Asian Education

I've written before on the topic of education in Asia, but most of my experience comes as a professor in a Singaporean master's degree program. Now, I've seen it from the student's perspective, and I'm more convinced than ever that educational styles in Asia need to change to take full advantage of Creatives' potential.

I was in Bangkok on this trip, taking a week-long class. Now, my students in Singapore had told me about their schools -- the memorization and repetition, not questioning the instructor, providing an answer that followed a checklist rather than one that required real thought -- and I finally experienced it for myself. I thought I'd understood what my students were talking about, but now I really get it, and I understand why so many of them were hesitant to speak in class, at least at first.

That kind of style can work very well for training, particularly in areas where tasks are repetitious, such as in manufacturing or agriculture. Knowing what's required and developing a pattern of behavior is appropriate for something like that. But when it comes to education, where you're teaching people how to think and solve ill-defined problems, it's just not that helpful. The problems leaders face don't always have well-defined solutions; if they did, they wouldn't really be problems, now would they? And Creatives certainly don't design based on a checklist; that would mean they're only doing what's been proven to work before, not doing anything new, and that isn't really too creative, is it?

Many Asian teachers would tell you the system they have works fine, and has for a very long time. That's certainly open to debate, but what isn't really debatable is that modern economies have new demands. New skill sets are needed when you go from making a widget the same way a million times to designing new widgets, and so employees need new capabilities when shifting from an industrial economy to an information economy.

The need for new educational styles becomes obvious when you see the demand for overseas education among many of the best and brightest in Asia. In Singapore, for instance, a number of highly coveted scholarships are given away each year to attend prestigious schools abroad. Unfortunately for Singapore, many of these students find ways to get out of the requirement to return to work in Singapore, and instead try to stay overseas. If Singapore offered an education that was appropriate for these folks, rather than sending many of their most creative minds out of the country, they could keep them at home and reap the benefits of their abilities.

There will always be a place for rote memorization in education, and for many people this style of learning may be all they need. But if Asian countries want to develop and take advantage of the creative potential of their populations, they need educational systems that encourage individual thinking and true understanding, rather than just repeating what the teacher says and does. Failing to do so means they'll miss out on incredible opportunities to compete globally. Yes, Vietnam can keep making t-shirts and Malaysia can keep mass-producing computer chips, but if they want to do more, and do it well, they need to invest in education. Beyond investing, though, they need to divest themselves of some old ideas about learning that may not be applicable anymore, if indeed they ever were.

Finding Inspiration in Unlikely Places

Creatives need inspiration. Maybe something to get them into the right frame of mind, maybe something to spark some specific ideas about visuals or textures or sound, inspiration can be a starting point or a nudge in a particular direction. Part of your role as a leader is to create an environment where inspiration can happen...you can't always BE the inspiration, but you can help your Creatives find it.

We often think of inspiration coming from positive sources...something noticed on the street, an overheard remark, your Creatives' inner passions. This is a big part of why you should create a work environment that allows these things to come through, whether it be by keeping things casual, or allowing your Creatives some flexibility in dress or work location, or creating a workspace that encourages discussion and collaboration.

But does every inspiration need to come from something positive?

Probably not. In fact, inspiration could come from the lack of something as easily as it can come from the presence of something.

An issue only becomes a "problem" when there's a solution for it. If you look at how the government works, you rarely see policies being developed out of the blue. Instead, they're presented as solutions to a problem. Drug research and medical advancements don't happen because people are healthy, they occur to fix something that's wrong. Your Creatives may be inspired by something they don't like as much as by something they do. If you see a videogame with bad graphics or a dumb storyline you may be inspired to create something better. A bad haircut begs for a better one. Those design shows on HGTV? They don't exist because people are happy with the way their living rooms look. Help your Creatives understand where their positive contribution can help correct something negative.

Necessity is the mother of invention. Just as they can be inspired by something they see, your Creatives can be inspired by something they don't. A gap, and empty space, something that should be there but isn't, can lead your Creatives to fill that gap. Your role is to help them see the gaps around them. Encourage questions and study and discussion. Give them time to turn away from the tasks you've given them and let them pursue some interests of their own, because wherever their passions lie, that's where they have the best chance of noticing that something seems a bit off, a bit empty. Encourage them to get away from their desk or their computer or the salon and see what else is out there...and, more importantly, what isn't.

You can't lead your Creatives around by the hand. If you need to do that, then they aren't very creative. What you should be doing, though, is creating opportunities for them to explore the world to see what sparks their creative spirit. Make sure they know not to just look for the obvious stuff jumping out in front of them; if that's all they consider, their creative output will be pretty run-of-the-mill. Instead, encourage them to look at sources that others might not see...that's the best way for you to get an original product from them.

Newbie-havior

I recently had a joyous day at work: my replacement arrived.

I won't be leaving my current job until this summer but, because we'd originally thought I'd leave sooner, we'd already arranged a replacement. Since he's in now, rather than arriving as I'm walking out the door, means I actually get to train him up and get him acclimated to our unique environment before throwing him into the mix. The fact that he was a student at a university where I taught (at the same time, though not one of my students) has made it easier to adopt a mentor-mentee relationship early on.

Getting your newbies used to their new environment and helping them find their place in your office culture is an important early step for them, and one that too often gets neglected. We often leave people to pick it up as they go along, and as a result they may come in with one set of expectations that don't match reality, leading to embarrassing mistakes or misunderstandings that can provide an initial setback or even dog them for their entire time with your firm. You can help your new Creatives be more productive sooner if you introduce them to the culture and the expected behaviors in your company sooner rather than later. This is especially true for people who are just entering the workforce for the first time when they come to you. You shouldn't expect people to "just know," because even if they do figure it out on their own, you're losing productivity while they do.

Nadira Hira wrote about this in The Gig last fall, basing her piece in part on her own experiences. She suggested five key things for newbies to consider, and you as a leader should think about how to help your new Creatives in these areas...as well as any others you think are important. Hira goes into more detail, and you should go read her article, but here are the basics:

1. Consider their surroundings. Your new employee needs to understand the expectations of the workplace. Levels of familiarity, styles of dress, due dates, interoffice romance...all of these things can lead to early problems if they make a misstep.

2. Think tact. Make sure they understand they should treat others, especially supervisors, with a certain degree of respect. If they disagree, they should address those disagreements out of the public eye and do it in a way that can lead to resolution, not to more conflict.

3. Get managed. Encourage your newbie to develop relationships with experienced Creatives who can provide them with insights and perhaps inspiration. Your new employees need someone to talk to about workplace issues, both good and bad.

4. Aim for friendly, not familiar. Don't assume you should communicate with co-workers the way they do with their friends who know all their quirks. Professional interaction will help create the mutual respect that's essential for cooperation between Creatives. And they probably shouldn't add all their coworkers to their Facebook and Twitter on day one.

5. Listen. Seriously. Make sure your new Creatives understand that, while they were hired because of their skills, they aren't yet the master of the universe. They need to listen to others, not simply demand to be heard.

Creatives may be especially susceptible to problems. We expect Creatives to be independent and have unique personalities. Obviously, this is in part what you're paying for, but equally obvious is the need to have them fit into your firm in a way that contributes rather than being unnecessarily disruptive.

And don't pay too much attention to the Gen Y vs Gen X vs Boomer divide...ANY new employee can screw it up early on, so help them out no matter how much real-world experience they seem to have.

My replacement is still calling me "sir," and I'll need to break him of that soon. But he should still call our Big Boss "sir"...that's just the way we roll.

Reality Check

We've talked before about using your employees for what you've hired them to do and making sure you use the individual contributions your Creatives bring. These are important. Not only do you want to get the most out of your talented employees, you also want them to be motivated enough to offer you their best.

You and they still need to realize, though, that when they're new, there may not be much they can do. If someone is new to this career, or even just new to your organization, they should take the time to settle in and make sure they know their way around before acting too much like an authority on, well, everything.

Case in point: a friend of mine works for a major international organization, having completed his master's degree at a very prestigious school in 2009. He's very enthusiastic, ready to get to work after years of school, and is ready to change the world. But he also realizes something very important: not only is he new to the organization, this is also his first regular job. He understands his capabilities and knows what he can do, but also knows how much he still has to learn. He's very engaged and very energetic, but he focuses that energy where he can be most productive, safe in the knowledge he'll be able to accomplish more later. He takes on new challenges but seeks guidance when he does, whereas in areas where he feels more comfortable he strikes out on his own.

