That’s the “tool” Jack and Suzy Welch advocate for managing creative people in their recent Business Week column.
Do the creatives in
an organization need special handling? In a word, yes. Leading people
who often don’t think of themselves as employees of anyone or anything,
let alone followers embedded in an organization consisting of levels,
layers, and moving parts, is about as far from Management 101 as you
can get. In fact, it’s an art, drawing on all sorts of soft skills,
like empathy, an ability to nurture, and ad hoc psychological
counseling. But what a mistake if you lead creative people from your
heart and stop there. Managing creative people also requires—it even
demands—a measure of authority. Nothing heavy-handed, of course. You
don’t want your resident out-of-the-box thinkers running for the exits.
With their fresh ideas and unique perspectives, they can be, and often
are, the reason for breakthrough products and new ways of working, and
even the impetus for whole new businesses. Still, creative people must
know that boundaries and values exist, and they have to respect them.
Because if they don’t, creative people have a way of going off the
rails—and taking the workaday core of the company with them.
Read the whole thing here. Do you agree or disagree?
September 28th, 2007 at 4:56 pm
Richard -
I’ve worked in advertising as a writer and creative director for 15 years. I’ve hired, promoted and fired–and been all of the above. My first reaction to the Welch’s POV is laughter, because, of course creative people are different and so is managing them. But then I remember we’re talking about Business Week, and maybe the Welch’s words have merit as a guide for people with little or no experience in working with creatives. (More of them out there than creative people.)
So I agree with Jack and Suzy. I might parse my language differently. But the core of what they’re saying–Creative people should be managed as creative people, not like everyone else–is spot on. It makes better business sense.
I also appreciate the direction to provide rules and boundaries, even for creatives. (Lord knows I’ve pushed those boundaries and suffered the consequences.) A British ad legend (Lowe?) once suggested “the tighter the box–the creative brief–the better.” But you could also apply that line of thinking to inspiring creative people, as breaking the rules and breaking out of the box to reach innovative ideas is a common creative process. We need someone or something to push against.
Thanks for the post.
- Tim