tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13705390348318175392012-05-31T12:08:34.320-04:00Creatives are people who, well...create. Leading people who create something new is different from leading people who do more repetitive tasks. By understanding the differences when leading Creatives, you (and they) can make the best use of their talents.Dr Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881372741688267807noreply@blogger.comBlogger569125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370539034831817539.post-12344081754262883222012-05-30T03:00:00.000-04:002012-05-31T11:32:45.148-04:00

At least, that's what Lady Gaga told the stadium crowd in Singapore Tuesday night. Sharing some thoughts with Singapore's Little Monsters Where does your Creatives' inspiration come from? If they're pure artists, it may come from within, but in the commercial world, much of it comes from your customers. That's not as bad as it might sound at first. If you take the view of your customers that

Dr Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881372741688267807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370539034831817539.post-27169256442724149492012-05-28T03:00:00.000-04:002012-05-28T03:00:07.611-04:00

In London last week I was chatting with a Creative-in-training, a student from Singapore who's now finishing his first year at the University of the Arts. I asked him, "what was the biggest transition when you moved here last year?" I expected him to say something like "the weather," "the food," "being a minority," or something else that would mark a difference between Singapore and London.

Dr Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881372741688267807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370539034831817539.post-14762922778178702532012-05-25T03:00:00.000-04:002012-05-25T03:00:08.188-04:00

The LeadingCreatives crew is back from London (though some of us are in Kuala Lumpur today, with a trip to Hong Kong still to come this weekend). While in the UK we met some Creatives (and caught one in the act on a West End stage!) and will be sharing what we learned from them. Until then, have a good weekend!

Dr Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881372741688267807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370539034831817539.post-73688477096140399102012-05-11T03:00:00.000-04:002012-05-11T11:04:47.454-04:00

It's been two years since the LeadingCreatives crew was last in Europe, so it's time for another road trip. This weekend we're heading to London where we're hoping to meet a wide range of Creatives and compare their experiences with what we see in Asia. Having spent much of the last couple of weeks in Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur, we're ready to bring a mix of attitudes to England and see what

Dr Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881372741688267807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370539034831817539.post-25500391060271022582012-05-09T03:00:00.000-04:002012-05-09T03:00:02.905-04:00

Running a marathon is an exercise in perseverance. You need a plan for what you're going to do along the way if you're going to reach the finish. It helps to study the route in advance so you know what to expect, and it's important to set a pace that will help you finish strong. At the same time, as much as you need to look at the miles ahead, it's important to run the mile you're in. Without

Dr Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881372741688267807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370539034831817539.post-6595848425007349132012-05-07T03:00:00.000-04:002012-05-07T10:14:48.480-04:00

A friend of mine had something really great happen recently. He's a biologist (actually, geneticist would probably be the more correct term) working as a post-doc in a government research lab, where he studies certain aspects of cancer. He's got, in my opinion, a very cool job, since among other duties, he clones things. I mean, is there anything cooler than that? So anyway, he recently had a

Dr Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881372741688267807noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370539034831817539.post-36808297518666210832012-05-04T03:00:00.000-04:002012-05-04T03:00:00.088-04:00

Sometimes you should just leave well enough alone, but it's not always that easy, is it? You go searching around, connecting to your Creatives on LinkedIn and Facebook, and then you start finding their Twitter feeds...ah, Twitter. What employees used to do in their blogs, now they can do in 140 characters at a time. Yep, instead of bashing you and your leadership style in a long diatribe,

Dr Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881372741688267807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370539034831817539.post-141310984737966382012-05-02T03:00:00.000-04:002012-05-02T03:00:02.058-04:00

Last week I spoke with senior business leaders in a variety of Asian cities. One thing I heard -- which I've been hearing a lot in the last couple months -- is that Generation Y employees pose one of the biggest performance challenges for employers, whether because they change jobs so often, or because once they learn skills they want to move on to something else rather than put those skills to

Dr Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881372741688267807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370539034831817539.post-18719779004745727512012-04-30T03:00:00.000-04:002012-05-08T22:50:23.983-04:00

When we look at organizational change and innovative processes, we focus on the benefits for our business. But what happens to the people who don't fit in with our new ideas? In Hong Kong last weekend I spoke with a friend who has been teaching secondary school for the last four years. Hong Kong is about to change their curriculum, however, and whereas they've run 4 years of secondary school,

Dr Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881372741688267807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370539034831817539.post-48051910749429537082012-04-27T03:00:00.000-04:002012-05-01T00:58:41.352-04:00

An interview in this month's Harvard Business Review highlights research suggesting that Coffee Breaks Don't Boost Productivity After All. Charlotte Fritz of Portland State University is leading a series of studies on breaks from work of different lengths (from vacations to micro breaks) and her research found that taking a short break from work and doing something non-work related can actually

Dr Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881372741688267807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370539034831817539.post-58125006023767453322012-04-25T03:00:00.000-04:002012-04-28T06:45:25.810-04:00

Dan Pink could use your help on a survey about workplace practices

Dr Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881372741688267807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370539034831817539.post-63034126593432660892012-04-23T03:00:00.000-04:002012-05-01T07:56:35.730-04:00

The LeadingCreatives crew is in Hong Kong today talking to some folks about organizational culture change. Hoping to learn a lot while teaching them a thing or two. This will be a very heavy travel week until about midnight Saturday, but with any luck we'll have a lot to share when it's over

Dr Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881372741688267807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370539034831817539.post-63573507873577846052012-04-20T03:00:00.001-04:002012-04-28T06:47:10.278-04:00

Some minor tech issues today, we'll be back Monday.