This is the kind of balance that you, as a leader, need to help your Creatives maintain. You want to give them freedom and you need to put their enthusiasm to good use, but at the same time you should recognize where their lack of experience can be a detriment. You'll get some Creatives who, because they are very talented (or think they are), will come in and try to dictate how things will work now that they've graced you with their presence. Your goal should not be to rein them in; your goal instead should be for them to rein themselves in. Through your effective leadership, they should learn how to do that. Not only will they be more productive now, they'll also be more open to learning as they go along. That's what we call "a good thing."

Give a Little Something Back

If you have your Creatives in one place, rather than scattered around the world, then consider giving a little something back to the community that supports you.

Volunteer work by companies is very helpful because he resources a company brings often exceed those of individuals. This isn't just about money...it's about talented people who can combine their skills into something powerful, something that can really help others.

There are many good ways to volunteer. You might offer your Creatives' services to a non-profit group. Maybe some of your employees could teach at a youth center or mentor students in their field at local high schools. Your hairstylists might do hair once every couple weeks at a battered spouses' shelter. Your opportunities are limited only by your creativity, and when you're leading Creatives, that shouldn't be a problem.

Why should you do volunteer work? Well, for one thing, it's just a nice thing to do. We're all part of a community (however we choose to define that community) and contributing to that is something responsible members of a community tend to do. Just think of it as a way to positively increase social capital where you live.

It's also a good way to build on existing skills or try something new. Your Creatives might hesitate to do something different with a paying customer and could feel more at ease testing it out as part of a volunteer opportunity. That doesn't mean you shouldn't provide bad work for a charity...if you mess something up, be sure to fix it before you leave! It's also a good chance to practice existing skills, especially those they might not use every day.

During the current recession those skills might be getting even less use, and your Creatives might have extra time on their hands. If possible you want to try not to let them go, since ultimately as business picks up you'd just be hiring them back (or, more likely, getting less experienced replacements). Volunteering offers one way for your Creatives to be productive even if they aren't being profitable.

Finally, it can be a good recruiting tool. Actively volunteering in your community suggests a company culture that is attractive to many people. It tells potential employees that there's more to your company than just making a buck, and a lot of people are looking for the opportunity to do more with their talent than simply make money for someone else.

Speaking of recruiting, you never know what the future holds for those people you help. You just might find a great new Creative in that group. Recruiting doesn't get much cheaper than that.

So give it a shot. At this time of year people tend to be filled with lots of good feelings...how about carrying that beyond December????

Should You Take on Interns?

As we make our way through the fall semester, students at colleges (and some high schools) across the country are looking toward next summer and the potential for internships. The application process for many internships has already started (and finished, in some cases). You may be wondering if it's worth it to get into the realm of internships, so before you jump in and take on an intern or two, think about why you're doing it and what's involved.

Consider what you'll need to provide. You may have to pay them (and you need to decide if this is a paid or unpaid internship before you advertise it). You need to offer training in your field; after all, this why people take internships for low or no pay rather than getting more traditional jobs. If they're good, you should provide them with positive references when they're applying for jobs later, whether with your company or somewhere else.

All of that seems like a pretty small outlay of resources. So what do YOU get for it?

First, let's be honest: cheap labor. Whether paid or unpaid, interns can be employed doing those tasks that need to be done but don't require a regular employee with a certain education or background. Some administrative work, like copying or simple PowerPoint preparation or anything along those lines, can typically be done by your interns. Since they don't have the skills needed by employees with more responsibility, and since they're really here for the training, you can generally get them for less money. But don't beat them. Not hard, anyway.

Second: you're developing people to work in your field. This is a good thing. If you're ever thinking "wow, they don't teach THIS in school," then having an intern is your chance to teach them whatever you think they're missing in their education. For creative fields, schools often develop skills, but practical experience is required to turn those skills into a profit-making business.

Third: this could be an audition for a potential employee. It sucks to take someone on as an employee only to discover they really weren't what you're looking for. Sure, you can cut them loose, but no one likes to do that, especially if the person isn't bad but is simply wrong for the job. If you can, try giving them some real responsibility (not enough to wreck your firm, of course). An internship gives you a chance to see what they're like in the workplace, and at the same time let's them see if your firm is right for them, in a way that an interview can't.

If you're going to hire interns, there are some things you should consider. The biggest is, you may not have much for them to do. You might consider having them work a shorter schedule than regular employees. Be flexible, too; if there's really nothing for them to do, and no one has time to work with them, let them take off, especially if they have studying to do or a paying gig they need to get to. Also, bear in mind that interns expect to get some training in how the business works. You need to be prepared to make time for that, having then assist different people on a variety of work and not just brushing them aside because they're "too much trouble." Just as they have certain obligations to you, so too do you have obligations to them. Someone in your firm needs to be responsible for them, and you should have a plan in place for what you're going to do with them and how you're going to help develop them.

Interns can be fun, and you can start a long relationship with them at this stage (a professional relationship, not a Monica Lewinsky-style relationship). If you think it's too much trouble, if your company is too small or the work is too fast-paced, then don't take them on. But if you think it can do you and them some good, give it a shot. Done properly, everybody wins.

Make the Training Happen

Good leaders understand the importance of professional development for their Creatives, and the current economic environment, with a smaller workload for many firms, offers an opportunity to step back and fill that empty time with training and education. Understanding that, however, and making it happen, are two very different things.

A friend at a large design firm in Asia told me last week how his company's leadership decided that, with the amount of work decreasing but with no desire to cut people, they would use this as an opportunity to send people for training. But that hasn't quite worked as well as they planned, which could lead them to drop that idea.

It's easy to say "go get training," but making it happen isn't so simple. There are some things you can do to make it work.

The most important thing is to make sure people actually attend the training they've arranged to take. Chances are that if you sign them up for it you're going to have to pay for it whether they attend or not. Since wasting money is a big no-no, you need to impress upon your Creatives that if they're scheduled for training, that's their job for the day. If the training is off-site they shouldn't come to the office for anything, and they should leave their cell phones and Blackberries off for the day. They need to understand there are no extra points for skipping training in favor of work.

One reason people may skip out is that they see their leaders doing it. If you and your peers arrange training for yourselves, then you, too, have the obligation to go. You'll be setting a pretty poor example if you don't. It's easy to think that you're so important that you can't afford to be gone for a day, but trust me, you aren't. If you're really that critical, that's a sign you should be delegating authority a bit more, or perhaps you've hired Creatives who need waaaayyyyyyyy too much supervision.

Another reason they might bail out is because you tell them to go, but then don't let them. If the firm's leadership agrees that training is important then you need to release people to take that training. You may need to schedule their training around projects, or their projects around training, but whatever you do you need to deconflict their work requirements with their development requirements. Don't schedule someone for a class when you know they've got a deadline, or something's going to be missed.

One reason you might not be letting people go is because you really don't have enough people to afford to have someone gone for a day or two or five. With all this talk about a lack of work for firms, the reality is that your company may be doing very well and keeping very busy, which doesn't mean you shouldn't do employee development, but does mean you have to do it more smartly. I once had a boss who said she couldn't send people to training because she didn't have a "float," that is, enough extra people in her department to be able to cover for absences. That was a crock, of course, since her people didn't really do anything anyway, but her point is well taken: in order to be profitable you have to make sure the work gets done even when people are off doing something important like professional development.

Lots of people talk about developing their Creatives, but many of them don't follow through. It's the kind of thing that sounds good in a meeting but can be tough to carry out. If you're going to decide to take a step forward and provide training and education for your Creatives, especially if you see a good window of opportunity right now, then make a little extra effort to ensure it actually happens.

Flat Mentorship

Everyone likes to say they want a flat organization, whether they really do or not, because it's the thing to say these days. It's useful to flatten out your firm's hierarchy, with fewer levels of oversight between the worker bees and the CEO and fewer stovepipes that limit collaboration. But you need to consider all the likely effects before you do it.

There are a lot of benefits to a flat organizational structure for Creatives. It allows for more independence and initiative, allowing them to exercise the skills you hired them for. It makes things move faster, with less review and fewer meetings, so work can get done without a lot of holdups. It cuts your overhead costs, so you can focus your time and resources on your Creatives and not on layers of oversight.

But one downside to this is that with fewer leaders and managers in a firm, you have fewer people available for mentoring. And if your firm is full of Creatives who really need mentoring, that’s going to be a problem.

