Cultivating Creativity – Leadership Development for the Creative Economy

Framing Leadership Challenges

bob@cultivatingcreativity.net (Bob Lieberman) — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 08:03:00 +0000

Are you tired of butting up against the same old cultural obstacles to innovation in your organization? Wouldn't it be nice to see through them to the light on the other side?

If you long for that kind of relief, you'll appreciate Reframing Organizations, a great book by Bolman and Deal that I recently used to teach an Organizational Behavior course at Portland State University. From a comprehensive review of organizational behavior studies and theories, these folks have uncovered four themes, or frames, from which organizational behaviors and challenges can be best understood. Each frame provides a different perspective, and each leads to different insights about causes and potential opportunities.

The four frames are:

Structural – Organization as factory
Human Resources – Organization as family
Symbolic – Organization as theatre
Political – Organization as jungle

There's an entire book full of wisdom that goes with the frames. But you can see just from this little tidbit that applying the metaphors to what's going on in your team, department, or company gets you thinking in new ways.

It's likely that your organization's prevailing culture supports thinking and acting from just one frame, and that's the box you're in. The most effective leaders work their way out of the box by being able to invoke whichever of the four frames supplies the best understanding and influencing strategies for the situation at hand. That kind of balance is rare in organizations but it can be developed.

Bolman and Deal's frames don't have an implied sequence, but they resonate with the four sequential activities that make up the Reciprocal Model, a creative process model that I use in my leadership development work. The sequence adds value because it shows the way out of the box. Here are the four creative process activities, in order, that go with Bolman and Deal's frames:

Structural frame – Produce activity
Human Resources frame – Appreciate activity
Symbolic frame – Explore activity
Political frame – Challenge activity

If you can identify what your organization's current default frame is, then the path to a more adaptive culture can start by your using the next frame in the sequence to inform your analysis and guide your planning. And you can start along that path by engaging in the creative process activity associated with that next frame.

So, for example, if you determine your organization defaults to the Symbolic frame – organization as theatre – then the way out would be the Political frame, and the activity to engage in would be the Challenge activity (holding potential options up to scrutiny with the goal of picking one to execute).

You can learn more about the Reciprocal Model and its creative process activities in our white paper, "Creative Leadership Makes The Right Things Happen".

Many organizations eventually come to the realization that the default frame they're working from has outlived its usefulness. Unfortunately, their approach at that point is usually to restructure into a different default frame and stay there until it stops working for them. So every several years there is a restructuring that uses a lot of the organization's energy and loses a lot of valuable organizational memory. With that strategy, the underlying problem – lack of balance – is never addressed.

I don't think that's the best use of an organization's resources. It would be more effective for an organization to develop the ability to run through the four frames more fluidly as each situation requires. The creative process offers a practical guide to doing just that. I encourage you to look at the white paper to get a feel for how that might be apply to your work situation. And then, of course I encourage you to try it out. If you do, let me know how it goes.

Taming Product Development

bob@cultivatingcreativity.net (Bob Lieberman) — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 00:08:00 +0000

Product development is a wild animal. It's unimaginably powerful, but you have to make sure it knows who's in charge – at every moment. Oh, and it might bite your head off anyway.

This is true whether we're talking about software, media, or tangible commercial products. And the most common complaint I've heard from leaders is that development is out of control. Here are some telltale messages from the development team:

"We'll be done in 2-3 weeks"
Translation: We're working on things as they come up

"We need a little more money"
Translation: We're working on things as they come up

"We've found a few last things that need to be fixed"
Translation: We're working on things as they come up

Do you see a pattern? When leadership abdicates responsibility for direction and management, development teams fill the vacuum. Surprisingly, the leader's remedy is simple: decide what's important and only permit work on that. Unfortunately, many senior executives don't know how to carry out that remedy in practice. For those of you who meet that description, I'm providing the following simple template for controlling development work. It has two components, knowledge and guidance.

Knowledge means that you must know both what it important and what is going on. Do you?

Know what is important

What are your specific business objectives for each release, rollout or edition of the developed product?
What release sequence fits those objectives?
Which release's objective does each product function serve?

Know what is going on

How much work remains for each function, defect, or enhancement?
What functions are the development team currently working on?

Guidance means that you must direct what is going on (towards what is important). This can require confrontation with technical experts, something that non-technical people tend to avoid (although they may not all admit it).

Direct what is going on

Be ruthless about postponing work that isn't in the next release, rollout, or edition
Update your knowledge daily

Retention of the knowledge you'll be accumulating requires a recording system. Here's one I've used recently with one of my clients. It involves four spreadsheet tables, one each for Functions, Scope, Releases, and Defects/Enhancements. The columns are listed below the table name.

Functions

Capability (the name of a group of related functions to which this function belongs)
Function phrase (for identification)
Hours of development work remaining
Development status (in progress, etc).
Hours of testing work remaining
Testing status
Target release name (for identification)
Justification for including the function in the target release

Scope

Function (same phrase as above)
Brief description of features included

Releases

Release name
Business and/or market significance of the release
Target delivery date, if known

Defects/Enhancements

Brief item description
Hours of development work remaining
Development status (in progress, etc).
Hours of testing work remaining
Testing status
Target release name
Justification for including the item in the target release

That takes care of identifying the minimum knowledge you'll need to record. I'll leave it to your spreadsheet expertise to build a little system that is most useful to you.

As for guidance, that simply requires asking for information and redirecting work as necessary. Of course it helps if you have the authority to do so.

Oops, I almost forgot to mention leadership. Without it, you stay mired in the current mess. Leadership is what supplies the motivation and vision to see the way out and get the ball rolling. I think I hear someone calling your name.

Creative Leadership Talents

bob@cultivatingcreativity.net (Bob Lieberman) — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 00:32:00 +0000

Over time, and with earnest application, an aspiring creative leader will get to a point where the tools and techniques have become second nature. That is the point when one's focus must turn to developing the more subtle talents.

We've identified four such talents that are essential in establishing the values and practices of a sustainable innovation culture. We call them The Four Aces:

Face signifies the desire and ability of the leader to provide personal support and cover for those who risk creative work, in recognition of the career and business dangers they will encounter.
Grace signifies the desire and ability of the leader to foster an atmosphere of trust, empowerment, and mercy that gives participants the nerve to create.
Pace signifies the desire and ability of the leader to sustain momentum so creative work can be viable as well as fulfilling.
Place signifies the strategic instinct and effectiveness that permits a leader to choose the right opportunity to assert creative leadership.

