workplace.

Keeping an Open Mind

But what if you’re not responsible for the creative changes? It’s natural to resist change. Why? Because you’re used to a certain routine and the changes mean you’ll be venturing into unknown territory.

If you’re the employee wondering how the creative changes will really make a difference or are skeptical because “we tried that once,” do your best to keep an open mind and reserve judgment until you give any new ideas a chance. Be willing to listen, especially if a level of trust has already been established. When you think you already have all of the answers, that’s a danger sign. Can you recall any times when you thought you knew how something was going to turn out and then, much to your surprise, the outcome was far better than you expected? If you keep your mind open, at the very least, you’ll be willing to be on board and in the best-case scenario, you will be enthusiastic about the new creative direction!

This doesn’t mean that you can’t ask questions and express concerns. It just means you don’t automatically reject the forthcoming changes because they make you feel uncomfortable. If you really think something isn’t going to work, rather than being quick to criticize the idea, think about how you would do it differently. Spoken with a positive attitude, you could always offer it as an alternative for others to consider. Having an attitude in which you are willing to adapt will serve both yourself and your organization well.

If you’re a manager and have been given the responsibility of leading your department (or perhaps the whole company) in developing a new creative culture, make sure to have the proper groundwork put into place to make everyone feel more comfortable. This means carefully considering the ramifications of the changes and being clear about your expectations based on those changes. Take into consideration the impact of how it affects employees ahead of time and acknowledge how they may feel and react. Also, be willing to listen to feedback. If this new creative directive is handled properly on your end, employees will back the effort from the beginning. They will see what’s in it for them and for the organization.

Taking Risks Even When You’re Uncertain

Not being sure of what’s to come can surface anytime in the workplace, especially in times of economic challenges. While it’s much easier to be in an organization that has already established a creative culture, creativity can still breed uncertainty, making you feel uncomfortable and hesitant to move forward with something new in uncertain times. If you can learn how to accept this as part of the creative process, however, you’re more likely to move forward.

Being okay with taking risks when the situation is unpredictable ultimately means being okay with making mistakes. While there are known risks, there are also those that are unforeseen. Failures are going to happen—and so are successes. All you can do is examine the potential pitfalls and payoffs and determine if you’re willing to take the risk. Developing your creativity involves taking more chances and relying on instincts.

Keep in mind, sometimes mistakes lead to something even better than you originally anticipated, as I discussed in the section on creating by accident in Chapter 4. You may even get to a place where you embrace taking risks because trying out new ideas keeps your job more interesting!

The Least You Need to Know

• Using creativity in the workplace can result in innovative solutions that save money and boost revenues.
• To develop a creative environment within your company or organization, it’s crucial you develop it in a way that includes all employees.
• Consider establishing some type of reward system that encourages creative thinking among staff members.
• It’s important to accept failure as part of the creative process. Otherwise, employees will be hesitant to pursue innovative ideas for fear of making mistakes.
• Assess your current office space to determine if it’s working as efficiently as possible. Be open to making changes, if necessary, and involve your staff to get their buy-in before making any drastic changes.
• It’s up to each individual to help establish a creative culture. Contribute your part by being proactive, keeping an open mind, and taking risks.