We know that mentoring is an important part of leadership. But if we’re also trying to create a more effective firm by having a leaner structure, that doesn’t leave a lot of people in formal leadership positions who can take on protégés. One architectural firm told me they went from having 1 leader for every 8 people to 1 for every 20. While that brought about some good changes for the firm, it also led the CEO to say in a meeting, “we are not a schoolhouse.”

There are ways you can continue mentoring. First, figure out what kind of mentoring you need to do. Helping a protégé develop their creative skills is time consuming; helping them map out a career path is less so. Your mentorship objectives need to be realistic in light of your manpower.

Remember, too, that mentors don’t need to be in formal leadership positions over their protégés. In many cases, it’s better if they’re not, because it’s tough to counsel someone about a problem with their leader if the problem is you. So consider making mentorship a part of senior Creatives’ job descriptions. As people gain seniority and earn more there’s a reasonable expectation that they should be assuming more responsibility. Plus, it helps prepare them for leadership positions someday. Don’t just rely on current leaders, or you’re likely to not have enough people.

Of course, there are limits to how much mentoring you can do, so you also need to think about who you’re hiring and how much guidance they will need. Going back to the architectural executive’s views on training and schooling, you need to think about hiring the right people to fit into a flat organization. Since you want independent people with a high degree of skill, you need to look into hiring experienced people rather than those just out of school. If you’re hiring people new to your field, they’ll need more advice and guidance, but honestly, they’ll need more supervision, too, and that doesn’t fit the concept of a flat organization.

So, while having fewer leaders may limit your ability to mentor, the people you hire into such a firm should require less anyway.

The firm mentioned earlier hasn’t really taken that approach. As they’ve gotten flatter, they haven’t revamped their hiring strategy so they’re likely to be hiring the wrong people. The result is requests for mentorship, with no one to provide it. Something’s got to change, or the conflict between needs and resources is only going to create more problems.

Learn a Lesson or Two from Overseas

Talking with folks in Malaysia and Singapore this week has been pretty eye-opening. Seeing the effects others have created through their decisions gives you an idea of what's possible, and even if their methods won't work for you, they give you a baseline from which to start.

One important lesson to learn is the importance of learning lessons. Take some time to see what others are doing, and don't limit yourself to your own country.

One thing that helps spark your creativity is seeing what others do. Students and Creatives throughout Asia are looking at what comes out of the West and using those ideas to start creating new ones. This isn’t about stealing intellectual property, which is fairly prevalent in this part of the world and is obviously is a bad thing. Instead, its about watching and learning from others rather than keeping a purely domestic focus. We can draw inspiration from many sources, so it helps to actually have many sources at which to look.

This works for individuals like you, too. Don’t think that all the best creative work gets done in America. You should be looking at work done in different cultures, and frankly, there are so many avenues for finding creative examples from throughout the world that there’s no excuse for not looking around. Creative work can be found on YouTube, Flickr, Facebook, corporate websites, online communities,and other places with relatively little effort. If nothing else, seeing what the competition out there is offering may inspire you to put a little more effort into your own work.

Your Creatives may already be doing this, or they may not. As a leader part of your job is to help them develop their skills, and broadening their world view would be good for that. It’ll help you, too, in your development as a leader. So look for the lessons you can learn from the rest of the world. Not everything you see is going to work for you, just as not everything you see another domestic company doing would be right for you. If you think we have a monopoly on creative talent, though, you are already way behind. See what good ideas are out there, ideas your domestic competitors may be ignoring.

If nothing else, getting overseas to check things out helps you build up your frequent flier miles and upgrade to business class. Those seats make all the difference in the world once you land. After arriving in Singapore around midnight for an overnight stop last week, 23 hours after taking off, I spent the next 6 hours running around town with one of my best friends, a graphic designer there. Try doing THAT after sitting in coach.

Different Expectations for Education

13 hours makes for a long flight, especially when you're afraid to take a sleeping pill because you had wine with dinner (laugh at me at you will, but I get nervous about the whole "stop breathing" thing while flying over the North Pole). And 13 hours was just the first leg of this trip, with a 3-hour layover followed by another 6-hour flight. So there was plenty of time for reflection last week even before touching down in Asia.

We in the U.S. often see ourselves as the creative center of the universe -- everyone watches our movies and listens to our music -- but there are plenty of lessons to be learned from Asia. The evolving creativity emerging from this part of the world is spurred in part by culture, in part by government policies, and in part by the recognition that if the U.S. can do it, so can others. Creative leaders in the U.S. should look at what's happening here and take the lessons from the region that seem useful. One area where this would be helpful is in education.

Employers’ attitudes toward education in Singapore are a little different from Americans’. In the U.S. we see a strong bias in favor of a bachelor’s degree, which reduces the pool of potential employees. Singapore’s system of polytechnics -- essentially, 2-year colleges with a vocational emphasis -- produces Creatives who have broken out of the traditional educational model and who see great opportunities ahead of them even without a 4-year degree.

The poly system, which is a relatively new phenomenon here, is useful for students who have some idea what they want to do for a career but who need to develop their skills in a structured environment. Not only do they gain skills, they are also surrounded by like minded students, providing an environment that offers great motivation. Students at Temasek Polytechnic, which has a strong art and design focus, report an intense entrepreneurial spirit among students who talk about the businesses they’re starting after graduation. Start them they do, as the family structure there provides a support network for young people who want to strike out on their own.

The system isn't perfect. Some students enter a program only to learn that what they thought they wanted to do isn't really what they wanted to do. While a 4-year university program allows for more exploration, a poly education tends to lock a student into something specific early on,and since students start that 2-3 year program at age 16, you can see a lot of people making choices early on without a lot of good information. That situation could be a bit different in the U.S., where students would typically start such programs at age 18 or so.

What can you take away from this? Well, consider expanding your recruiting efforts beyond university students, if that's where your focus currently lies. Community colleges in the U.S. have long been viewed as a home for less capable students, but if the job for which you’re hiring doesn’t really require a bachelor’s degree, why not look for someone who’s spent a couple years in school developing the very skills you need? Depending on the needs of your particular field, you might be better served by someone with an associate’s degree or relevant certifications.

Bachelor's degrees are great for helping people learn how to learn, and as a former university professor, I'll be the first to say that a bachelor's program offers a great education. But I'd be the last to say it offers a great education for everyone. Some people will benefit most from a more structured ,specific program, and if they are excelling in that, then they may excel in their work for you as well.

Take a lesson from overseas, and open your eyes to more sources for employees.

Keep Your Folks Open to Change

Change happens, perhaps more so in creative fields simply by the nature of creativity. Creatives may be more open to change than others by virtue of their innovative temperament. But they still develop habits, and if things pop up that require a change in those habits, that change can still be rough. So if you can, keep your Creatives in a frame of mind that leaves them open to change. Such a culture of flexibility isn’t natural; it can se a few things to help encourage it.

The foundation of an organization’s culture comes from its strategy, which can be expressed and developed in a strategic plan. You should have a plan that recognizes and accommodates change. The goals and objectives in your plan should acknowledge the need for flexibility and demonstrate the importance of a human capital development program that encourages adaptability. With this as your basis, you can build a workforce that’s more flexible.

Make sure you recruit people with the mindset you’re looking for. This will come through more in the interviews than in resumes. Try to get a sense for how potential employees deal with something new before you bring them in.

In addition to recruiting, look at retention having long-term employees provides for more in depth knowledge, but such employees can often be more settled in their ways. Ask yourself if you want to have mostly long-termers, short-timers, or some half-and-half mix.

You also need to be willing to let people go if you find they can’t keep up with the demands you place upon them. “Seniority” should not equal "guaranteed employment” if they simply can’t -- or won’t -- do what you need them to do.

Try to keep as flat an organizational structure as possible, with the fewest possible leaders. You’ll often find that people in authority are the most resistant to change because they’re afraid their authority will disappear -- and it just might.

Try to keep your budgeting as flexible as possible. Yes, you need some stability there so you can plan your resources, but you also need to be able to shift those resources when changes demand it. Striking that balance isn’t easy, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it.

Businesses that don’t change to meet new conditions around them are more likely to miss opportunities or succumb to challenges, and ultimately fade away. Creative organizations are particularly susceptible to this, since the whole reason they exist is to create new things, and failing to do so makes them irrelevant. A culture that accepts the need to change is not automatic -- if anything, resistance to change is the default human condition. Take some steps to make change easier, because the alternative is to just make things harder on yourself.

