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Why Management Kills Creativity

Ten or so years ago, an international
consultant, specializing in employee
involvement and team development, published a
story relating to workplace communicationBut here the similarity between the two
that is heartwarming and damning at the samegroups ended, for the Wranglers would go out
time.of their way to say kind things about each
other. Far from sowing the seeds of
self-doubt,  they  actively
supported each other, and encouraged all
literary  efforts,  however  feeble.
In 1981, Peter Grazer was working as the
project engineer on a construction project to
modernize a silicon manufacturing facility in
St. Louis, Missouri. A crew of ironworkers
had been assigned a particularly daunting
task of erecting some structural steel in a
difficult  to  reach  area  of  the  plant.
And the payoff came about twenty years later.
Unfazed by the complexity of the assignment,
the ironworkers completed the work weeksGordon asserts that for all the sparkling
ahead of schedule, well under budget, andtalent residing in the Stranglers at the
without  safety  problems.time, not one member of the band achieved any
kind of literary reputation. From the
Wranglers,  on  the  other  hand,
emerged a bevy of highly successful writers,
led by Marjorie Kennan Rawlings who wrote The
Grazer and his colleagues of the managementYearling."
team resolved to express their appreciation
to the crew in an unmistakable, tangible way.
Dr. Firestien adds that his experience in
business suggests that most organizations
They sent letters to the homes of themore closely follow the Stranglers' pattern
workers, thanking them for their outstandingthan  the  Wranglers'.
work and inviting them and their wives to a
dinner in their honor at a fancy hotel in St.
Louis.
"Why do we naturally gravitate towards the
negative?" he asks, and then answers his own
question: "I think the primary reason may be
The dinner was a memorable occasion, enjoyedthat we haven't been taught to look first at
to the full by both management and thethe  strengths  of
workers in a spirit of camaraderie. A couple
of days later, Grazer was walking around the
site when he came upon one of the crew
members.an  idea."
Jerry was in his fifties and was usually loudAs if to prove his premise, Firestien shows
and jovial. Moreover, he was naturallyparticipants in his seminars a picture of an
hardened from his years of working withodd-looking wheelbarrow with a very large
steel, and not the type to get undulyhopper, a short handle, and a single wheel
emotional  over  anything.behind  the  hopper.  He
then  calls  for  comments  on  its  design.
The project engineer was a little taken aback
to see Jerry so quiet and deep in thought on
this particular morning, especially so soon
after the dinner. He anxiously asked Jerry if
anything  was  wrong.Typical comments include: "The hopper is too
big", "The handle is too short", "The wheel's
in the wrong place", or "Go back to the
drawing board, Roger!" Of course, all these
"comments"  are
criticisms.
"You remember those letters you sent to our
homes?" he asked. "When I arrived home that
day my wife was waiting for me at the door -
with the letter in her hands and tears in her
eyes. And she said to me: 'Jerry, you've beenIn real life, he then explains, this
an ironworker for 30 years, and nobody's everwheelbarrow is used for high-rise
thanked  you  for  anything.'  "construction, and there's an important reason
for  each  design  element.
No  thanks  in  30  years?
Jerry paused, and both he and the project
engineer stood there quietly for a moment."Ah, but you set us up!" is the
"How is it possible," thought Grazer, "thatstandard,indignant response. "You didn't give
somebody could work for thirty years and notus  all  the  information  on  it."
be  thanked  for
anything  he  did?"
To which the presenter politely replies by
pointing out that most new ideas look like
that when they're first proposed. Often, you
don't have all the info on a new idea on hand
when  you  first  see
Dr. Roger Firestien, a noted expert on
creative problem solving techniques, quotes
this article of Peter Grazer's in his book
Leading on the Creative Edge. The need to beit.
recognized  is
Not  so  fast,  please!
clearly one of our most sophisticated drives
and one of the most difficult to achieve. The
problem is that we are wholly dependent upon
others  for  its  satisfaction.But why jump the gun by killing it on the
spot? Firestien contends that this is, in
fact, the knee-jerk reaction of many people
to  all  new  ideas.
What's  the  solution?
From a purely pragmatic standpoint, lack of
recognition can have a profoundly negative
impact on productivity. Studies show that
encouragement and recognition play a major
role  in  stimulating
Let's say someone proposes an idea. (That
creativity in research and development"someone" could be another party: your boss,
organizations. In a magazine article a fewyour subordinate, your colleague, friend or
years back, writer Arthur Gordon gave anspouse; but it could also be YOU - your
almost frightening example of how far thisinner,  creative,  "real"
can  go.
self!) If you're at all "normal", your
natural urge will be to tear the concept to
pieces.
At the University of Wisconsin, a group of
budding writers, said to be brilliant boys
with real literary talent among them, once
formed a club to discuss their literary
efforts.
But stop! Don't let your passions get the
better of you! If Dr. Firestien had redrawn
his wheelbarrow to fit in with all the
Wranglers  vs.  Stranglerscomments he received, he would have come back
to  the  same  wheelbarrow
At each meeting, one of them would read
something he had written and submit it to thethat  has been in use for thousands of years.
criticism of the others.No one pulled any
punches here; in fact, the critiques were so
brutal  that  the  club
members  dubbed  themselves "The Stranglers".
Defer your judgment, just for a while.Has the
idea no strengths at all? Focus on these
first,and  the  drawbacks  afterwards.
Meanwhile, on the other side of campus, a
group of women had also come together for the
same purpose. The women called their little
group "The Wranglers." They also took turnsThe  fruits of your efforts may surprise you.
to  read  their
Azriel Winnett is creator of - Your
manuscripts  aloud.Communication Skills Portal. This popular
free website helps you improve your
communication and relationship skills in your
business or professional life, in the family
unit and on the social scene.



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