At every moment, a leader chooses what to believe, what to think about, what to do, and what to decline doing. If the leader makes these single, personal choices with an innovation culture in mind, over the course of a career the sensibility of The Four Aces will develop. Once developed, it provides a stable emotional platform – a creative center – from which to act amidst the chaos and competing interests of creative work.

Challenges Of Creative Leadership

bob@cultivatingcreativity.net (Bob Lieberman) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 22:48:00 +0000

Creating and sustaining an innovation culture challenges leaders in ways that can be uncomfortable if not overwhelming. That's because the policies, structures, and practices of our prevailing business culture teach, promote, and enforce linear thinking. The creativity that innovation requires is most definitely not a linear process, and it flies in the face of the established business order.

Creative leadership is radical because it challenges the status quo. But it is not revolutionary. It is simply the art of balancing production with exploration. Production is essential to innovation, of course, because that's how we get concrete results. But exploration is equally essential because it permits us to discover or imagine the results that will be of the most value.

An innovation culture presents five key challenges to leaders:

It promotes activity whose ultimate value may not immediately be known
It results in many failures and therefore requires structures and policies that encourage experimentation
Truly unproductive activity must be redirected in a way that continues to open new doors
The high volume of information about emerging tasks and ideas must be preserved and organized in order to serve the sometimes chaotic flow of creative energy
The creative process must be understood and appreciated at a deep level in order to advocate effectively for a creative approach to work

As a guide to aspiring creative leaders, we've summarized these challenges in a short list, The Five Vowels Of Creative Leadership:

Accountability – Assessing qualitative progress that can lead to innovation
Environment – Supporting and encouraging people to think outside the box
Intervention – Taking catalytic action when work gets bogged down
Organization – Staying on top of the chaos
Understanding – Appreciating the value of the creative process

We've developed tools and techniques for addressing these challenges successfully, all based on our model of the creative process. We'd be happy to show you how they work and how they can help improve your business. Contact us today to learn more.

Gas!

bob@cultivatingcreativity.net (Bob Lieberman) — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 15:16:00 +0000

Did I get your attention? Are you expecting something a little different now? Wondering how I'm going to get back to more serious topics?

I want you to pause, if you don't mind, and notice the quality of attention that you're giving me at this moment. You're not just listening to me, you're also scrutinizing me carefully! That's the best kind of attention there is. Without trying to flatter myself, it might be fair to call it rapt attention. And if you want to have influence, that's the gold standard.

For middle managers and executives, each new minute seems to require a momentous decision. With that kind of pressure, and the tight schedules that go with it, there's little spare attention to go around. And it's nearly impossible for anyone to give adequate consideration to the deepest issues that concern the organization. Strategic humor is one good way to change that dynamic. Let me illustrate with a story from my social life.

Just the other night I was having a delightful dinner at home with my wife. Joining us were an eighty-something friend of hers who wore hearing aids (and who I had never met), and another friend, a young man in his early twenties. Early on, the conversation somehow found its way to bodily functions (don't ask me how – I had nothing to do with it). In the flow of conversation, I said something I thought was funny, and everyone laughed except the older woman. I thought she hadn't heard me, so I Iooked right at her, made good eye contact, and said clearly and strongly "Gas".

Do you get the picture?

The woman looked at me without speaking. I explained that she'd had a blank look on her face during my funny comment, and I thought maybe she hadn't heard it. Again I said, "Gas".

Once she realized she could believe her ears, she smiled broadly and confided in me that with hearing aids you can't hear people very well while you're chewing. "They never tell you about that," she said. This disarming exchange broke the ice for us, and a new, warm relationship formed quickly after that. We soon were discussing subjects of more gravity than you would expect in a first meeting, and the evening was thoroughly enjoyable for both of us.

Do you think it unprofessional to talk to a senior executive about gas?

I certainly do. But you can say you admire their nerve (as you notice their yellow socks). Or that the pile of papers on their desk is so high you imagine it makes a better trashcan than their trashcan does. Or any number of things. In addition to being good icebreakers, these kinds of comments all serve a very useful, subtle purpose – they tell you how defended your counterpart is.

If someone doesn't enjoy your initial playfulness, then you know it's going to be "all business" from here on out. You can prepare to stick to the facts. And a lack of personal connection will turn up as an organizational issue within the person's span of control, I guarantee it. On the other hand, if someone enjoys your playful bid for connection, a warm personal channel is likely to open that will serve you both well when you do get down to business.

The key here is that conflict is inevitable, and it's a lot easier to work through it with someone you feel you know than with someone you don't. You can get to know a busy executive really quickly with well-chosen strategic humor. I would not mention gas, though.

What Is Business Development?

bob@cultivatingcreativity.net (Bob Lieberman) — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 08:22:00 +0000

That term came up yesterday in a discussion with a professor of management I recently met. She was describing how executives seem to only be interested in business development (i.e. the tactics of getting more customers), and have no time for creativity. Do you agree?

I'm happy to say I don't. Creativity is strategic, and most business people I've met are interested in both strategy and tactics. It's just that they think they have to choose one over the other. And from that perspective, naturally they choose tactics, because there won't be a strategy if there's no business. I find this ironic, because it is precisely strategy that makes tactics possible. Strategy clarifies tactics, puts them into perspective, and enables them to be more adaptable. Here's a little brain-teaser that illustrates my point:

It's high summer, and you've left Los Angeles in your car. Each day is a new day with an ambitious mileage quota that you've set for yourself. You've gotten off to a late start on your trip, it's midnight the first day, you're low on gas, and no gas stations are open. If you can't find gas tonight, you'll waste several hours of daylight tomorrow morning waiting for a gas station to open. And you'll likely miss tomorrow's quota. You don't think you can afford the setback. What do you do now?

The answer: it depends on where you ultimately want to go. Driving to Phoenix, flying to New York, or taking a ship to Buenos Aires are different strategies for different objectives. If you're flying to New York, maybe you shouldn't be driving a car at all. Or maybe you don't really need to be in Buenos Aires.

Many companies have vague objectives and no strategies. Others have clear objectives and vague strategies. In those environments, tactics are the only points of focus, and they're aimless tactics at that. These companies are pressure-cookers that cause managers to forget all about strategy. And that's precisely why we need leaders – because leaders are the ones who still remember. A leader would not be looking for a late-night gas station. He/she would be getting a good night's sleep. And before doing anything the next morning he/she would be clarifying objectives and adapting strategies.

So the case for strategy, and the creative leadership it requires, is very strong. Leaders are interested in both developing the business (strategy) and business development (tactics). They already know that each makes the other possible. What they need is confidence that they can safely engage in both activities at the same time. Management programs at universities have a responsibility to teach them how. With due respect for my colleague, abdication of that responsibility is just not an option.