Holistic HR

If you lead a small firm with half a dozen employees you're probably doing your own human resources work and recognize that you don't have people to waste, so you better get the most out of hem. If you're a leader in a large firm you probably have an HR department to worry about things for you but you still really don't have people to waste, so you should consider doing as much HR on your own as you can if you feel they aren't helping you and aren't responsive to your needs.

Of course, if all your human resource issues are working out fine, you probably don't need any of the advice in here, so carry on.

But for those who are still doing hiring and firing as it was done 10 years ago, take note. The name of the game for Creatives is not "resource management" or even "personnel management," but instead, "talent management." Your focus needs to be on gaining, retaining, and developing your talent to meet your firm's particular needs and reduce the costs associated with high turnover and wasted talent.

A discussion online last week in Business Week explored the concept of "holistic HR," getting away from the stovepiped components of managing people and instead integrating those to maximize the use of your talent. Says the author,

Human Resources is no longer about hiring, firing, and managing benefits. Top companies are realizing that a holistic approach to what has come to be called "talent management" -- one that aligns a company's goals with succession planning and employee career objectives -- can produce big cost savings.

So what are some things on which you should focus?

Well, whoever's doing HR for you, whether it's you or a division in another part of the building, needs to be very familiar with the company's goals and with your particular needs when it comes to meeting those goals. They need to get you the specific information you need about applicants so you can see if they have the specific creative talents you need Keyword-based resume review programs are going to have trouble doing that.

Then you need to consider how to develop the talent once you have it. Rather than always looking outside for leaders you need to consider growing your own from the inside, and that means identifying career paths for those who want to remain on the purely creative side of hings and for those who want to be leaders.

Once you've got talent and you're developing people you need to keep them. Why spend the time and money on them if they're going to your competitors? Look at what it takes to keep them engaged and satisfied in their work, or you'll lose them to someone with a more exciting offer.

Above all, make sure you have people who are adding value to your firm. Hire carefully, and if someone isn't developing or if your needs change, look at what you can do to help them adapt. If they can't, or don't want to, then it may be time to part company.

The bottom line to take away from the Business Week piece is that just as leading Creatives has its own unique challenges, so does managing them The HR side of your business adds value just as much as the direct work you do for clients IF you do it right.

So, do it right.

Smart Promotions

As you consider promoting employees, forget the question “what have you done for me lately?” and instead ask “what will you do for me in the future? If you avoid thinking of promotions as rewards, and instead think of them as ways to get your top Creatives into positions where they can do more, you’ll improve your firm’s effectiveness dramatically.

I recently attended a friend’s military promotion ceremony. One line in the promotion orders really stood out: “Lieutenant Colonel Smith, having demonstrated the potential to serve in the higher grade, is promoted to the rank of Colonel.” I like that: having demonstrated the potential. What this suggests is that he isn’t being promoted because he’s done well in the past, he’s instead being promoted because he’ll do more in the future.

At the reception afterwards I talked with another officer who told me how he didn’t expect to get promoted again, because he’d gotten out of the military to be an airline pilot, only to come back in when he got laid off. He said he’d been doing well since coming back, and his commanders had told him he was doing great, but he never seemed to get the assignments that would help him get promoted and he saw little chance of going farther. He was pretty bitter about this, and was sure he was being discriminated against because he’d gotten out for a few years. I thought he was right, but I think he missed that line during the promotion ceremony: rather than demonstrating “the potential to serve in the higher grade,” he’d instead demonstrated the potential to leave the military when he thinks he can make more money on the outside.

When you look to promote someone from within, consider more than just their creative skills. Look at their existing leadership ability...do they exercise leadership among their peers, even without a formal leadership position? Are they able to motivate others? Do they seek out opportunities to improve themselves or to contribute more? (and not because they’re sucking up, but because they truly want to do more) If they don’t quite have the leadership skills you think they’ll need, do they seem willing and able to learn? Ask yourself if that person even wants more responsibility and authority. If they don’t, then why put them in that position? Look at their job history too. If they’re changing companies every couple of years you might not want to use them to fill a position only to have to fill it again in a short time.

Of course, this doesn’t mean you ignore their past performance...obviously, how they’ve done up until now gives you an indication of how they’ll do in the future. But you don’t want to give them a promotion simply as a reward. It might be easy in a creative firm to spot the most talented people, but remember that creative talent and leadership ability are different...being a Creative doesn’t automatically mean they’re ready to lead Creatives. Carefully consider the requirements of the position you’re promoting someone into and ask yourself if they really have the potential to do it well.

Corporate History

Having a sense of vision and a long-term focus for your company are important. Knowing where you're going is a good thing. Just as important is understanding where you came from. Your history guided you to your present and sets the stage for your future, so it's important for your employees to know about it.

This is more important for Creatives than it is for other workers who do repetitive tasks. Creatives are, by definition, creative, and they're going to be coming up with new ideas and taking your firm in new directions (at least, they will if they're good). For them to do that most effectively they need to understand your firm's goals and values and the relationship between the firm and your operating environment, and they need to know what's worked and what hasn't in the past, and more importantly, WHY they have or haven't worked.

Knowing how and why your firm began will tell your Creatives something about what's expected of them. Understanding the founders' vision for the firm and what they had to do to get it going will give them a clue about what's important. Now, if your firm is old then a lot of that is likely to have changed, and if it's huge and well-known, they may already know that sort of stuff (how many new Google employees need a lesson in Google history?). But in smaller or lesser-known firms, this kind of introduction is important, as it allows your employees to better focus their creative energy in a way that advances the company.

When your employees know how and when the firm started they can also understand what the environment was like in which the company began. Was it a new competitor in an existing market, or did it create the market? What was the technology like? How were the general economic conditions compared to now? What was it that allowed the firm to launch successfully, and are those factors still in place (or even still relevant) today? When your employees can see how things outside the firm have changed they can have a better idea what the firm needs to succeed.

Creatives will develop new ideas; after all, that's why you pay them. But not every "new" idea is really new. Sometimes they'll throw out something that's been done before but either didn't work, or did but is no longer useful. Or maybe their idea didn't work before, but conditions have changed so it's a great idea now. Only by understanding your history can they have a sense of which ideas are right and which just aren't.

You don't need to write a book about your company or teach some dry lectures. Just have a talk with new employees and clue them in. We have a new guy in my office who was sitting in a meeting the other day and I could see from the look in his eyes he had no idea what we were talking about, because you really needed to know the context and the nature of our relationship with another organization to get the importance of what we were discussing. I pulled him aside afterwards for about half an hour and have him the background he needed. Already, I can see the difference in his work.

For a little effort, you'll have a bunch of Creatives who are much better prepared to contribute good ideas.

How Much is Enough?

A friend of mine in Malaysia had an interesting Facebook status today:

"someone wants me to hire him... and teach him everything I know... -.- why doesn't he pay me?"

My friend is a designer, working in films and television and doing the sets for photo shoots. He's had a lot of work lately and needs an assistant, but this one applicant wasn't quite what he had in mind.

When you're hiring new Creatives you'll rarely find someone who already knows everything you want them to know. You may have to set aside time for on-the-job training, or even send them to a class. At a minimum you should expect some time getting used to the job before they can do everything they promised you in the job interview.

With that in mind, you still need to be careful just how inexperienced they are. If you're recruiting an employee for the long run and you can afford inexperience, this is your chance to grow a new employee from scratch. But if you need someone who can start contributing right away, you can't afford someone with no skills at all. Make the job requirements really clear in the job announcement and the interview, and

When someone comes to you and says "I'd like to work for you, please teach me everything you know," it does seem a little strange that they'd be learning from you, but you'd be paying them rather than the other way around. True, everybody has to start somewhere, and it's always seemed like a Catch-22 when you need experience to get a job but you can't get experience until you have a job. It's fun to be a mentor, it's fun to have an apprentice, but sometimes you just don't have the time for all that. One of your functions as a leader is to figure out what kind of new employee you need to hire. Figure out what and who you need at that time, and choose wisely.

And if you want, let THEM pay YOU for a change.

More on Foreign Experience and Creativity

We recently suggested here that there might be a correlation between creativity and living in a foreign country. In a recent issue just last month, The Economist picked up on the same study and offered some additional insight into it.

The article, "Expats at Work," suggested that

Anecdotal evidence has long held that creativity in artists and writers can be associated with living in foreign parts. Rudyard Kipling, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, Paul Gauguin, Samuel Beckett and others spent years dwelling abroad. Now a pair of psychologists has proved that there is indeed a link.

