Are You Listening to a Fresh Perspective?

Math whiz behind Boston's school-assignment revamp. I loved that headline in the paper. Reading further into the article, it told how an MIT doctoral student, Peng Shi, revamped the system. He listened, he watched the discussion and was an UNEMOTIONAL observer. He then applied his mathematical brain to creatively solve the problem. I think quite often we forget that mathematicians and scientists are some of our most creative artists. I think businesses leaders forget that, too. Don't discount the person at the Accounts Receivable desk . . . they just might have the next brilliant idea that revolutionizes your business. As long as you're open to it.

Did You Ever Consider . . . .

I guess it is just an improviser's habit but my brain always goes to all the possibilities of a situation. Sometimes appearances can be deceiving! That's what makes these games fun! I like to ponder these things.

Did you ever consider . . .

. . . that the highest-paid person in your organization could be living paycheck-to-paycheck and would go bankrupt if he/she lost their job??

. . . that the "smartest guy in the room" might be faking everyone out?

 . . . that the person who doesn't eat lunch at work might not be able to afford it?

 . . . that the manager who doesn't speak up for their team doesn't even WANT to be a manager?

 . . . that the company KNOWS that your co-worker is faking their FMLA and they are quietly working to relieve that person of their position?

 . . . that the powers-that-be really DON'T know that your boss is making sexually harrassing comments?

 . . . that sometimes it is easier to just apologize?

Just some things I think of . . .

Uh-oh, Time to Get Creative King County

Front page of the Seattle Times: Google Boom: Kirkland Campus to Double. Google is a notoriously FUN place to work. A place where you are encouraged to express and work your creativity. The time is NOW. Any business leaders that are even daring to think that their employees don't want a creative, fun work environment are blind. Any company that isn't creatively looking at  -and implementing- ways to retain their employees is going to get caught with crucial roles unfilled. Time to unleash some creativity businesses!

Is there a Creativity Gap?

Ahhh, just this HEADLINE breaks my creative little heart: Study Reveals Global Creativity Gap. I think it is time for corporations to wake up. I think it is time for employees to wake up and just do it! Be creative. Take back your power! If you cannot be creative at work, then express it outside of work and see if that can allow you to find NEW work that is creative. (There is a reason I don't work for a large corporation anymore!)

It has been my experience working in a couple of large corporations that there is a disconnect between what the C-level and VP-level SAY they want and what they encourage, endorse and green-light. They SAY they want their company to be innovative and on the cutting edge but anything that hasn't been proven, tested or tried is usually ignored -or worse, scorned. If something truly innovative gets pushed through, then the temptation is to re-hash the same thing over and over until the creativity is wrung out of it . . . The trick, then is to keep working to innovate new ideas.

Here is a tidbit from this article:

"The research shows 8 in 10 people feel that unlocking creativity is critical to economic growth and nearly two-thirds of respondents feel creativity is valuable to society, yet a striking minority – only 1 in 4 people – believe they are living up to their own creative potential."

From what I experienced (and this is only me, mind you, it might be different where you work) upper management usually puts people in neat little "boxes". They have their "creatives", their "crazy creatives" and their "non-creatives".  Usually those upper-level types see, and treat, themselves, Directors and maybe a manager or two as "creative" and full of brilliant ideas.

They see their artists, designers and writers as "crazy creatives" and treat them like you would an impulsive child, not to be trusted with sharp objects.

Hourly employees, those in the trenches, often dealing directly with customers and clients are typically seen as "non-creative" and are treated as such.

I once saw 2 VPs allow another bully VP bash an idea that came from a group of people it was obvious these veeps considered to be non-creative worker bees. These hourly employees came up with a genius idea -a cost-saving idea that was very customer focused. It was brilliant. The VP bashing was brutal, the 2 other VPs in the room, by their very silence, condoned what their bully peer was doing. The idea died on the vine and the employees who'd put their necks out got them neatly chopped off. (Literally, one of those employees was laid of shortly thereafter -two more found new jobs within the year.)

