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.