Take that last statement with a small grain of salt. A study doesn't "prove" a hypothesis, it just supports it and, if tested enough, provides some validity. Remember, even if you test something 500 times, you'll never know what would have happened that 501st. So they've demonstrated a link, but haven't proved anything.

The study also didn't just focus on creativity as relates to Creatives. Of the two samples, one of them dealt with "creative negotiating" which, while certainly an opportunity for creativity, doesn't really fit our definition of Creatives as those who create something that didn't exist before.

In our post in April we suggested there was no real discussion of the direction of causality, that is, whether overseas experience enhances creativity or if creative people are simply more likely to try living overseas.

To check that they had not merely discovered that creative people are more likely to choose to live abroad, Dr Maddux and Dr Galinsky identified and measured personality traits, such as openness to new experiences, that are known to predict creativity. They then used statistical controls to filter out such factors. Even after that had been done, the statistical relationship between living abroad and creativity remained, indicating that it is something from the experience of living in foreign parts that helps foster creativity.

It's an interesting study, and having learned more about it now, I'd still stick with our earlier suggestion: looking for employees with overseas experience can provide you with more creative employees.

Professional Writing

I know from personal experience that the best way to learn about something is to teach about it. But that's not always possible. It can be tough to get out and find the time to teach a class. It can be even tougher to find a willing audience.

Another option, though, is writing. When you write, you don't need your audience sitting in front of you. In fact, you can get many of the benefits of teaching regardless of whether anyone's reading.

There are a lot of great benefits that come from writing, especially if you do it on a regular basis, though you can still get a lot of advantages even if you just write occasionally. Writing forces you to stay current in your field, so you're not suggesting ideas that have already been overtaken by new ones. In doing so, it also encourages you to be thinking of new ideas yourself, so you can present interesting original thinking rather than just writing about others' concepts. The feedback you get on your writing can spark even more ideas, serving as a virtual brainstorming session. Finally, from a broader professional perspective, you have the opportunity to share your thoughts with your peers and advance your field...just don't give away ideas to your competition that let them get ahead of you!

Of course, regular writing also improves your most basic communication skills, and that's never a bad thing.

One last point: professional writing offers a way to advertise your firm at no cost to you. And it does it in a way that shows you not only know what you're talking about, you're also not lacking in self confidence.

How do you get out there and write? Well, while you could write a book, that probably shouldn't be your first project. Look for professional magazines and journals in your field that accept unsolicited articles and essays. You could also look at writing a regular column about your particular field for a local newspaper. And of course, the easiest way to break into publishing: write a blog.

There are lots of things you probably shouldn't be doing during work hours, but professional writing isn't on that list. Don't feel guilty about taking time to do this during the day. You're improving your skills and advertising your business...both of those are pretty important for any successful firm.

By the way...all of these ides apply as well to your Creatives as they do to you. So encourage them to give this a shot, too.

Empathy

Empathy is that quality by which you can understand others' perspectives and feelings, and for a leader that's pretty important. When you're leading Creatives, and have a pretty diverse workforce, it can also be pretty challenging.

Your employees have skills theyre most interested din using or developing, problems affecting their personal and profesisonal lives, ambitions and goals, and plenty of other things going on that are unique to them. For you to make the best use of your employees -- getting their best work from them, keeping them motivated ad enthusiastic -- you really need to understand how they view the world and what's important to them. You can't just look at what's important to YOU, you need to figure out what's important to THEM. Through the lens of their individual perspectives you can get a better idea of which skills they're most apt to use, what problems are affecting their ability to do a great job, what it takes to keep them interested and striving forward -- in short, you really need to understand things from their point of view.

It's helpful for you to have a diverse workforce, but that also eliminates the "one size fits all" approach of dealing with your employees. It's harder to step into someone else's shoes if you don't understand them. And since everyone's different -- and among Creatives, differences are often the only thing in common -- you're going to have to work extra hard to understand their point of view. Some of that will come though in direct conversation, so don't be afraid to talk to your Creatives about things beyond the office. Some will come through observation, so take note of what they're doing when they seem happiest, and watch for problems from outside the office that creep into the workplace.

This isn't all just a bunch of hand-holding, touch-feelyness...this is about doing what you need to do as a leader to help your Creatives turn out the best possible product or service and maximize your profit. If you were on an assembly line you'd worry about the quality of the ingredients that go into your final product. When you're leading Creatives, you need to think just as carefully about he qualities of your most important ingredient: your people.

Recruiting for the Long Haul

A high turnover rate among your Creatives can cost you a lot, and not just in terms of money.

There's a lab with which I work sometimes that recruits people with the expectation they'll only be there for a few years. Even though this lab does cutting edge work, it's located in a somewhat remote location. While that's OK for young people right out of school, it's not quite as great when they start having kids and are worrying about their future potential in their field. So, they have a lot of young scientists with only a few years of experience, and the leadership is OK with that.

There's a monetary cost associated with that kind of turnover. The costs associated with the recruiting effort, plus any up front expenses (moving costs, signing bonuses, etc) get repeated regularly. But there's also a cost in terms of future leadership. Today's leaders won't always be around, and the lab is shooting itself in the foot if it doesn't try to develop new leaders from within.

So, when you're recruiting with a long term view, what do you look for?

Well, first of all, you need to look for qualities beyond technical skills and demonstrated creative ability. Before you start reviewing resumes, build a list of those qualities you'd like to see in a leader. You may be recruiting your future replacement, so think about what's worked for you and what hasn't. When you're interviewing applicants, be looking for signs of those characteristics, and focus on those people.

Next, recruit in a way that encourages longevity. Offer incentives that go beyond immediate rewards, like signing bonuses. Look instead at deferred incentives, longevity bonuses, or advanced training and education with a commitment to stay with the firm for a period of time. If you give people an incentive to leave (like the military does when they offer college tuition benefits to new recruits), they'll leave. If you offer them no incentives at all, they will stick around only until they find a better deal. But if you offer incentives to stay, they're more likely to stick with you.

Not every new employee is destined for leadership, and you shouldn't apply this recruiting style to everyone. But you need to consider it when designing your recruiting plan. Creative firms have demanding requirements when it comes to leadership, and it's harder to find a good leader by getting a senior person off the street than it is to find one by nurturing one on the inside. Identify your future requirements that need to be met now -- and remember, grooming a leader can take years -- and recruit now in a way that will help you meet those needs down the road.

Measuring Creativity

As a leader you need to be able to evaluate your employees' work so you know what works and you can improve upon what doesn't. Measuring creativity, however, is hard to do. It's easy to know how many cases a detective solves or how many widgets an assembly line worker makes, but measuring how creative or innovative someone is...well, that's tricky.

A recent survey by the Boston Consulting Group sheds some light on this issue. Though their definition of innovation is a bit broader than what we expect our Creatives to do, the survey results are still interesting. While 73% of their respondents agreed they should be measuring innovation, only 46% said they were doing so, and even fewer were satisfied with the measurement being done.

To measure your Creatives' job performance you need to find something that's not only measurable, but also relevant. Look for outputs and effects of their creativity, not something that just shows how many hours they put into their work, but more importantly, how well that time was spent. Some possibilities, depending on your field, include:

Client satisfaction: does your Creative meet their clients' demands for creativity?

Awards or other peer evaluations: how is their work regarded by others in their field?

Repeat business: do their clients keep coming back for more work, or do they refer new clients to your firm?

Revenue growth: does their creativity turn into cash inflows?

Patents: are your Creatives developing new things or just improvements on old ideas?

New products: are they stuck in a rut or are they coming up with something original?

How you use these measurements is pretty much up to you. You can set specific targets, or just monitor trends. Whichever way you go, though, you need to clearly set expectations up front. Measuring results, and then defining your standards, can lead to a setting of standards specifically designed to meet the results you already have. As the leader, you need to be able to explain why these are the appropriate criteria for measuring creativity. Some measurements may be qualitative rather than quantitative...instead of being numbers-based it might be a case of "I know it when I see it." That's OK, but again, you need to be able to explain your criteria in advance.

As for using incentives to reach these standards, or enforcing them if they aren't met...well, that's a conversation for another time.

Education in Singapore

While I was teaching in Singapore I had the opportunity to learn a lot about their educational system. My course was part of a master's program so my students had all completed their bachelor's degrees, some in Singapore and others in Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and other places. I learned about their undergraduate programs and also observed what was going on at my university, and it was interesting to see the differences from the Western (or at least, the American) system.

Many of the things I learned or observed could also be found in the US, of course, but here we hope some of these are exceptions, whereas there they tend to be the rule. And while the educational practices I learned about might be appropriate for the ethnic, political, or social background of the students, I could see a negative effect on creativity and innovation.