(The end of this tale is:  a few years later, a Diretor-level type proposed the very same idea and it was green-lit and was very successful.) I'd say if you'd asked those employees with the original idea, they would say they didn't feel like they were living up to their creative potential at work -at that point in time. I certainly hope they have positioned themselves where they are able to live up to their potential.

I'd say that if you agree with this statement from the article (below) that you might want to think of creative ways to find a new workplace:

"The study reveals a workplace creativity gap, where 75% of respondents said they are under growing pressure to be productive rather than creative, despite the fact that they are increasingly expected to think creatively on the job. "

How does your workplace do?  Is creativity from EVERYONE encouraged? Or discouraged?

Queen Bees and Kingpins

I can improvise with anyone; though I prefer to improvise with friends. Friends are kind and generous; we trust and RESPECT each other well enough to work TOGETHER to make a great scene. That kind of improv is exhilarating. Those are the same people I can go to and get a "gut check" when something feels wrong. And those are the same people that give me kind and constructive guidance when I'm out of line. In the workplace, life is much better when we trust and respect those we interact with regularly.

On that note, I had an interesting "gut check" conversation yesterday with a friend about bullying in the workplace. It happens. But, as it is happening so many people (especially managment-types) seem to sit back and accept -and often REWARD- bullying behavior that it is easy to feel a little crazy about what is going on. Remember, the people you work with often won't speak up because they are afraid, they don't see that life has infinite choices and they are not willing to do anything that they (think) might put their job on the line.

Let's face it, most companies don't know how to deal with bullying behavior because it doesn't fall into the neat and tidy box of "sexual harassment". Sexual harassment is against the law and can be prosecuted. Most companies have steps in place to deal swiftly with the behavior. Fact is, that most bullies are crafty enough to avoid sexually harassing others; these types know exactly how to manipulate and work in that gray area of bullying but they (usually) stay away from full-out sexual harassment.

If a company ignores or excuses bullying behavior they are condoning it. If a company promotes bullies regularly it is a toxic environment. Plain and simple.

As a nation we are so focused on the bullying of children and teens that we forget that kid bullies often grow up to be adult bullies - grow up to be workplace bullies.

In this great improv of life you have infinite choices. . . .

Does your company have a "No A-hole Policy" (Good ones do, and they enforce it.) If that's the case, your first choice might be to report it.

If you report something, be very clear about this person's behavior -not your judgment or feelings. Saying, "He is a jerk in meetings," isn't as strong as saying, "He sat in our last meeting in an aggressive posture, with his arms crossed and rolling his eyes and snorted when I spoke and when other people spoke. When he did this, I noticed other people shifting in their seats and dropping their eyes, visibly uncomfortable. At one point he slammed his fist on the table and thrust his finger in Sam's chest saying,  'you're an idiot'." Behavioral examples are a LOT stronger and remove YOUR emotion about the topic; by using them  you stand a better chance of remaining professional and being believed.

Is the company going to allow/ignore the behavior? Accept that and move your life's improv on from there.

I will confess that when I had my most bullying boss I sat down and consciously explored my options. I  determined that my main goal was to pay off my house and I wasn't going to let this person stand in my way. I chose to stay at the company (but did interview elsewhere during that time, exploring other choices). I understood why I was staying and then focused on what I could control outside of that situation. I filled my time off with focusing on creative endeavors and enjoying my family and friends. The boss ultimately left and I still had my job AND had created and written a show for myself that I still perform. My life. My rules. I won't lie and say it wasn't frustrating and demeaning and demoralizing at times but I made sure that I created outlets for myself and a network of non-work friends I could talk with and that's how I chose to play out that improv.

Is there a bully in your workplace? What are you gonna do about it??

Insight and tools:

Washington State Department of Labor & Industries research and insight on bullying in the workplace.

Even if the workplace bully isn't your boss, if they are someone with power to affect your career, you might want to review my post on Good Boss, Bad Boss and take the BRASSHOLE test.

