Usually I do a Rice science Friday feature here, often discussing some breakthrough in chemistry.
But two Rice University management professors, Jennifer George and Jing Zhou, have something important to say, so we’ll talk about it now, even though it’s not science. George is the Mary Gibbs Jones professor of management (Mary was the wife of Jesse Jones, after whom the Rice management school is named), but she also teaches psychology, so what they’re saying is doubly important.
For George, the latest work follows on a 2004 paper called "In The Mood: Cultivating Emotional Intelligence Pays Off ." Now they’ve got some data showing creativity is at its highest when both positive and negative feedback are supported.
Here’s what I consider their nut graph:
"Creativity is more likely to take place in environments where
individuals or groups feel free to take risks, and where failures are
sometimes expected as a consequence of such risk-taking. The notion
that, if you are going to try new things, you will sometimes fail, is
understood."
Managements that accept some failure get more creative productivity.
If employees are treated with respect and dignity, if Internet
values like transparency are put in place (let people know where they
stand, treat them like adults) then you’ll get productivity regardless
of your workers’ mood. (That’s George to the left.)
The findings remind me of what they teach in marriage counseling.
Sometimes a bad mood isn’t about you. Sometimes it’s just frustration
about a problem outside the relationship that someone is trying to work
through.
I know that I often use anger to fuel my own work. But I can’t use that one
note all the time. Sometimes I need to use joy, to look on the bright
side of life.
The goal of management is to get the most creative work out of
employees, George and Zhou are saying, and this in itself is a
revolution in terms of work. For over a century the goal has been
productivity, units that could be counted. But when you’re dealing with
a creative work product quality means even more. And you don’t get
those creative leaps if you’re treating people like mushrooms, or like
children.
Treat people like adults and their individual Michelangelo will come
out, if it’s there at all. Then grade their work honestly, let them
know how it relates to management goals, and also let them know when it
doesn’t.
The problem with good management ideas is that they are meaningless if your immediate manager is an idiot. This is the problem with very large companies — many layers of entrenched idiocy to deal with. Given that the entrenched idiots have a vested interest in making themselves look good, they are highly resistant to an change that will look like an admission that they were previously wrong (funny how this sounds like a lot of people down in Washington DC).
The problem with good management ideas is that they are meaningless if your immediate manager is an idiot. This is the problem with very large companies — many layers of entrenched idiocy to deal with. Given that the entrenched idiots have a vested interest in making themselves look good, they are highly resistant to an change that will look like an admission that they were previously wrong (funny how this sounds like a lot of people down in Washington DC).
Maybe with social networking tools entering enterprises, whether with permission or without
there are greater chances to get better management. When more information is available to all employees and, tools such as wiki’s cutting bureaucracy, providing greater transparency while giving those entitled for credit to be honored for their ideas, bad management may be more easily discovered and replaced, who knows…
There is a nice article “Work-life balance” at The Economist Dec 23 2006, that quotes a survey by FaceTime that found that more then half of the employees in their 20s and 30s installed “consumer applications” although their IT staff objected.
Maybe with social networking tools entering enterprises, whether with permission or without
there are greater chances to get better management. When more information is available to all employees and, tools such as wiki’s cutting bureaucracy, providing greater transparency while giving those entitled for credit to be honored for their ideas, bad management may be more easily discovered and replaced, who knows…
There is a nice article “Work-life balance” at The Economist Dec 23 2006, that quotes a survey by FaceTime that found that more then half of the employees in their 20s and 30s installed “consumer applications” although their IT staff objected.
Yael, in the long term social networking tools will help, but in the short term having access to information often just gets you in trouble. The last thing incompetent management wants is to be called on their bad decisions. They will do everything in their power to be rid of people who question authority, especially if those people can make a credible case against them.
Yael, in the long term social networking tools will help, but in the short term having access to information often just gets you in trouble. The last thing incompetent management wants is to be called on their bad decisions. They will do everything in their power to be rid of people who question authority, especially if those people can make a credible case against them.
Excellent post Dana, you’ve hit the nail on the head re risk and creativity. The really good managers of creativity are able to gauge the levels of risk involved and ensure that people have room to learn and make mistakes in non-critical areas before they are entrusted with riskier projects.
Jesse – you’re absolutely right that good ideas are meaningless if the line managers aren’t applying them. Having worked with quite a few of them who are making the transition from a ‘controlling’ management style to facilitating creativity and accepting risk, these are two of the commonest reasons (other than idiocy!) why they don’t change their style:
1. The idiocy goes much higher up in the organisation. Senior managers talk about empowerment and creativity, but they still hold line managers accountable for the tiniest mistakes – so the line managers continue to micromanage and avoid the risk of being blamed, even though the company (not to mention the customer) is losing out on all that potential for enthusiasm and creativity.
2. They don’t know how to do things differently. They’ve never been properly trained in the kind of skills Dana is talking about, so they stick with to what they know. If you show them an alternative and make it clear that they won’t be held accountable for THEIR past mistakes, they can be very amenable to change.
I guess it boils down to whether senior managers are prepared to tolerate mistakes and facilitate creativity in managers as well as their teams 🙂
Excellent post Dana, you’ve hit the nail on the head re risk and creativity. The really good managers of creativity are able to gauge the levels of risk involved and ensure that people have room to learn and make mistakes in non-critical areas before they are entrusted with riskier projects.
Jesse – you’re absolutely right that good ideas are meaningless if the line managers aren’t applying them. Having worked with quite a few of them who are making the transition from a ‘controlling’ management style to facilitating creativity and accepting risk, these are two of the commonest reasons (other than idiocy!) why they don’t change their style:
1. The idiocy goes much higher up in the organisation. Senior managers talk about empowerment and creativity, but they still hold line managers accountable for the tiniest mistakes – so the line managers continue to micromanage and avoid the risk of being blamed, even though the company (not to mention the customer) is losing out on all that potential for enthusiasm and creativity.
2. They don’t know how to do things differently. They’ve never been properly trained in the kind of skills Dana is talking about, so they stick with to what they know. If you show them an alternative and make it clear that they won’t be held accountable for THEIR past mistakes, they can be very amenable to change.
I guess it boils down to whether senior managers are prepared to tolerate mistakes and facilitate creativity in managers as well as their teams 🙂
the findings remind me of what they teach in marriage counseling. Sometimes a bad mood isn’t about you. Sometimes it’s just frustration about a problem outside the relationship that someone is trying to work through.
the findings remind me of what they teach in marriage counseling. Sometimes a bad mood isn’t about you. Sometimes it’s just frustration about a problem outside the relationship that someone is trying to work through.