Handling Discouragement In Hard Times

bob@cultivatingcreativity.net (Bob Lieberman) — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 17:08:00 +0000

Have you ever been discouraged? It's uncomfortable, you feel hopeless, and there's a lot of fear involved. It's natural to run desperately to the first plausible idea for relief that you encounter. It's so natural, in fact, that we often run with rose-colored glasses to ideas that are actually not plausible at all.

These days there's plenty of discouragement to go around. Those of us who are employed are working very hard, in a tense business climate. Those not employed are scrambling to keep expenses down as we wait for companies to start hiring again.

If you manage people or run a business, you're most certainly aware of their tension – and, of course, your business has its own set of survival challenges.

It's an extreme situation that I hope we don't have to endure much longer. But it does provide a pretty clear picture of the pressure survival puts on clarity and creativity. We say that necessity is the mother of invention, but we forget that many of her metaphorical children die in childbirth due to desperate choices made in haste. Just as truth is the first casualty of war, so is good judgment the first casualty of hardship.

As a leader in these times, you have the means and the responsibility to do something about that. You are in a position to reassure, and the place to start is with your employees. All businesses want to seem committed to their employees, but few really are when the chips are down. That's an unfortunate fact, because commitment is the lubricant that fosters clarity and creativity – two qualities that are in very short supply these days.

So instead of fretting over cost-cutting trivia like whether to limit employee access to office supplies, I suggest you devote your time to developing and implementing a viable, concrete, visible strategy of commitment to your current employees. It will pay you back twice – now, with their clarity and creativity applied to your business problems, and later, when the economy recovers, with their loyalty when others are leaving for greener pastures.

Imagination Is King

bob@cultivatingcreativity.net (Bob Lieberman) — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 19:42:00 +0000

The culture at most companies encourages leaders to "force" – if expectations for delivery aren't being met, leaders are supposed to use incentives or discipline to speed things up. Possibly leaders at your company do this. Or maybe you do, yourself. So I ask you, "Is it working?"

Most of you will answer "no". There may have been short-term successes, but they've come at the expense of long-term problems in the form of high turnover, poor quality or service, and loss of customers. That's because forcing stimulates desire but neglects (and depresses) a much more important force – imagination. And in the creative economy, imagination is king!

To illustrate: if you were climbing the 897(!) stairs of the Washington Monument, desire might be useful to get you to the next landing. But only imagination will get you to the top (and without it you probably wouldn't have started at all).

Imagination is the jet fuel of adaptability, the single most critical success factor in modern business. Adaptability means following a developmental creative process (adaptation) that runs on its own schedule. Periods of no progress are followed by periods of dramatic progress. It would be myopic and destructive to force this process to live up to rigid schedule and production expectations. And it's not necessary either, because adaptive systems produce remarkably successful results all by themselves.

In light of these observations, you might be interested in reading an article on comparative brain development in animals, Why Infants Can't Walk. The article states that, in both the elephant and the human, development happens at a time that depends on the innate character of the organism. If you wanted to speed up development, you'd have to change that innate character.

Of course, it's not possible to change the innate character of an animal, but it is possible with an organization. And that's the real job of leaders – to re-wire an organization's reflexes, perceptions, internal communications, motivation systems, and decision-making processes. Stimulating desire is a superficial and, ultimately, ineffective strategy for that task. If you want real organizational change, you'll have to stimulate imagination. And a good place to start is with your own – now!

Are You A Noun Or A Verb?

bob@cultivatingcreativity.net (Bob Lieberman) — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 04:35:00 +0000

I usually think of my career in terms of skills. I'm a software engineer, a musician, a manager, an educator, a consultant, a mentor. I identify with my craft and I take pride in my craftsmanship. In other words, I'm a verb.

Services are the verbs of the marketplace, and I'm a service provider. Now look around the room you're in. Do you see many services? Probably not, but I'll bet you see an awful lot of products. Products are the nouns of the marketplace, and they tend to attract a lot of attention.

Here are some examples:

Alarm clock (noun) versus wake-up service (verb)
Car (noun) versus transportation service (verb)
Doctor (noun) versus medical service (verb)

There was a point in my career when I brought a very serious problem to the attention of my 300-person company's CEO. Acknowledgement was, I thought, a necessary first step towards resolution. When he heard the problem statement, the CEO screamed at me (in a VERY loud voice) "Don't bring me problems, bring me solutions", and threw me out of his office. His staff immediately came running to my aid out of concern for my safety! Two weeks later, I was fired (and two months after that the company went out of business). He had wanted a solution (noun) and I offered problem-solving (verb). Of course the irony is that solutions require problem-solving. But he and I never got to that meeting of the minds because our preconceptions about the form of our deliverance got in the way.

As this example illustrates, it is easy to believe that verbs are verbs and nouns are nouns, and never the twain shall meet. We act as if that is true. But I invite you to consider another possibility – that one man's verb is another man's noun. Put differently, products and services are two sides of the same coin. Had I come to the CEO offering a solution (just needing a little bit of problem-solving), things might have been different. Ditto had he been open to problem-solving (so long as it resulted in a solution).

Recognizing the product in a service (and vice-versa) can make it easier to satisfy needs, because it exposes more common ground in an apparent conflict. Desires and offerings are the two faces of gift-giving, so you can see how much common ground there is to work with.

As a leader, you are an influential participant in many relationships. Changes in your perspective can have dramatically positive consequences. So why not go for it?

You can make this technique more fun by playing a little game with yourself. Keep a special coin in your pocket. As you go about your work day, be on the lookout for requests and offers. When you hear one, flip the coin. Heads, you do nothing. Tails, you think of the product as a service or the service as a product. Let me know how it goes!

Promotion As Listening

bob@cultivatingcreativity.net (Bob Lieberman) — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 19:19:00 +0000

I had an interesting conversation with a colleague yesterday about customer awareness. Making aware is where we started, but we soon found ourselves talking about becoming aware, because it turns out that's where the action is.

Promotion (whether selling, marketing, advertising, reporting, delegating, or simply offering an opinion) is widely assumed to be about getting your message across. But really that is only the tail of the dog. Before wagging yours (tail or tongue), you need to hear your customer's message. Real empathic listening is required, where you say nothing except for clarification, and you try to understand what life is like for your customer. Only when your customer feels they have been heard will they be truly receptive to your offers. And only then will they be willing to partner with you to match your offers with their needs.