Rosalind Wiseman wrote a brilliant book about girls and their bullying behavior called QUEEN BEES AND WANNABES. She then followed that up with QUEEN BEE MOMS AND KINGPIN DADS. The latter book focuses directly on the bullying and abusive behavior that occurs amongst kids and their parents. I've read it and thought some of the advice would apply to workplace situations also.

When You Grow Up

Get out a pen and paper. Seriously. I'll wait.

Okay, now write down your age 5 career goals. Write down that job you wanted to have "when I grow up"

Now, move ahead five years and write down your career goals for age 10, 15, 20, 25 . . . you get the picture. Write it down for every 5 year period of your life so far.

Look at your list. Are you doing what you intended to do with your life?? Are you doing ANY of those things?

As our passions and interests grow and develop we forge hobbies and sometimes careers. As I've written about before, a great life is like a great improv -full of limitless choices.

That doesn't mean that our choices don't come with a PRICE. You have to be willing to pay the price to achieve the dream. If you want to become a concert pianist, you pay the price of TIME. You spend hours and hours at the piano. If you want to be a doctor or a lawyer you pay money and time as you work towards your degree. If you want to be an actor, you pay the price of slogging through bad productions and missing out on a social life. (I can't, I have rehearsal.)

Look at your list. Are you doing ANYTHING that you'd planned on doing? If you are, that's great! You get a gold star, an A+ and a standing ovation. Seriously. I'm proud of you and I have a strong feeling that you are happy in your life!

Are there any career goals on your list you wish you'd pursued? Circle them.

Write down the (honest) cost of pursuing that long-lost dream career.

Write down the (honest) cost of NOT pursuing your long-lost dream career.

Those are your pros/cons. So, what are YOU going to be when you grow up??

Improvising on Yahoo

I like to think of life as long-form improv.  In good improv, offers are given and accepted and acted on. ("Yes, and . . .) There are infinite possibilities and endless choices in how to respond to offers. The employees at Yahoo have recently been given an "offer" which was an internal memo stating that in June, Yahoo expects all employees who've previously been working from home to come back to the office. 

It is causing quite a stir in the business community and I've read all sorts of articles online about how this is the stupidest thing Yahoo could've done. But, I've also read articles that this is the smartest thing Yahoo has done. 

Someone has already reacted to Yahoo's "offer" by leaking it to the news media, despite being told explicitly not to forward this proprietary and confidential information. Good improv. The person who forwarded the memo made a choice, they agreed and added to the scene. (Click here to read the memo, if you're curious.) Of course, they might've created a more dramatic scene than they intended. Depending upon how Yahoo responds when someone violates their confidentiality agreement. It will be interesting how that particular scene plays out. But, at least they made a CHOICE.

The people that are ACCEPTING Yahoo's offer; understanding that Yahoo expects employees in the office beginning in June are going to be much happier than the employees who are NEGATING that offer. People who are negating the offer are the ones who are saying (and thinking) things like:
I can't believe it.
This sucks.
How could they DO this to us?

Ugh. Those people have eliminated choice and have are allowing the scene to swirl around them and it is (probably) making them angry and difficult to be around. Like a bad improv, those folks are in scenes that are unbearable and uncomfortable to watch.

The people who accepted that offer and are currently acting out the improv that Yahoo started have infinite choices There are zillions of way to accept that offer:
Yes, and  . . . I'm going to start looking for another job. . .
Yes, and . . . I'm going to start working in the office more as I prepare for this shift. . .
Yes, and . . . I'm going to try it out and if it doesn't work for me, I'll look for another job . . . .
Yes, and . . . I'm secretly happy to be getting out of my house and back into an office . . .

Play with this improv yourself. How many ways can you come up with to "yes, and" this situation.

How do you go through your life? Do you accept or negate offers?

Being Creative

I think this graphic is a great way reminder that we are all creative beings. Sometimes, though, we need to remind ourselves!! (Don't fool yourself into believing that you aren't creative. You have to be creative to navigate the world!)

How do you stay creative?? Here are some ideas. What would add to this list? What would you delete?