Dr Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881372741688267807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370539034831817539.post-26149864410120810552012-04-18T03:00:00.000-04:002012-04-18T03:21:58.044-04:00

I once heard a great philosopher (I think it was Jerry Seinfeld) say that research has shown the #1 fear people have is public speaking; #2 is dying. “That means,” he said, “that most people would rather be the guest of honor at a funeral than the one giving the eulogy.” A bit extreme? Perhaps. Pretty close to the truth? You betcha. Many, many people try hard to avoid standing up and

Dr Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881372741688267807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370539034831817539.post-58300145010111895972012-04-16T03:00:00.000-04:002012-04-16T03:00:12.073-04:00

OK, I can't claim credit for that title; it's from an episode of Modern Family, and the two characters in that conversation were probably not people from whom you want to take leadership advice. They make a good point, though: for as much as we talk about the ability to "get back up on the horse," we often forget that the reason we need that skill is that we are, indeed, going to fall off that

Dr Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881372741688267807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370539034831817539.post-58412165891006001192012-04-13T03:00:00.000-04:002012-04-14T05:38:24.718-04:00

This has been making the rounds of Facebook for a few days: some of the very cool perks at tech companies. I think my favorite may be Airbnb's annual travel bonus. Though when I was living in the US, $2,000 would barely get me to Asia. But it says something very cool about the company that they want people who have experiences beyond one place, yes? What about you? What would you like from

Dr Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881372741688267807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370539034831817539.post-8247562367002802552012-04-11T03:00:00.000-04:002012-04-14T01:39:59.966-04:00

Companies take corporate social responsibility quite seriously these days, for a variety of reasons. It's not uncommon to select a charity to support throughout the year or have a "day of service" where you send your employees out for some volunteer effort. Creatives in particular often tend to be very passionate about causes, and like to see that their employer supports that. An article on

Dr Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881372741688267807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370539034831817539.post-3937471709684332542012-04-09T03:00:00.001-04:002012-04-09T03:00:11.560-04:00

In a recent Forbes blog entry Dorie Clark asks, "Are You Thinking Big Enough?". In a nutshell, she makes the case that whatever you choose to focus on is going to set your limitations. Want to achieve something big? Then think big. And if you think small, you're only going accomplish a little. I've caught myself doing the latter, focusing on the low-hanging fruit, the tasks that can get done

Dr Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881372741688267807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370539034831817539.post-31201165247714512512012-04-06T03:00:00.001-04:002012-04-06T03:00:03.605-04:00

Last Friday we pointed you toward one author's views on three rules for using teams. There was a lot of debate happening in the Comments section on that blog, and hopefully some of you chimed in. I'm not sure I agreed with some of his insights either, but it's only through debate that we can truly validate our own ideas OR learn to apply something new. In "Building Effective Teams Isn't Rocket

Dr Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881372741688267807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370539034831817539.post-19826664087947499502012-04-04T03:00:00.000-04:002012-04-04T10:13:54.501-04:00

Going to make a quick plug for Dan Pink's "radio-ish" show, Office Hours. His guest this Friday (1pm EST) will be Jonah Lehrer, the author of Imagine: How Creativity Works. Lehrer takes a scientific approach to understanding what creates creativity, and Dan will spend an hour digging into the new book with him and taking your questions. I've been a fan of Daniel Pink for quite a while and if

Dr Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881372741688267807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370539034831817539.post-67713315877442762532012-04-02T03:00:00.000-04:002012-04-06T00:30:03.444-04:00

Minor technical glitch on our end. We'll be back Wednesday.

Dr Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881372741688267807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370539034831817539.post-80416243738952876302012-03-30T03:00:00.000-04:002012-04-04T09:15:39.265-04:00

We've written here a number of times on the subject of teams and how you should be careful using them. Teams can be great, but they aren't always necessary and they can incur some costs (doesn't every decision?) so if you're going to use them, make sure you need them and be aware of what it will take for them to be effective. That being said, Harry West offers three rules for innovation teams

Dr Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881372741688267807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370539034831817539.post-23499900827356594032012-03-28T03:00:00.000-04:002012-03-28T03:00:00.548-04:00

I've been writing this blog for about 3 1/2 years. Though the writings have been influenced by friends, colleagues, stories on Twitter and random tales overheard in a bar, at the end of the day I'm the one typing them up, and in the process, putting my own spin on them. I think it's time for some other opinions. So I think I'd like to ask some creative friends to provide me with one entry,

Dr Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881372741688267807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370539034831817539.post-10186160341944125032012-03-26T03:00:00.000-04:002012-03-26T03:00:03.872-04:00

At dinner the other night a couple of us were ordering small pizzas and the person I was with, who is incredibly nice, asked me what I like on a pizza so he's know what to order for himself. That seemed a bit odd, but he said, "well, that way we can share." I like sharing...I really do. But sometimes, you need to have the pizza you want to have, regardless of whether or not other people like

Dr Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881372741688267807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1370539034831817539.post-38484929380626808912012-03-23T03:00:00.000-04:002012-03-24T01:07:20.392-04:00

You're an entrepreneur, just starting a new business and working like crazy to get it off the ground. Or maybe your business is finally starting to pick up as the economy improves, but you are understaffed and don't feel like you can afford to expand yet. Perhaps you just are really, really excited about your opportunities and don't have a family, so you pour all your time into your work.

Dr Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16881372741688267807noreply@blogger.com2