Jerry Seinfeld attributes the success of his show to an ability to pick good people. (1) Jerry’s co-stars—actors in front of the cameras and producers and writers behind it—form an ensemble that functions as highly performing creative team.

Now just as the Seinfeld team has developed a culture of innovative comedy, successful organizations, with the right leaders, can create a culture where creativity and innovation are as prized as the slew of awards the Seinfeld show has snared. These companies may not win Emmys, but they will win something more valued—the respect of their employees and the commitment of their shareholders.

Creativity is a sustainable advantage but it requires the commitment of leadership.

Where does creativity come from? People, of course. "Our people are our most valuable resource" maybe a corporate clichÈ, but it’s also a truism. As companies look to improve their quality, reduce their cost structure, and speed their time to market, the only discernible edge between competitors are the collective contributions of their employees.

And, as companies leapfrog each other’s technological advances, the only sustaining advantage is the collective intelligence of an organization. Thomas Stewart, in his book, Intellectual Capital, articulates a number of ways to nurture, manage, and ultimately exploit these forms of corporate capital by cultivating individual and team-based contributions. (2) One of those contributions is corporate creativity.

Let me cite three examples where innovation is a key element of the business model. 3-M is an innovator with strong niches in a variety of industries—automotive, medical, technology; new ideas are essential to keep ahead of competitive pressures arising from many different fronts. As a maker of microprocessors, Intel is under constant pressure to innovate. To meet Moore’s law of doubling processing power and reducing costs by half every eighteen months, Intel drives itself and its people relentlessly. Hewlett-Packard, according to Regis McKenna in his book, Real Time, attributes three-quarters of its revenues from products less than two years old. (3)

What do these three companies have in common?… A culture that places value on individual and collective creativity, a direct by-product of intellectual capital. It might be useful to liken their quest for innovation as a form of kaizen, continuous improvement.

Still, while many companies pay lip service to the concept of collective intelligence, they do a poor job of utilizing it to their best advantage. This is a failure of leadership. Many managers for any of a couple of reasons—lack of awareness, bureaucracy, fear—do not tap into their people’s minds in order to extract new and different ways of doing things. Creativity is not something managers seem to value in their people; managers are expected to produce measurable results; creativity cannot always be measured, therefore, it may be ignored.

While there may be resistance to innovation within white collar ranks, there seems to be a healthy source of new ideas coming from blue collar ranks. Part of this innovation may stem from American’s adoption of kaizen techniques from Japanese manufacturers. Kaizen, or continuous improvement, preaches that every process can be improved in the name of quality. This mindset leads to an endless refinement of processes in the quest of perfection. Very importantly, kaizen draws no distinction in hierarchy. Good ideas can come from anyone—manager, engineer, worker. In fact, many of the best ideas do come from hourly workers because they are the ones working the process, or making the product.

Their experience, combined with their tacit knowledge of how things should work, sparks new ideas. American workers, I am convinced, are born tinkerers. It’s in our nature to tinker with things—anything mechanical—to make it run smoother, faster, better. Perhaps the most successful tinkerer per se was Henry Ford; he was a self-taught engineer who learned by doing. In the process he refined the techniques of mass production to make the automobile affordable to millions of new consumers.

That legacy of tinkering is evident in the American household; many proud fathers measure their self-worth on their ability to build things—from a piece of furniture to a room addition—as well as to repair anything—from a clogged sink to a plugged fuel injector. Of course, many of these home projects end up as a source of income to qualified repair people; nonetheless, the legacy of tinkering exists today.

Curiously, the willingness to think with things does not extend to a willingness to tinker with management ideas. It used to be said that hourly workers checked their brains at the door; today that statement may be more applicable to corridors of management.

Too few managers seem willing to question the status quo; part of this stems from fear. Many managers grew up in a culture of centralized control. While the post-Industrialist society has given way to the Age of Information, a time when the pace of change dictates de-centralization for success, management structures have not evolved. Yes, many companies say they are encouraging autonomy among their employees, but all too often ideas that percolate from below end up wholly gutted from on high.

This kinds of negative culture may partially account for the overwhelming success of characters like Dilbert. The Dilbert strip is a daily manifestation of inept, insecure, rigid management that hoists itself on its own petard of ineptitude. While we laugh at—or sometimes with Dilbert’s tribulations—part of us cries with the certainty of having suffered a similar fate.

So what can leaders do to counter this trend? How can they stimulate a culture of creativity?

Spend time with customers… Nothing brings a manager up shorter than the realization that his customer does not like or appreciate his product or service. Sometimes what managers do in the name of customer service ends looking good on paper or in the office but is of little value to the customer. So how do you find out what a customer wants?… Ask him or her. Spend time getting to know them. This is easier with corporate than consumers, but the same philosophy applies.

Interact with managers and front-liners… Meet and mingle with your staff to get their ideas. Don’t make them come to you. Herb Kelleher, the founder of Southwest Airlines, makes a point of socializing with all members of his employee-owned operation. He gets his ideas from everyone; and thereby makes everyone feel part of the enterprise.

Get the team away from the office… Arrange for an off-site meeting where people can get away from the office environment, away from the phones, the e-mail, and yes, even the politics. Sometimes the simple change of scenery can inspire positive energy that may be channeled into new avenues of thought.

Arrange for seminars with people outside of the industry… Too many managers spend too much time with each other as well as with others in their same industry. (4) A way to find out what other people in your position, but in different fields are doing, is at leadership programs, executive education programs, or other industry trade fairs. Many great ideas can come from these settings where there can be a free exchange of ideas arising from the sharing of experiences with managers from diverse businesses.

Recreate as a means to create… Tom Peters emphasizes the need for business people to travel to foreign lands, notably Asia. (5) For many of us this isn’t possible, but what is possible is to use our recreation time as a time to rejuvenate the mind and regenerate the spirit. Occasionally "shutting down" as a means "powering up" is sometimes a good way to get the creative juices going.

Recognize personal contributions… Good ideas like good people need to be noticed. Let people know what you think of their ideas; they need know you value their input. Don’t assume people know that you appreciate their ideas. Be explicit in your words and actions. Sometimes a simple "pat on the back" will go a long way toward making the employee feel a valued member of the enterprise.

Innovation is the defining edge in business today. While a particular innovation—a new product, a refined service, an improved process—may only be "new-new" for a short while, if the develops and fosters a spirit of creativity among its people, a culture of innovation arises.

Creativity—like Jerry Seinfeld’s comedic talent—may seem an ill-defined, even elusive concept, at first. But like leadership itself, creativity can be taught and nurtured. Yet it will not thrive without leaders who understand the need for and the value of creativity as a means of personal contribution and corporate enrichment.

" John Baldoni 1998

 

References

(1) Handy, Bruce "It’s all about timing that’s why" Time 1/12/97

(2) Stewart, Tom (1996) Intellectual Capital New York: Currency

(3) McKenna, Regis (1997) Real Time Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard Business School Press

(4) Kurtzman, Joel (1997) "An Interview with Gary Hamel" Strategy & Business Issue 9 Fall, 1997

(5) Fisher, Anne "Tom Peters, Professional Loudmouth" Fortune 12/29/97