Being heard builds receptivity and trust which make room for the exploration and self-expression upon which real collaboration is based. It also provides plenty of room for cynicism and manipulation. You may not always be able to avoid those temptations, but you can cultivate an awareness of them in your own behavior. Over time, that awareness will lead to positive change that will make promotion of any kind easier, more fun, and more fulfilling for all concerned.

Writing this reminds me of reading Playboy magazine when I was in college. I was a bit young, and I had no idea how to hook up with girls. I read a lot about getting to know a girl, but the advice always seemed to come with a cynical twist related to "getting somewhere" with her. Or maybe it was me. In any case, it was only much later in my life that I started hearing the advice without the cynicism. And I've since heard (and seen) it applied not just to romantic relationships, but to sales, conflict-resolution, making presentations, coaching, child-rearing, negotiation, and even just plain conversation.

Empathy – providing the experience of feeling heard – is a magic key. You can see it working when the other party's defensiveness begins to drain away. Their posture and voice tone change and your conversation becomes more mutual. Asking "Is there anything else you would like me to understand?" can help deepen the experience.

As you struggle with business promotion in these challenging times, I encourage you to enlist empathy as a strategic tool.

Exploration: Not all fun and games

bob@cultivatingcreativity.net (Bob Lieberman) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:36:00 +0000

Today I had my first experience being dissed on the net. Not much fun, of course, but after getting over the shock I realized it's actually an opportunity, because a new channel of communication has opened (heated though it may be).

Here's the quote:

Bob knows very little it seems to me about creativity and the ''reality'' of reality....but it looks like a great way to sell something to a group of people who 'know' even less. Ho-hum!

As you can see, my ideas have now reached beyond friendly shores (where all ideas start), and that's good news.

This watershed brings to mind an interesting characteristic of the creative process that is often overlooked. According to the model I use (Explore, Challenge, Produce, Appreciate), exploring is an activity essential to creativity. It is commonly avoided in the workplace, and that's one reason so few organizations are led creatively.

I've been attributing that avoidance to the common misperception that exploring is an unproductive and unaccountable waste of time. But now I see there's another deterrent, namely that exploring exposes conflict.

In that respect, my Explore activity resembles Bruce Tuckman's Storming stage of team-development. In Tuckman's model (aka Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing), team members have to get comfortable with each other before they can start working through their conflicts. Storming is his name for the conflict stage that they must survive if they expect to reach their full potential.

When I teach the creative process to business leaders, some eyes open very wide when we get to the Explore activity. For some, its value does not seem compelling. But now that I see the parallel with Tuckman's work, my task may get easier. Developing a creative organization may be not sufficiently compelling (or even meaningful) to many business leaders. But developing teams that perform to their full potential certainly is. Either way it's a creative process, so you creative leaders take note!

Our Debt To Adolescents

bob@cultivatingcreativity.net (Bob Lieberman) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:48:00 +0000

In the last two weeks I've gone on a honeymoon, contracted the flu, moved across town, and received a 20% health insurance premium increase. I guess when it rains it pours, even in Oregon. The convergence has gotten me thinking...

In a person's adult life, it's relatively rare to have so many changes happening at once, and the experience can range from disorienting (as with mine) to overwhelming. But in an adolescent's life, it's just another day. To an adolescent, the society of adults is just one revealed mystery after another, and the unimaginable often turns out to be commonplace. Most adolescents manage to survive and thrive into adulthood so I've been wondering if there's anything we can learn from them.

That led to my compiling the following list of some adolescent coping strategies. See what you think of them.

Cultivate an air of defiant irresponsibility
I don't like this strategy so much, but it does have something to say for itself. Major changes in one's environment are frequently accompanied by a storm of blame, as other people try to pin their discomfort on someone. This strategy avoids having to give any of that blame serious attention. "I didn't do it, and lighten up" is a pretty effective shield.

Shrug things off
I like this strategy better. It's also an effective shield, but without the undercurrent of anger.

Tell it like it is
This is my favorite. Pervasive change (and its accompanying climate of blame) can make every day a minefield. That's no place for illusions or misunderstandings.

Act as if you're invincible
Change can put you in situations where all your choices seem threatening. But if you're invincible, so what – less angst and more time for joy.

Resist being known
Permitting yourself to be known is an act of trust, and the changing terrain doesn't usually seem all that trustworthy.

Be a joker
This is an advanced form of shrugging off. If you don't take anything or anyone seriously, maybe they'll leave you safely alone.

In re-reading this list, I have to admit that after 45 years I'm still using some of these strategies when I'm stressed. (I hope at least I've become more graceful about it.) And as I look around, I notice they're used from time to time by most of the adults I've spent any time with. In your own life you'll find them too. Based on my experience as a mediator, I can say with confidence that you won't have to look very hard, because stress brings out the adolescent in all of us.

In mediation, the ability to see that adolescent is a valuable skill. But it's also valuable in the workplace, where work culture discourages our connecting with each other as people. In that world it's a gift to see (and empathize with) the adolescent behind the bluster of the well-defended adults you work with. The gift is like having x-ray vision – it's a super-power of connection.

So I guess we owe a debt to adolescents, for teaching us how to be kind to each other. Please don't tell them I said that.

(This post was featured in the February edition of TalentedApps' Leadership Development Carnival.)

The Challenge Of Challenge

bob@cultivatingcreativity.net (Bob Lieberman) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:56:00 +0000

One of the key stages in the creative process is Challenge. This is where ideas are tested so that one can emerge as worthy of commitment. Of necessity, conflict arises. And, people being who we are, we often take personally any criticism of our ideas no matter how gingerly stated. Then, in addition to the criticism, there may be rejection, since only one idea will be selected. In short, Challenge is an emotional minefield.

Like most of us, I enjoy being judged or proven right. When I was much younger, I frequently lorded being right over those who were judged or proven wrong. Something about the competition of ideas got my adrenalin going, and winning it was exhilarating vindication. I'm sure the mathematicians and scientists among you will appreciate my experience.

But I learned that friendships would be short-lived if I continued to live in that world. I lost some friends and colleagues and, more importantly, missed out on deeper relationships with the ones I didn't lose. I've since come to appreciate two things about Challenge.

There are times when the relationship is more important than being right. Good relationships have a way of working out right and wrong that doesn't always happen "right now". It can require time for the parties to adjust to the new challenging information. A good relationship can afford the time.
When being right is important and you are judged or proven right, you still have a responsibility to support the integrity of the person who is wrong (and who, by the way, now finds him/herself in a vulnerable position). Being right can be very rewarding, but it isn't about total victory and utter defeat. Gentleness in victory has its own rewards.