I realized early on, of course, that Singaporeans are very pragmatic. Whether this leads to a certain educational style, or is the result of it, I don't know. But for many students there seems to be less interest in actually learning, and more interest in passing the test, getting the diploma, and going to work. The time in school is viewed by many as simply job training, or even worse, as just checking off an item on a list so you can move on to a job. As a result there's not a lot of questioning, nor is there time spent thinking about issues beyond the narrow confines of the syllabus. There's memorization and regurgitation, and that's it.

The faculty, in many cases, encourages this. They lecture for the entire class and when exam time rolls around they expect students to simply repeat what they've heard. Some professors supposedly just read out of a book...the same book the students already read on their own. This isn't usually the case at the graduate level, though one of my peers once remarked that he could do his whole class online without any class meetings, because he didn't expect his students to say anything original in class discussion anyway. personally, I've always been a believer that you're students will meet your expectations, no matter how high -- or how low -- they may be.

I should point out that the students in my class weren't like this themselves. Either they had outgrown that frame of mind, or they had good instructors in their past, but whatever the reason I was blessed with 24 inquisitive students who, after a few weeks, weren't at all shy about sharing their views, even if they contradicted mine. That's what education is supposed to be about, not memorizing stuff and then spitting it back out on a test.

Another aspect of education there is a vast distance between teachers and students. I noticed that undergrads passing by would avert their eyes so as not to make eye contact with me. I later learned that there's almost a sense of fear, and often a sense of combativeness, when students deal with teachers growing up, and unfortunately that feeling continued in college. Relations between students and teachers there have gotten so bad that, when a professor was stabbed by a student (who then committed suicide) the comments on the online news stories almost uniformly suggested the professor must have done something wrong to provoke the student, and possibly even attacked the student first himself. Bad relations between students and teachers limit the opportunity for mentoring and certainly don't help learning.

Once again I'll point out that my students weren't like this. We had a great relationship, and they would often come to my office to chat about things from class and beyond. Among the things they shared with me were their experiences with teachers in university and in secondary school, and that's where I got my first sense of what things were like.

How does this affect creativity and innovation? Well, obviously, people who are trained not to question anything have a hard time developing new ideas. How do you come up with something new if you've repeatedly been told to focus only on what already exists? Students who have their interest in learning beaten out of them (not literally, but it felt that way) are less likely to become Creatives and are more likely to become government bureaucrats (is it any surprise Singapore is scrambling to recruit foreign talent?). And students who are taught to fear their teachers will have trouble later developing a good working relationships with leaders and authority figures, like, for instance, YOU. It's hard for you to guide them if they aren't prepared to do anything besides salute and carry on.

As I noted earlier, we can find these effects throughout US educational systems as well, but hopefully, these are the exceptions rather than the rule. In order to keep our innovative edge, however, we need to encourage even greater interest in learning, even more questioning and challenging of conventional wisdom, and even better social skills on the part of students. You can't teach creativity, but with a proper education, you can provide a strong foundation for it.

Shift the Learning, Shift the Style

A great story on Monday evening's All Things Considered talked about the new way of learning to design video games. In days of old (what, 20 years ago?) most video game designers learned from other designers, a form of apprenticeship that we used to see 200 years ago here (and we still see in some forms...some hairstylists go through apprenticeships rather than attending cosmetology school, for instance).

(come read and listen to the complete story on NPR's website)

Passing down one generation's ideas to the next is certainly one means of teaching, but it has the effect of creating a "we do it this way because it's how we've always done it" culture. It creates a "universe" of ideas from which it's hard to break free. Without fresh perspectives from the outside it's hard for a firm to expand, or even survive. Government bureaucracies can get away with this kind of stovepiping, because it's almost impossible to get rid of them, but the same can't be said for your firm.

The idea presented in the ATC story was that by developing their skills in the university classroom rather than simply watching over an experienced designer's shoulder, the new game designers were encouraged to approach the field as an artistic endeavor rather than merely as a technical exercise. This has led to new types of games that use the same technology but in a different way, presenting a different message through the game. By offering up something nontraditional, these designers have the chance to reach new markets, attracting customers who would never play Grand Theft Auto but who might appreciate a more Zen-like video game experience.

Check out the story at the link above and see what you think. Should game design firms be looking only for university graduates? Should they stick to what they've traditionally done? How can they best mix theoretical or artistic education with practical technical training?

Training and Education

Some leaders say they want to provide training for their employees. Others say they focus on education. Very often, they don't recognize the difference between the two. But once they do, they realize their employees can often benefit from both. When it comes to Creatives, that last point is especially true.

Training tends to focus on skills. It's about how to do something correctly, mastering a particular way of doing things. It involves a lot of memorization and repetition. Training tends to be pretty narrowly focused, with specific, measurable goals. Certification programs are just one example of training...students are working to understand how to do a specific function, such as programming in a particular language, and do so in a way that can be measured so they can pass a standardized test to see if they meet the minimum level of knowledge.

Education, on the other hand, is really more about thinking. Students learn about different approaches (consider the differences between anthropology and chemistry), different styles of thinking, solving ill-defined problems, and more. Good learning should create a desire for more learning, so it becomes a never-ending process, as people are able to adapt to the evolving world around them and understand how they fit into it. A bachelor of arts programs, for instance, is more about learning how to learn than it is about preparation for a specific job. Someone coming to you with a B.A. may not have all the job skills you desire, but they've shown the ability to learn.

In short, training helps you understand how to do a task, while education helps you understand why and when to do it. Education helps you be a better planner, for example, while training helps you put that plan to work.

For Creatives, both types of learning are important. Think about graphic designers in an advertising firm. They need training is specific technical skills, such as drawing, using software, photography, and maybe others. But they also need education to broaden their worldview and help them find inspiration, and to view things from the diverse perspectives of different target audiences. Just one or the other won't work...they really need both.

When it comes to getting the right training and education for your Creatives, you may have to rely on them somewhat. Unless you're in the same specific field as them, you might not understand what they really need. Have them do some investigation to determine what will make them better able to support the company's goals (which means, by the way, that your company has to first have goals, and it also needs the employees to know and understand them). In an ideal world you'll have someone whose sole job is to be a training and education manager for your company, and they can work with leaders and employees to figure out the best programs and find a way to make it happen, within the resources of the firm.

On that last note, let's make one more important point: if you feel you cannot spare any of your people for any professional training or education, then you probably have too few people to begin with. For your firm to be successful your employees need to be continuously learning, through formal and informal means, so you need to have enough people to cover your workload while still working on improving your workforce.

You should encourage learning within your workforce, and if you have employees who have no interest in continuing to improve their skills or broaden their minds, then perhaps you should be looking for some new employees. Training and education are not options that you can do when you decide you have the chance...they are instead the keys to future success for your company.

Professional Reading

Lifelong learning is important, particularly if you want to be a leader. Not only are you a much more interesting conversationalist, you will more importantly remain up to date in your field of work and in the environment in which you do your job. For leaders to adapt to change they need to first know what those changes are, and the easiest way to do that is to continue your education indefinitely.

Formal education is useful; go get yourself that master's degree. It doesn't even have to be related to your specific industry. You'll find that learning, no matter what the subject, provides you the mental tools to succeed in any field. Simply learning new ways of thinking offers a lot of benefits.

But don't limit yourself to formal programs; after a half dozen master's degrees you'll find the marginal benefit gets pretty small! Instead, complement some formal education with ongoing informal education...go learn on your own through reading. One way to develop new ideas of your own is to expose yourself to others' perspectives, which will often spark an idea in your mind or help you develop your own best process for innovation.

You should be doing some regular reading, such as newspapers, magazines, and academic or professional journals. For some good weekly reading, for instance, consider something like The Economist, which discusses business in the context of many different cultures and political situations. It's good "general" reading, but you should also consider magazines unique to your particular field, so you can keep up on what others are ding and hopefully spark some ideas of your own. Step away from "headline" news sites and read through a real daily paper; The Wall Street Journal provides national and world news along with plenty of business news, of course, while the New York Times and the Washington Post serve as great national papers as well (and if you insist on picking a paper based on your political views, there are plenty to choose from). Through other people's actions you're liable to learn a lot about your field, your operating environment, and your options when it comes to leadership, so start reading and take advantage of others' mistakes and successes.

