Organizational Design Principles to Harness Creativity (PG-13, 10 minutes)

1. Organizational Design Principles to Harness Creativity (PG-13, 10 minutes) Showtime: 5.30 pm May 7, 2009 Tickets: Free - Admit All Produced by: Team Credence Cast (Credited cast) Chandra Bommas (CB) … Himself Emilia Dominguez … Herself Timir Prabhakar … Himself George Mundanchery … Himself Vishal Verma … Himself User Rating: 4.5/5 Image Source: http://lexington-ticketsnow.com/images/ticket-stub.gif

2. Creativity A Company’s success is based on ideas, services and productivity. Companies such as Google, Apple, Facebook, Pixar, even though they are not the only ones to offer those types of services and products, are hugely successful and popular because they are constantly innovating and introducing creative ideas and products. Creativity is not only reflected in new ideas, services or products; Creativity is reflected also in the way the employees think about processes and resources. As part of our research, we saw the documentary “The Pixar Story” which is a towering example of what creativity and innovation can achieve. Even with limited resources, Pixar was creative and innovative and looked for the most effective way to build processes that would stand the test of time. Image Source: http://world-copywriting-institute.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/creativity.jpg, http://www.digitaldreammachine.com/blogimages/luxo/ThePixarStoryCover.jpg

3. Creativity Factoids Good News • CREATIVE acts come in all sorts of sizes and shapes • Don’t need to spend more money to increase CREATIVITY • Current employees are very capable of being CREATIVE • Recognizing CREATIVITY can be a powerful motivator • All tasks can be improved with CREATIVITY • Bad News • CREATIVE ideas cannot compete with bureaucracy • A good CREATIVE act may threaten co-workers • Far easier to create an atmosphere that discourages CREATIVITY than one that encourages it Image Source: http://www.nsegg.ca/images/did_you_know.jpg

4. Where it all begins … Pick the RIGHT People Recruitment

5. Pick the RIGHT people It all begins with People • Diversity - Get the right mix of individuals - look for different personalities, different styles. Value cooperative attitude highly • Organizational Alignment - evaluate the people keeping the organization's mission and vision in mind. • Look for the right attitude - Identify the right attitude, winning mentality during the interview • Assess Creativity - Puzzles, riddles, reviewing samples of previous work Image Sources: www.ealinghomes.net/.../Graduate_Recruitment.png, www.rhapsodyuk.com/images/recruitment.jpg

6. Recruitment and Hiring • Effective recruitment - is pivotal to the successful day-to-day functioning of any organization • “Get the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats.” – Jim Collins, Good to Great • Careful Planning - makes the recruitment process easier and helps ensure that it is fair and non-discriminatory • Behavioral style interviewing - Past performance is the best indicator of future performance - SAR • S – Give me a Situation • A – What Action did you take • R – What were the Results Image Sources:http://www.boston.com/news/globe/west/I want you.jpg;

7. Skills Knowledge Hay Group= Achievement PowerAffiliation Butler = PassionConnection Achievement Power Inner Work Life = Creativity Productivity Commitment Collegiality Employee Motivation: A Powerful New Model= Acquire Bond Comprehend Defend) Recruitment process – Iceberg Model Skill based tests Behavioral tests

8. Add a dose of knowledge … Provide the RIGHT Training Training Mentoring Pick the RIGHT People Recruitment

9. Provide the RIGHT Training Once you have the RIGHT people, groom them! • Training should be planned much like a MENU: using a variety of complementary ingredients to give the best flavor possible Laughing and learning • Create more engaging ways to present information (no death by PowerPoint !!) • Insert fun into training • Emphasize facts/information in creative ways Encourage people to play off each other • Creativity doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Force people to play off each other during training and build lasting relationships Image Sources: http://www.robbinssports.com/sporting-goods-store/images/co-oper-band-group-creative-movement-kit.jpg , http://tbn3.google.com/images?q=tbn:bHuvF9x2Oa4ntM:http://www.dora.state.co.us/civil-rights/images/training.jpg