These lessons apply most obviously to black-and-white Challenge situations. But they also have broad application in those more common situations where each party is a little bit right and a little bit wrong.

As you carry out your challenging responsibilities at your place of business over the next few days, it might be interesting to try these ideas on for size.

FACILITATION

bob@cultivatingcreativity.net (Bob Lieberman) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 19:35:00 +0000

Facilitation, mediation, and negotiation are, above all, creative activities. They are usually requested when a group has exhausted its own resources. Technique is important to their success, but it is creativity that permits something new to emerge from the stalemate.

Groups enlist help in order to overcome their conflicts and develop a vision or plan of action. Though their conflicts are distressing, they are also the voice of the group's wisdom – its diversity of backgrounds and interests. That's why the most effective facilitators use a very loosely-structured process that is as much about listening and surrender as it is about speaking and control.

Our approach to facilitation is based on three premises:

Everyone's perspective is valuable
Everyone deserves respect
Access to the group's untapped wisdom is the key to a successful outcome

We borrow techniques from product development, conflict resolution, and the performing arts to make space for a group's untapped wisdom. Only that wisdom can fully illuminate the status quo and imaginatively envision a positive future. Because of this creative approach to facilitation, our outcomes achieve more than simply "solving the problem". They help deepen mutual respect among the participants that pays dividends long after a facilitation session has ended.

As you shop for facilitation, mediation, and negotiation services, ask yourself what improvements you want to see three or six months down the road. You'll find that solving "the problem" is not the end of your story.

Contact us today to learn how to bring our creative facilitation services to your organization.

The Need For Nerve

bob@cultivatingcreativity.net (Bob Lieberman) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 01:42:00 +0000

In my workshops and consulting, I make a point of conveying how damaging it is for a company to be too concerned with survival. Today I read an Associated Press report in the Oregonian that brings this point home.

The report seems to be about a scarcity of labor in some high-paying fields like nursing and engineering. But it buries the lead, which is this – when it comes to hiring, businesses have lost their nerve.

Two quotes from the article make that point:

"... during downturns, recruiters tend to become even choosier, less willing to take financial risks on untested workers."

"... in a tough economy, employers take longer to assess applicants and make a hiring decision. By contrast, in a healthier economy, you don't wait around for the perfect person."

Anyone who is trying to get hired these days has experienced these trends first hand. Managers are posting openings they have little intention of filling (or are not permitted to fill), as a defense against having their FTE allocations reduced. And recruiters, engaged at reduced fees, are being given very specific instructions to only submit the perfect candidate.

The result of these defensive postures is that resumes are being measured scrupulously against an overly long bulleted wish-list of job "requirements" that usually boils down to one thing – "must have done it all before". That is such a backwards-looking approach to hiring, a little like driving using just the rear-view mirror. It elevates the cliche "been there done that" from an offhand dismissal to a badge of honor.

Skills and experience are, of course, important. But the future is going to be different than the past. When times are flush, employers take that truism to heart. They search for people with spirit, vision, ability to learn, breadth, and leadership potential. They find them, and those employees go on to spur innovation and creativity in everything from product design to logistics and operations. Only that kind of expansive thinking will get businesses out of the hole they're in now. But the urgency of survival has them hypnotized.

It's a testament to our desperation that we accept labor scarcity reports such as these at face value. They distract us from the deeper crisis of nerve and, in so doing, delay our effective response to it. I'm saddened to think how severely today's narrow hiring decisions will constrain companies for years to come. Long after the economy has improved, our economic spirit will remain weakened by hiring decisions being made today. Companies need vision, independence, and adaptability. Unless they can soon break out of the trance they're in, they'll find they have settled for something much less.

Growth By Scrambling

bob@cultivatingcreativity.net (Bob Lieberman) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 17:44:00 +0000

The fruits of creativity may look all neat and cleanly packaged by the time they reach the public, but the creative process, itself, is not usually that kind. In fact, it can be annoying, frustrating, painful, agonizing, and even paralyzing.

When you cast your lot with creativity, be prepared to paint yourself into a corner – often. And though that sounds (and feels) really bad, it's actually golden. In the desperation of those moments, you're likely to discover tolerances and capabilities you never knew you had, and worlds you never imagined. You'll learn that fear is just another signpost on your path, not the end of it. The empowerment that results from the experience will be truly liberating.

The first time this happened to me, I was a twenty-year-old climbing at Seneca Rocks in northwestern Maryland. After we'd been there an hour or so, a few of us set off to explore the stream flowing in our narrow little valley. We followed the valley upstream, gradually descending to meet the water. Then, we followed the stream, itself, back down. When the time came to go home, we were surprised to find ourselves hundreds of feet below where we'd started from, and out of sight of our party. That meant more climbing, so we set off up the valley slope towards our friends (and our rides home to Pittsburgh).

About two thirds of the way up, we got stuck. Sideways and up were all dirt and flaky rocks that gave no foothold whatsoever. And down was a long rolling fall to severe injury or death. We were missing, and not likely to be found before sundown. I remember the moment vividly. There were no options, my body was on the line, and I was probably going to die. I tried to climb up one more time and instead lost ground in a dangerous slide.

That situation illustrated creative inquiry perfectly. I explored, I encountered the unexpected, and I faced annihilation. In creative inquiry, the next step is liberation. I found mine when I abandoned my youthful athletic grace and, out of sheer desperation, scrambled like a rodent fleeing a predator. I scratched my way up the slope, inches at a time, with my feet and hands moving in rapid short strokes. I used every surface of my body to gain traction, including my fingernails. If my body could have spoken, it would have screamed "Yeeeiiiiooooow!" like some action comic hero. I was scared and thoroughly humiliated. But just one minute of scrambling got me over those few rough vertical yards, and the rest of the way up was easy.

I didn't know I had that reserve of determination in me, and I'm glad I found out, because I've had to rely on it again and again. In fact, I'm having to rely on it today, as current economic conditions have put my business plans in serious jeopardy. I'm not in purely physical danger, but in some ways it feels like I am. And I'm scrambling. Perhaps you are, too – in a job search, career change, or business survival challenge of your own.

In my scramble today, I'm having to resort to business strategies I'd never have seriously considered before. They're not unethical by any means, or dishonest, or even disingenuous. In fact, there's nothing wrong with them at all except that I find them distasteful. As I face them I have to force myself to remember that they hold the gold – that only by scrambling through my distaste will I find relief and empowerment.

These challenges of mine, and those of yours, are part of the human condition. We've all faced them, invited or not. They illustrate my contention that we are all creative. We explore, we're challenged, we scramble, and we grow.