Don't forget books. Reading about your industry, reading about leadership, whatever, you should be reading. If you want to know what to read you can get ideas from your peers, your employees, your friends...what have others found interesting? Look for suggested reading lists by users on Amazon that reflect your interests. Take a look at Facebook -- there's a nice "Books I've Read" application that allows you to see what people with similar interests are reading.

Encourage professional reading among your employees. make learning a part of their job and allow them to make time during the day to do some reading. When I was working in a strategic planning position in an international relations office I used to read Foreign Affairs and other foreign policy journals, but I was often made to feel I should be doing that on my own time. I always figured my boss and my peers should have been happy I was keeping up with things in our field instead of sarcastically chastising me for "wasting time."

Too many leaders look only for measurable results at the end of the work day, and forget the intangibles. But in creative fields, it's the intangibles that lead to tangibles. You should be engaged in professional reading if you want to stay relevant, and you would be wise to encourage that among your Creatives, too. It's hard to advance fresh ideas if you don't continue to advance your knowledge.

Advancing Someone Else's Education

The following is from Design Leads Us Where Exactly?, a great blog by Lucy Kimbell at University of Oxford. They are conducting a "think-and-make-tank" later this spring and are hoping to find some funding support. Lucy can explain it better than I can so I'll put this back into her words and hope that you or your organization can help them out.

This year's MBA elective in Design Leadership at Oxford from April-June will include a one day workshop in which the MBA class will collaborate with design students to help social enterprise Soul of Africa address some of the challenges they currently face. The exact details are being worked out, but I'm putting up this post now while the MBAs are considering signing up for the elective.

A think-and-make-tank is a participative, creative workshop that brings together people from management and from design to use visual methods to analyze and tackle specific problems identified by an organization. A one-day event such as this will crystallize ideas that can be taken forward by the organization, complementing its other activities.

The people involved on the day will be:
- approx 20-25 MBA students from Saïd Business School, taking the Design Leadership elective
- approx 8-10 MA design students from different disciplines such as product design, fashion and design management
- people from the Soul of Africa organization, including co-founder Lance Clark
- Saïd Business School faculty

To make best use of the day, Lance has identified three challenges facing the organization which the workshop will be designed to tackle, which are: marketing and communications; service operations/organization design; and product management. The combination of creative and bright students from management and from design will, we hope, serve to generate tangible, useable ideas for the organization, as well as offering an engaging learning experience.

We are seeking a small amount of funding to support this workshop, so please get in touch with me if you can help.

If you are able to provide some funding for a unique educational experience that mixes design and leadership perspectives to create some great social benefits, please contact Lucy through her blog.

Balancing Experience and Motivation

With President Obama's campaign message of "Change" still echoing throughout the US, thousands of people are applying for jobs with the federal government, many hoping to bring about the kind of change the new president encouraged. But a lot of these folks will have little experience in government or in the specific fields in which they want to work. As they come in with grand ideas for change they will need to balance that with an understanding of reality...an understanding that many of them won't have due to that lack of experience.

As an employer, you may often find the same situation with your Creatives, and you might find it hard to maintain that balance. On the one hand, you want to take advantage of new employees' motivation, and they will bring some fresh ideas from outside your company, perhaps introducing new ideas or new perspectives that can help your firm grow. New employees, especially young ones (and ESPECIALLY Creatives) often come to you because they are looking for something challenging and someplace where they can make a difference.

At the same time, without experience, they are likely to come in with some ideas that just aren't feasible, and in some cases have been tried already and failed. Your older employees may not take them seriously, and may in fact see them as a threat to their own positions...after all, if these new folks have all the great ideas, maybe the experienced ones won't be able to keep up with them. So until your newbies get some experience, it may be tough for them to come up with practical ideas that have a shot at getting implemented.

But remember, your young new employees may want to being about change NOW and may not be prepared for a work environment that doesn't automatically accept everything they say. What should you, as a leader, do?

First, you have a responsibility to your business, so you can't put new ideas into practice merely to keep your new employees happy. If something won't work don't be afraid to say so, though it's best to do it in a non-confrontational way; don't go out of your way to make someone look bad or feel foolish in public.

Second, you don't want to squash your employees' motivation, so be sure to evaluate each idea individually rather than just dismissing everything because "they're too young to know anything." Your employees will value your opinion more if they know it's based on thoughtful analysis rather than stereotyping.

To help with this, be honest with your new employees up front, letting them know how they will fit into your firm. Make sure they know if you want them to gain some experience before volunteering their opinions or if you want them to jump in headfirst right from the start. If they know the rules of the game they are more likely to stay with your until they have the chance to contribute meaningfully, rather than having expectations about their role that don't get met. They might not like stifling themselves (if that's what you have the do) but they'll appreciate your honesty. It would also be good to have a development plan for them, something to give both you and your new Creative a chance to mark their progress toward the point where they can maximize their contribution.

Finally, make sure your more experienced employees also understand your expectations for the newbies. If it's important to you for your new employees to feel they can contribute openly, then it should be important to your older employees as well. You might consider partnering you new Creative with an experienced employee who can show the newbie the ropes. This kind of mentoring can be useful to both parties.

You hire people because you think they're good, so it seems silly to lock them in a box and not listen to their ideas. Indeed, your Creatives come to you precisely because they want to do something interesting, and you're liable to lose them if you don't put them to good use. At the same time, they need some seasoning to be their most effective. Rather than just letting things play out on their own, take some positive steps to strike the best balance between their motivation and their level of experience.

Being a Good Bad Guy

I'm a professor. And sometimes, my students aren't happy.

This term, for example, I gave a midterm exam. Apparently, I'm the only prof in the department who's committing such a horrible act. This is in addition to a final exam and a research paper, which from what I understand is all the other profs are requiring.

Now, just for the record, I hate grading with a passion. It is the one part of teaching I simply don't enjoy. It's time-consuming, it can lead to hurt feelings, and it makes my head hurt. And did I mention it's time-consuming? Oh yeah, I did.

So I obviously didn't give it just to satisfy some internal urge to inflict pain on them, because I'm inflicting it on myself, too. So why do it?

Well, when I was in grad school I got really nervous in those courses where the only grade was the final exam. I had no idea how I was doing -- at least, in the professor's eyes -- until it was too late to do anything about it. So, I figured this gave my students a chance to check themselves (and also allow me to know if I'm communicating to them as well as I need to) at a relatively low cost if it turns out they're having trouble. It gives them the remaining half of the semester to fix any problems they're having. Also, it lets me see how an exam can go (since this is my first time teaching at this school) and will help me as I write the final exam, which is worth 2 1/2 times what this little test was worth.

To them, I may seem like a "bad guy" because I'm inflicting a test upon them. But to me, that makes me a "good bad guy" since I know it will help them in the end.

So how does this relate to you in your leadership role?

Don't be afraid of "tough love" Few of us want to be the "bad guy," but if you're good at it, able to be effective in your business without creating a poor work environment, that's a leadership skill you can be proud of. In creative businesses you need highly skilled workers, and by identifying and correcting mistakes you can help them develop into better workers in the future.

Be honest about why you're doing things so the lessons can hit home The only way this "tough love" really helps is if your employees understand why it's necessary. Some things aren't always obvious and you may need to explain yourself. Transparency and honesty are important when you're trying to develop your Creatives' abilities.

Encourage solutions rather than just criticizing Avoid being quick to pin blame on someone without offering suggestions of how you can collectively improve next time. Employees will respect you more, and you'll have a better chance of problem-solving, if you try to find solutions.

Be tactful If you have a caustic tone when you approach an employee, you'll immediately put them on the defensive. Speaking down to anyone, especially in front of other people, will reflect worse on you than on the person who made a mistake. Honesty is important, but you don't need to belittle people to make your point.

Worry less about your image and reputation and more about the importance of success Being a leader is not a popularity contest, and you don't need for your employees to be your friends. At the same time, don't purposely try to get a reputation as a super-harsh boss, as you'll alienate employees and make it less likely they'll come to you with a problem on their own. Balance your style in a way that brings success.

Don't be a jerk just because you can Employees want, and deserve, to be treated with respect. Don't abuse your authority, but instead, use it to the extent necessary for success. Firing someone by e-mail, for instance, causes your other employees to wonder just what kind of leader you are and if perhaps they'll be treated the same way.

By the way...it's OK to be the good guy, too, when things go well. Being able to switch back and forth also allows your employees to read you better if they know how you display your different moods.