10. Some innovative training ideas No, you first • London and other Western European cities tried something new on their roadways to increase socially responsible behavior on their roads. They removed traffic lights and signs so that no one would have right of way. Instead of chaos, the accidents dropped 44%! Hit me with knowledge • "Poker is a great game for learning how to size up things for yourself, get in torisk management, and channel aggression. A student who can hold his own at a poker table, I have no worries about when they enter the real world.“ - Charles R. Nesson, Harvard law professor Nesson has even formed the Global Poker Strategic Thinking Society (GPSTS) among some Ivy Leagues, to promote poker as a learning tool. He also believes that poker skills can really help high school kids with math. Poker teaches you numeracy, probability, risk assessment, and subtleties vs. complexities. A virtual community blossoms • Organizations have begun using Second Life (a popular virtual environment) as a place of engagement" - for employees and instructors to interact in formal or informal settings, and public or private spaces, role play, access resources, and engage in collaborative learning. Image Sources:http://www.pokerdiy.com/Portals/6/Users/Leagues/PokerCards.jpg, http://www.edinformatics.com/inventions_inventors/250px-Traffic_lights.jpg . http://img.qj.net/uploads/articles_module2/81195/secondlife_logo_qjpreviewth.jpg

11. Add a dose of culture … Provide the RIGHT Environment Culture Culture Environment Provide the RIGHT Training Training Mentoring Pick the RIGHT People Recruitment Culture

12. Provide the RIGHT environment A happy worker is CREATIVE and most productive • There are people who see their workplace as a source of anxiety, stress and despair • The work environment should be created to keep the worker motivated and happy • It's all about having a passion for what you do and making it pleasant is just one aspect of that process Company Atmosphere • Develop an atmosphere that endorses creativity as a valuable commodity Dynamic work environment • Move people around and develop communication patterns that don’t put your employees to sleep. For example, no emails or telephones allowed on Fridays (this would force employees to talk to others face to face) • Arrange company retreats and off-sites to help people recharge and make breakthroughs Image Sources: http://www.topnews.in/files/Asian.Wages.Increase.happy.Employees222.jpg, http://www.rtpi.org.uk/download/545/Yourbusiness-and-the-environment.jpg

13. Listen • The rule permits anyone to suggest an idea. Then for the first five minutes after the idea is expressed only positive comments can be made. By the time the idea is talked about for five minutes it has usually spun into an impromptu brainstorm session that cultivates truly great ideas and some form of the discussion is often implemented LISTEN to all ideas • Explore them regardless of its origin. Making everybody feel part of the team regardless of his or her job description Install "five minute rule“ Image Sources:http://74.53.86.162/~bcarroll/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/listening.jpg; http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:2G4cba7stpPdfM:http://blog.wired.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/04/24/stopwatch.jpg;http://www.fotosearch.com/BNS172/atw049

14. Empowerment EMPOWER employees • Authorize, Enable, Grant Permission. Empowerment increases initiative, involvement, enthusiasm, innovation and speed Celebrate Personal Idiosyncrasies • Eating a candy bar at a meeting, a brainstorm session in the wilderness, taking off all day and writing up the proposal all night Freedom • Freedom to fail and change pace quickly and without scrutiny Intrinsic motivation • High level encouragement toward innovation, immediate supervisor encouragement, autonomy and sense of control, optimal challenges, and tasks matched to interests all positively influence intrinsic motivation Image Sources:http://bp3.blogger.com/_775mMwtjL68/RwmQh3n9iCI/AAAAAAAACAQ/mzs-6BuoDJY/s1600-h/Motivation+Chart.jpg http://femaleempowerment365.com/uploaded_images/the_empowerment_of_women-730122.jpg

15. Encourage a sense of fun Let people PLAY during work Inspiring examples: Apple • Employees at Apple are allowed to bring their dog to work Google • At the Googleplex employees can shoot pool while taking a break in one of several employee lounges. They also have a large idea board and 2 swim-in-place pools • Google employees can also take an afternoon volleyball break at Mountain View campus Sources:http://www.snopes.com/photos/architecture/google.asp;http://doggies.com/blog/2008/06/04/bring-your-dog-to-work