I'm reminded of learning to eat fish, one of my favorite foods: it takes a while to develop a taste for fish, and it stinks the whole time until you do. Sushi, anyone?

Scenes From The Portland Creative Conference

bob@cultivatingcreativity.net (Bob Lieberman) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 07:00:00 +0000

I'm not sure I've had much worth saying recently. I've been very busy, but I have continued to read my favorite blogs and news sources. In doing so, I noticed that commenting on events in the world gives you a lot fresher material to work with than just thinking stuff up.

So I'm going to portray for you now some scenes from an event I recently participated in – the Portland Creative Conference. This is an annual conference held by and for Portland's creative economy. We had 500 attendees, and guests like Bill Oakley, the executive producer of The Simpsons. I helped out with registration on Saturday morning, and it was really fun. For two hours, I asked people for their name and the name of their business, and I made badges for them.

At most conferences, business names are pretty boring. At this conference, people had businesses named PoopyPals and fix. And every other person's title was Creative Director or Artistic Director, even when they worked for themselves. I found the irreverence, panache, and boldness refreshing.

Later in the day, I heard a sweet and awkward conversation in the men's room. While I was standing in that grand room at Portland's Newmark Theatre, the door opened. A fellow was telling his idol how thrilled he was to see him after being a fan all these years, how rewarding it must be to see his proteges becoming so successful, and so on. The idol was the great animator, Will Vinton, who succeeded in being kind without encouraging further worship from that one fan or the others standing in line. I marveled at his finesse.

This reminded me of the time I sat next to Joe Pass, the great jazz guitarist, at a club in San Francisco. I was in my late 20s, and the house was practically empty for Joe's solo performance. I had sat in the front row for a jaw-dropping hour of virtuoso work. Then, in the break between sets, I saw Joe sitting alone at a table, so I went over and asked if I could join him. He welcomed me, and I proceeded to tell him how great he was and how much I enjoyed his work, repeating myself several times. He was kind to me, and I felt later like I had worn out my welcome. I felt like a fool, actually, and I wonder what the experience must have been like for him. In being kind, both Joe and Will demonstrated a grace that was as much a gift to me as their work.

In contrast to these odds'n'ends of the creative life, I observed some hardcore problem-solving near the end of the day. Registration had gone fairly smoothly, but the line I was serving in the morning had some minor problems that several of us felt could be easily avoided next time. We began to explore what had happened and, surprisingly, there was little creativity in our discussion. We barely took any time to report observations about the facts before we each chimed in with our solution. We had five or more solutions in two minutes, and had moved into a friendly competition over which one was best. I'm sure we'll improve on that process in the days to come, but it did seem so very familiar.

Professional mediators will tell you that parties to a conflict frequently come to mediation actually ready for intellectual combat. As weapons they bring their solutions and supporting logic. It is the special skill of a mediator to bring the discussion down from solutions to areas like issues and values where commonality exists and agreement is actually possible. I can tell you from personal experience that it's not easy.

It turns out that people are just darned uncomfortable with imperfection, subjective as that may be. We run from it fueled by the compulsion to deliver our "pet" remedies, and justify our haste with a story about urgency. It takes a truly creative person to see "what is" when people and their pets are running away as fast as they can.

So, with that in mind and in the creative spirit of the Portland conference, I offer you the following gem of creative wisdom: "Don't just do something – stand there!"

Leading By Embracing Chaos

bob@cultivatingcreativity.net (Bob Lieberman) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 04:37:00 +0000

When creativity is flourishing, ideas come fast and furious. It's nearly impossible to articulate them all, and they fade quickly. In a meeting, that effect is compounded because each spoken idea sparks others – implications, recollections, brainstorms, wild hares – in an explosive cascade of creativity. How do you capture all of this genius?

In many work groups, the answer is "you don't." Creative energy feels chaotic to those groups, who react with measures to discourage spin-off thinking. That climate of control gives the illusion of order and professionalism, but much of the constructive work is left undone (ideas do have value, after all). Participants leave meetings feeling curiously disappointed, and work products are suitably uninspired. When you hear people complain that there are too many meetings, this is what they're talking about.

There is an alternative strategy, which is to embrace the chaos of creativity. When a group is willing to respectfully consider all ideas, no constructive work will be left undone. Of course, the resulting idea explosion must be contained within the limited "air time" available in a meeting. But that can be managed by the simply-stated policy of giving most of the ideas their hearing offline.

Planning meetings for the upcoming Portland Creative Conference are being conducted in precisely this manner, and it's a joy to behold. The conference is a major undertaking put on by and for the creative services industries. Talk about idea explosion! The meeting leader and all participants are ruthlessly (though respectfully) disciplined in offloading most discussions to sub-committees. And all are diligent about discharging their offline responsibilities and reporting back. There is a knack to doing this effectively, and it is on display here. As a result, the atmosphere is one of excitement, competence, confidence, and trust that I find exhilarating.

I think all meetings should be conducted this way, and most of them could be. All it takes is competence at the table, an invitation to be passionate, mutual respect, and skillful leadership. When it works, it is a fulfilling experience with exceptional results.

Look Mom, No Training Wheels!

bob@cultivatingcreativity.net (Bob Lieberman) — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 07:08:00 +0000

There's so much structure at most companies. There are hierarchies, policies, forms, regulations, processes, missions, procedures, reviews, plans, certifications. It goes on and on. Do you ever wonder how much of that is really needed to do the work?

That question crossed my mind a few weeks ago while reading the article Look Mom, No Training Wheels. According to the authors, training wheels on bicycles actually hinder one's learning to ride. They teach steering and balance habits that are the opposite(!) of those actually needed. In contrast, if children are given a right-sized bicycle and some basic instruction they learn much faster without training wheels, and it's easier on the parents. I wish someone had told me that when I was a kid!

I got to wondering how much of the structure at the typical company is only there to serve as training wheels. I have no idea, but I can name a lot of suspects. Nine-to-five? Document templates? Distribution lists? Operations manuals? Approval limits? Critical success factors? Meetings? A lunch hour? Budgets? Cubicles? Blackberries? Security badges? I'm purposely being provocative and, of course, a company can't function without structure. But there is such a thing as too much of it. Where should the line be drawn at your company?

Not all structures that seem like good ideas really are – training wheels seemed like a good idea at the time, didn't they? So don't be surprised if some entrenched, well-meaning, and sensible structures in your company are teaching workers exactly the wrong habits. Excess caution, indecision, indirectness, delay, reluctance, timidity, and deference are work habits that do not generally improve a company's performance. Yet they persist, and they do so for a reason. What is the reason at your company?