It's very challenging to be a "bad guy" in a creative field. Many Creatives have a strong pride of authorship and take personally any challenge to their abilities or to the work they produce. But your job is to turn out the best possible product or service, so you need to be willing and able to wade into that uncomfortable swamp of correcting, reprimanding, and occasionally even firing, to make that happen.

If all else fails, give 'em a midterm

Keep Challenging Your Workers

The recent MacWorld Expo ended without any major announcements of new products from Apple. There were some very exciting upgrades to existing software -- iPhoto 09 has got some great new features, for instance -- but "upgraded" is different from new. A number of folks wrote in their blogs or in newspapers about how disappointing that was, and of course, they're looking at it from the point of view of the consumer.

But what about the employees?

Creatives like to create. That's why they get into innovative fields in the first place. The good ones -- which are the ones you want working for you -- generally want to push boundaries, to broaden themselves and see what they can get away with. Rather than just incorporating others' ideas, they want to come up with something that other people will have to react to. You want employees who are motivated, who are thinking about teir projects away from the office, who are excitedly telling their friends what they're working on now, and if all they're doing is upgrading what's been done before, you're liable to lose some of that energy.

There will be times when your firm needs to slow down, perhaps taking stock of changes in your business environment so you can decide where to go next, or maybe just pausing to catch your collective breath and take a well-deserved break. But if you have employees who really want to explore and create and innovate, then don't stay in such a holding pattern for too long. Apple didn't have much new this year, but next year, they may need to be thinking a bit bigger, not just for their customers, but also for themselves.

None of this is to say that Apple is about to see a mass exodus of its employees. For many people there, improving their existing products to take advantage of new ideas and opportunities is a fantastic thing, and they'll be quite happy to continue tinkering and improving and generally linking emerging ideas together in new and different ways. But for others, they came to Apple to explore new possibilities and develop something no one else has come up with yet. That's the allure of someplace like Apple, or Google, and possibly even your firm. As a leader, you should understand your employees' motivation and what it will take to keep your Creatives happily engaged. The last thing you want is for your most creative -- and most valuable - -people to leave because they feel unchallenged.

Do Your Employees Need a Bachelor's Degree?

There was a time when a high school diploma was the norm (and at some times and in some parts of the US, even that was exceptional) and a college degree was a pretty unique thing. The idea of a master's was pretty remote for many, and PhDs were restricted to professors.

These days, though, the idea of a bachelor's degree as the norm is pretty common. For many employers and employees, simply finishing high school isn't enough. The question they should be asking, though, is whether requiring a bachelor's degree means they'll get better employees. When it comes to Creatives, that's not always the case.

First of all, what is the purpose of a bachelor's degree? In most cases, particularly a bachelor of arts, it isn't designed to help you master a particular subject...that's why we have master's degrees. The real purpose of a bachelor's is "to learn how to learn." Believe me, I didn't really understand this until I went on to my master's degree (and I didn't fully understand the purpose of a master's until I got my PhD, which suggests I might not truly understand the purpose of my doctorate since there's nothing to get beyond that).

Now, this means a bachelor's can be very useful in a field where your function is to create something from scratch, whether it's art, or knowledge, or code for a video game, or what have you. People who are creating something new should have the ability to learn from history and to learn from their mistakes, and also to explore emerging ideas that they hear about. But as an employer you're also looking for technical skills, and for that you don't necessarily need a bachelor's, at least, not in a creative field.

What are some other options? Well...

Associate's degrees Community colleges have come a long way in the last few years. A 2-year associate's degree program will often include instructors who have a large amount of practical experience rather than the theoretical background of a university, but that may be just what you need. Your Creatives will be counting on their instructors to teach them technical aspects such as how to use the important aspects of Adobe software, or a computer language, or proper lighting for video or photography work. What they won't be learning is how to be creative, but can anyone really teach that anyway? A 4-year college education can be very useful for leaders, but when it comes to the Creatives doing the front-line work, an associate's degree will often suffice.

Technical schools Many creative fields have technical training programs where a diploma or certificate is awarded without reaching the level of an associate's degree. Hairstylists, for instance, will often attend a cosmetology school that meets local government requirements for licensing, so you as an employer know what skills they can be expected to have upon graduating. Art schools may offer diplomas for a particular kind of work, such as fashion design or graphic art, and in that case you know where your potential employee's focus and interest lie. When people spend a period of time learning a particular skill in a formal environment, they often tend to get pretty good at it.

Certification Some technical fields, especially in the IT world, emphasize certifications along with or in place of college degrees. In these cases your Creative may have taken a class or might instead of studied on their own. (it's worth asking them how they prepared for the certification exam, to give you an idea of their preferred working style) You can check to see what different certifications entail so you understand what skills your employee is showing up with.

Apprenticeships In lieu of formal schooling some Creatives go through apprenticeships with an employer. For instance, in hairstyling, rather than attending a cosmetology school some stylists have an apprenticeship program with their salon, sort of a work-and-study-at-the-same-time kind of thing. This can be useful as it gives them insight into all the jobs in the salon rather than just the role of the person behind the chair. These programs are also regulated by the licensing agency so you can know what skills they're supposed to have. Many aspiring interior designers work at a high-end furniture store under the guidance of an experienced designer, and while this is an interesting and often effective approach, you need to realize that they're not being measured against any formal standards, so you should take care in determining if they fit your needs or not.

Many career fields can benefit from a bachelor's degree program, but "benefit from" and "demand" are two different things. If you don't require a bachelor's degree for your employees then you're broadening your pool of potential Creatives, and if that means you can still recruit people who can do what you need them to do, then that's all good.

Employee Feedback

Your employees need to know how they're doing -- hopefully, that falls into the category of "no-brainer." You want them to keep doing the good stuff and stop doing the bad, but they need to know which is which, and it isn't always obvious to them. Even when it IS obvious, sometimes they need a little reminder about what's important.

Your feedback to employees should be based on objectives you've agreed to. You and your employee should sit down and come up with a set of objectives they should meet during a particular period of time. These should be challenging but attainable, and you should have some way to measure progress, even if it's an "I'll know it when I see it" kind of thing. these objectives should be based on the firm's requirements...look at your strategic plan and decide what they should be striving for. Just make sure you both understand what the employee should be doing.

Try to have regularly scheduled feedback sessions. For newer employees this could be every 3 months while more experienced employees sit down with you every 6. Set a schedule, and stick to it. If there's a problem, or if they're doing particularly well, don't be afraid to step in earlier, but definitely don't go any longer than the timeline you've agreed to...they'll start to lose respect for the feedback if you treat it as unimportant.

Have them keep track of the things they do so you can have a more informed feedback session. If someone is your assistant and you've only got the one employee working for you, you can probably keep track of what they're doing, but if you have 20 people then a lot of things will be happening out of your sight. This also gives you a chance to see what they consider most important, and it's helpful if your view on that and theirs match up?

When offering feedback I like to use what I call "the sandwich approach." That is, I start with things they've done well and set a positive tone. Then I get into the problems they're having, with an eye toward improvement more than blame, and then I finish up with positive items again so the session ends on a good note and the chance of them being defensive about the criticisms is reduced.

Don't be too effusive with praise. If you're always telling them how great they are, even for the smallest things, then the value of that praise drops a lot. I once had a boss tell me "good job" so often, and for such little things, that when we finally had a formal feedback session I really didn't care because I knew he'd say "good job" for tying my shoes right. make them earn the praise, and make sure your criticism is only for things that matter, too.

Feedback should be a conversation, not a lecture. If they are having problems, try to find out why they think that is. See how they view their performance and you'll have a better idea what they see as their role in the firm. This might not be the place to ask for feedback on your own leadership style -- knowing you're going to ask them that question could influence the feedback you give them -- but definitely get a sense of how they feel about their performance to go along with your own perceptions.

If they've met the objectives you agreed to, then it may be time for new ones. Use these sessions to look at not just what they've done but also what they can do in the future. Once objectives are met it's time for new challenges.

Lastly, you should document these sessions. There's a good reason, and an unspoken one. the good reason is, you want them to have something to refer back to later so they can see where they're performing well, see where they need to improve, and understand how they've changed over time. The unspoken reason is, if you decide to fire them, you want a record of all the chances you've given them to improve and all the discussions you've had about their poor performance.

Good employee feedback is critical to growing a business and growing employees. Many of us prefer to avoid conflict or discussing less-than-happy topics, but that's what we pay leaders to do. In creative fields in particular, where progress and success can't always be measured by numbers or graphs or other objective means, you have to do something really unusual to help your employees understand how well they're doing: you have to actually talk to them.