16. Collaboration (Coworking) • Another example of an inspiring environment could be to share it with other people. One of the advantages of COWORKING is the cross-pollination that takes place. • Working in a shared workspace can be lots of fun and inspiring. Some people also like to work at Coffee houses like Starbucks. • Foster interoffice conversation that never existed before through blogs and other social messaging platforms such as twitter. Sources:http://coworking.pbworks.com/Logo; http://www.flickr.com/photos/20916143@N03/2696204541; http://voice.firefallpro.com/uploaded_images/IMG_2215-736661.JPG

17. Decorating your workspace The PLACE • The place around us and the things we need to Look at are very important in finding creativity Inspiring examples: Pixar • At Pixar there aren't any grey cubicles because their employees have the freedom to decorate as they see fit Google • Everyone’s work environment is different, and they conduct ‘live’ experiments to eventually see if they could get the most productive and effective workplace going for their staff • Google also frees the employees to use 20% of their time in a personal project and further 10% for whatever purpose Sources:http://veerle.duoh.com/blog/comments/creativity_in_the_workplace

18. Add a dose of leadership … Provide the RIGHT Leadership Leadership Provide the RIGHT Environment Culture Culture Environment Provide the RIGHT Training Training Mentoring Pick the RIGHT People Recruitment Culture

19. Provide the RIGHT Leadership “The people who are doing the work are the moving force behind the Macintosh. My job is to create a space for them, to clear out the rest of the organization and keep it at bay”-Steve Jobs Image Source: http://www.adventureholidaytravel.com/static/images/images_adventureholidaytravel/mountain_climbing.jpg

20. Leadership Attributes The Leader is best, when people are hardly aware of his existence • Leadership plays key role in shaping the culture and has a substantial impact on creativity • Leader’s innovative style is a catalyst to supplement to workplace creativity Stop and chat • CEO of South West Airlines walks around and chats with employees. At one point, he could remember everyone by name Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) • LMX creates interpersonal support from the leader, increases the trust that is supportive of innovative and creative work Image Source: http://www.1000ventures.com

21. Leadership and Creativity The most important quality of leadership, the one quality for which you want to be known, is extraordinary performance, with the goal of achieving extraordinary results. • Words carry power. Give motivating phrases regularly • Give enough time for creative ideas to shape • Provide opportunities to engage in challenging and relevant tasks • “If you want to succeed, you have to forge new paths and avoid borrowed ones” – John Rockefeller • “Never Forget that only dead fish swim with the stream” – Malcolm Muggeridge Image Source: http://www.1000ventures.com

22. The Credence Creativity Model Creativity Provide the RIGHT Leadership Leadership Provide the RIGHT Environment Culture Culture Environment Provide the RIGHT Training Training Mentoring Pick the RIGHT People Recruitment Culture

23. In conclusion • "Standing still is the fastest way of moving backwards in a rapidly changing world. Imagination is the highest kite one can fly" - Lauren Bacall • The new millennium promises to bring more change, more complexity, and more competition. As a result, organizational creativity and innovation will become a required operational discipline and organizations will have to learn how to manage and enhance the creativity of their most valuable assets - their employees Creative Organizations don’t just happen by chance • They have to be actively managed, designed and changed as needed. To be successful, organizations have to devote significant amount of time and energy to ensure that creativity thrives in the company The Credence Creativity Model is a STARTING point • This model organizes some key competencies without which the goal of a creative organization becomes even more challenging, if not impossible. • It is important to treat this as a starting point and use it as one of the foundational elements of the design of your organization The Credence Creativity Model one liner: CREATIVE people engaged in CREATIVE processes results in CREATIVE products.

24. Q & A

25. References • Course slides and HBS course reading materials • Good to Great – Jim Collins, 2001 • Sapient Corporation – HBS case study • http://www.employer-employee.com/creative.html • http://veerle.duoh.com/blog/comments/creativity_in_the_workplace/ • http://www.geocities.com/wallstreet/bureau/9136/workplace.html • http://www.1000ventures.com • http://www.allbusiness.com/human-resources/careers-job-training/1465-1.html • http://www.cramersweeney.com • http://www.mycoted.com/Creativity_Quotes • http://www.woopidoo.com/business_quotes/authors/steve-jobs-quotes.htm