The Identity Crisis

bob@cultivatingcreativity.net (Bob Lieberman) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 04:59:00 +0000

I was in a workshop on natural resource sustainability last week. That's a big topic in Portland, and one I'm very interested in. In the workshop, one of my colleagues observed that some people don't hear the sustainability message because it makes them feel guilty. Imagine, he asked, how a discussion about diminishing oil reserves might be received by a corporate jet salesman. We agreed that the reception would likely be defensive, and we attributed this defensiveness to the salesman's concern for his career prospects.

My colleague challenged us to go deeper. He suggested that the real root of the salesman's defensiveness might not be the fear of loss. It might be the shame and guilt of believing that the product he sells is hurting his fellow man. Stated in other terms, the discussion might threaten the salesman's identity, not just his livelihood.

These observations illustrate the subtle power of identity in organizational dynamics, from the simplest conversations to major initiatives. People will not entertain new ideas that undermine their identities. And unless new (and better) identities can be imagined to take their place, content can't get a fair hearing. To address this reality, a leader must make it easy for people to re-imagine themselves, and may need to actually propose their new identities in order to help the process along.

For the creative leader, identity considerations are even more important, because the creative process is a kind of rolling identity crisis. It moves through stages, each with its champions and stars who must seize the initiative at the right moment. But then they must let go of the initiative. If they can't do that, the creative process grinds to a halt, creativity dries up, and (in organizations) the bottom line eventually suffers.

Letting go of the initiative can be frightening. In organizations where the practice is discouraged, it can be suicidal. In either case, serious discussions about letting go can precipitate an individual or organizational identity crisis that must be addressed in order for creativity to thrive. The way to address it is by discovering a new, fulfilling identity that the individual or organization is willing to embrace. Savvy leaders guide their colleagues in making that (self-) discovery.

In the case of the corporate jet salesman, a new identity as "representative for carbon-neutral high-speed transportation" might meet his need for social responsibility. His company would have to back it up, of course, and that would involve some more letting go. But that's another story.

(This post was featured in the November edition of Great Leadership's Leadership Development Carnival.)

Is Forced Creativity The Best We Can Do?

bob@cultivatingcreativity.net (Bob Lieberman) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:18:00 +0000

Real creative dialogue leads to deeper relationships, not just better solutions. And it often comes from simply taking your time.

I recently engaged in a Productive Thinking session where the stakes were very high and the interests truly in conflict. PT is a powerful creative problem-solving technique and we had high hopes, but in the end, it didn't offer us a solution. However, the month-long effort led to something more important – real understanding and connection. And miraculously, a few weeks after we'd given up on problem-solving, a solution emerged. It's clear now that it wouldn't have emerged without the understanding and empathy we had found in our creative problem-solving dialogues.

The act of creative dialogue with another person is an act of receiving. Ideally the parties would come from a place of calm – making space for the appreciating, exploring, and challenging that the creative process demands. That calm requires release from the urgency of producing results. And, in my experience, release is not truly possibly in a single working session. Yes, I think it's possible to force a creative solution from a group in a marathon problem-solving session. For groups unaccustomed to creative work, forcing can serve to "throw open the gates". But I don't think a forced solution will be the best solution. And it won't develop the deep empathetic bonds that colleagues need to be creative, together, on a day-to-day basis.

This observation applies emphatically to a company's leadership culture, from managers to the boardroom. The time demands placed on senior management, especially, encourage immediate resolutions and gut-level decisions. That kind of leadership tends to concentrate decision-making in the hands of the individual rather than in the wisdom of the group. It is eventually disempowering, and discourages the open-ended calm that real creative dialogue demands. There may be short-term gain in quick decision-making, but in the long-term it is a very weak strategy.

Therefore, my recommendation to all problem-solvers everywhere is to take your time. Let the process extend over days or weeks. Learn to respect silent reflection. And most of all – be willing to give up! Sometimes, it takes the release of giving up to make way for the miracles.

Still Hypnotized?

bob@cultivatingcreativity.net (Bob Lieberman) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:47:00 +0000

Our beliefs influence our perceptions, and we see what we want to see. I think most of us believe that. We assume that the influence is solely psychological – that our bodies have the real physical experience, and we just (unconsciously) choose to ignore it.

But what of hypnosis? Can psychology alone account for someone acting like a dog? Well, now we have a neurological study of hypnosis that sheds some light on that question. To paraphrase the study's conclusion, hypnotic suggestion causes a part of your brain to butt in on the process that normally makes your body move.

The study is about beliefs affecting your ability to move, but it implies that your beliefs can butt in to any of your physical processes – movement, sensation, and thinking. And if your beliefs affect your ability to think, imagine how capable you'd be if you could discard the ones that impair it and choose only those that improved it.

Well, actually you can.

Start by observing which of your beliefs are operative in the present moment. Observation practice is a form of mindfulness that is very powerful. For example, if you were at work you might discover that you have beliefs about about what is appropriate behavior, what accomplishments are possible, what is important, and what is not.

Be specific in your observations. Then reflect on the beliefs you discover. Check them against reality. Offer humorous or perverse replacements just for fun.

There's no need to justify or defend yourself, no pride to protect, and no outcome to seek. Just observe. The more you can let go of ego and ambition while doing this, the freer you can be to fully appreciate, accept, and explore your beliefs. And by knowing them in that way, you'll gain control over them, reversing the balance of power that keeps you from realizing your full potential.

Byron Katie's book I Need Your Love – Is That True? suggests that you use this technique in your relationships to people, but it also works in your relationship to tasks and to the work environment. So try it! You may find it's the beginning of your creative awakening.

The Trouble With Technology

bob@cultivatingcreativity.net (Bob Lieberman) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 21:36:00 +0000

Does anyone remember the Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 100? How about the Sharp Zaurus? The Palm Pilot? Apple's Newton?

I go back to 60's in the software business, and I've always been fascinated by gadgets. I see that a million iPhones were sold last weekend, so I guess I'm not alone. As a software professional at many companies, I got to observe or participate in many discussions and debates about whether and how to use technology to solve business problems.

My conclusion – our fascination with technology easily becomes a distraction that diverts our attention from what we really need. Effective leaders must be aware of this phenomenon and know how to manage it.

The fascination has affected many of the companies I've been exposed to, who looked to technology as the solution for nearly every operational problem. That approach diverted leaders' attention from more systemic, organizational, motivational, and interpersonal ways of achieving the same objectives.

I can think of four problems with technology right off the bat:

1. Technology appears to be adaptable but actually isn't

Have you ever used the Banner course scheduling system at a university? That's a mainframe application that's as old as dirt (and it shows). As presentation technologies improve, it keeps getting a facelift (it's now Banweb) but its the same crusty old relic behind the scenes. We have banking and insurance systems like that, too. Technology looks flexible at the beginning, when you have a blank sheet of paper. But once you build the thing, you have enormous costs sunk in its design philosophy and capacity. You may find you've cast your feet in cement – and then what? It takes a strong, creative leader to stand up to that emotional reality.

2. Technology's leverage makes us dependent

Because technology permits us to do things that used to be impractical or impossible, every little glitch can seem like a matter of life and death. For example, if you want to cancel an event by email, you can easily send one cancellation email to 1000 people. But if your email were down you'd have to make 1000 phone calls. So keeping the email system up seems like a survival issue. When we're in survival mode, we don't think straight. We make poor, short-term decisions that sometimes make us even more dependent on technology. You can't lead effectively if you're always in survival mode.

3. Without scale there's no economy of scale

The technology sales process encourages us to see the economies of scale, forgetting that most of us don't need scale. Road warriors need an iPhone, but the other 99% of us don't. Toyota needs a multi-million dollar enterprise-scale supply management system, but a 300-person company doesn't. I've seen the effects of scope creeping out of control like this, when a company thinks it's bigger than it really is. That's an expensive identity error. Avoiding it requires perspective, a leadership trait that is sometimes in short supply.

4. Technology can be an attractive nuisance

My early experience with electronic organizers taught me that I wasted more time configuring and updating them than I saved using them. But other tools, that I use constantly, need little attention and are worth their weight in gold. Knowing which is the IT leader's challenge in a nutshell.

Overall, I believe it's wise for a business leader to be extremely selective when relying on technology. Fortunately, by doing so they will become more observant. That's what's happened to me. Now I listen more before I speak and I look more before I leap. I don't think that's such a bad thing.

Money Talks, But Should You Listen?

bob@cultivatingcreativity.net (Bob Lieberman) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 17:42:00 +0000

I worked on a project once that my employer believed was essential to our company's survival. At a critical point, I recommended rejecting a multi-million dollar vendor proposal because it seemed wildly optimistic to me. The delay implied by my recommendation frightened my colleagues, and they offered this glib reply: "It won't matter if we don't have a company!" So I was overruled and the proposal was accepted. The project came in a year late and several million dollars over budget.

This kind of thing has happened to me more than once. It demonstrates the survival mindset in a pure form – thriving on hyperbole and stifling the creativity that turns good ideas into great products.

Companies at all stages of maturity struggle with fear about survival. But the struggle is especially acute for startup entrepreneurs. Often babes-in-the-woods, they seek advice out of near-total ignorance. They are told to focus on the critical path to funding, and they get (and pay for) help with that. So they write a business plan, establish market receptivity, and polish their pitch. But rarely does anyone offer to help them refine and re-imagine their product.

What new entrepreneurs need most is not more polish, but a better shoe (if you'll pardon the metaphor). And this is not a cause for disgrace. In fact, in the world of product development it's more like a law of nature. Successful products rarely resemble the original ideas from which they spring (see Bob Rosenfeld's book Making The Invisible Visible).

I have some direct experience with startups myself. I was the 63rd employee at Sybase way back in 1986, and saw the company grow and go public. I've been with a few more since, and lately I've been advising a social-networking startup. From all the failures and successes, I've come to the conclusion that once the money talks, eventually everybody walks. The startups that succeeded did so, in part, by keeping the survival (i.e. funding) quest in perspective.

I'm interested in this subject because I see too many business incubators inadvertently wringing much of the creativity (and therefore, the value) out of entrepreneurship. The drama surrounding that fistful of dollars on the horizon is a serious distraction to a starving entrepreneur. As money talks, so does the promise of money. And the promise of $1M in angel or venture funding talks so very loudly that it drowns out other sounds the entrepreneur should be hearing.

At the end of the day, new companies succeed because they're meeting a real market need, and meeting it well. So if your venture is not attracting investment, there's a pretty good chance your product, in its current form, just isn't good enough. That's not a cause for despair, but it is a trail marker worthy of your attention.

Real scrutiny of their idea, itself, is a tough pill for any entrepreneur to swallow. In the development of my own consulting business, it was a tough pill for me. We all love our children, whether they're sweet-smelling babies or sweet-smelling ideas. But where children are concerned, love is no excuse for blindness.

Loving a child requires appreciating its deficiencies as well as its beauty, a balanced perspective that leads to healthier development and growth. Who is providing it to startup entrepreneurs?

The Wisdom Of Fallow

bob@cultivatingcreativity.net (Bob Lieberman) — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 07:26:00 +0000

What you do when the well (of work) runs dry?

For the typical worker, it doesn't matter because it never happens – there is always more work. But fallow time is a critical element in creativity. Fallow time permits you tune out the world so you can listen to your self. By doing so you become more open to the deep wisdom of your internal landscape. It may be personal – telling you to rebalance life and work or attend to a neglected personal issue. Or it may be commercial – telling you to remember what your company's real priorities should be and to reconsider how your current project fits into them (or doesn't). But it's wisdom, and it's the kind that you can't access without fallow time.

For Michael Jones this inner landscape is the commons of the imagination, from which the important unasked questions emerge. For Ben Zander, it's the long line, the deep theme that is our individual gift, transcending our day-to-day activities.

However one describes it, reaching the inner landscape requires us to let go of the tasks at hand and remember who we are. This act of putting work aside (and appreciating the world as we then find it) is the first step towards getting in touch with our innate creativity. If you can find a way to make it a regular practice, you will begin a personal transformation whose results will astound you.

One easy way to experience your inner landscape is to try this experiment for just one day:

Turn off email notification
Turn off automatically checking new email, and don't check it yourself
Reserve 15 minutes of your day at 10AM, 3PM, and 7PM to read email
Set your phone to go to voicemail without ringing
Reserve 5 minutes of your day at 9:55, 2:55, and 6:55 to listen to voicemail
If someone comes to your desk to talk, ask them if they wouldn't mind coming back at 10:15 or 3:15 because you're right in the middle of something

There is a dynamic tension between the social and the individual at work (as in life). When you direct your attention on another's schedule as opposed to yours (as you do when interrupted), you are honoring the social at the expense of the individual. The effect is similar to that of being awakened every time you enter deep sleep – you lose your clarity and you're irritable all day.

Try this experiment! You will be amazed at the resulting improvement in your work quality, your morale, and your temperament. And the email, the callers, the visitors – they will be fine without your immediate attention.