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February 03, 2010

On Managing Creativity

I've worked now for over 12 years as a creative professional, for various companies both large and small, and I've had all kinds of bosses along the way. This will sound like a glossary from a Dilbert cartoon, but here goes. This is an 'at-a-glance' of all the bosses who have managed me in my career, and how they rate in my mind, now a bit hazy from the ravages of time–as well as the new bosses who have since taken their place on the great big wheel of industry and life.

Big, critical angry boss.
I have actually been this person myself, so perhaps it's apropos to begin here. The critical angry boss is smart about what will work and what won't, due to lots of life experience and some bumps on the head. Deep down inside is afraid of taking any chances, either because there isn't any room for mistakes, or resources are scarce, and so must drive towards a solution, often at the expense of innovation. This type of boss has a lot of pressure coming down from above which you might not see, but you will definitely feel. This type of boss can be great to have if they're on your side and you think (and communicate) in a similar language. They can tend to be prescriptive in their communication and not know how to best set up problems for creative types to solve in their own ways, instead opting to 'simplify' and provide what amounts to a recipe for their exact vision. This boss likes to sketch out their ideas and show you exactly what they mean, doing half of the creative job for you, and rendering you a mere pixel pusher (they don't know Photoshop, but are really amazing with PowerPoint).

Hyper-intellectual quiet boss.
This type of boss is a brilliant person who excelled in their function as an individual contributor, perhaps inventing a new product or process, or in some way distinguishing themselves in their role; at some point they are given the keys to an entire team to drive–after which they summarily disappear into their office, rarely to be seen or heard from again. The problem with this type of boss is that they have no social maturity or ability to understand team dynamics (they tend to be loners) and may ultimately still continue to behave as an individual contributor, albeit now with more authority and leverage. This type of manager will expect you to work highly independently, and may only provide feedback and direction on the occasion that it is given from higher up the chain. The hyper intellectual boss can come from a highly technical background whose expertise involves something extremely valuable to the company which is in some way related to the work you do, but in an extremely abstract and/or vague way. This type of boss will, over time, attempt to get better at team leadership, creative brainstorming, and other forms of management, but it will always seem like a giant act of desperacy. Ultimately this type of boss will eventually realize they are in the wrong role, and move back to the thing they are best at.

The Cool Boss.
I've had one boss who was so freakin' cool, I wished he was my dad. I still consider him a good friend. He managed the entire creative group at a television channel I worked at as a web guy back in the early 00's. Working for his team was an amazing experience, because he somehow knew how to get the best out of the ragtag crew of designers who were so diverse, and in many ways difficult, to communicate with. He gave us all enough rope to hang ourselves, and just before things got ugly, would know how to orchestrate the right solution, one that everyone had contributed towards, and one that was always the best symbiosis of the best - the truest - parts. I could write a book about working with this team, because I stayed at this company for 7 years.

I've had plenty of other bosses over the years, but this high level categorical representation gives me pause to know how lucky I am to have learned from some great managers, and even some who weren't so great - at how to encourage and promote creativity in corporate environments.

Posted by dsr at February 3, 2010 10:49 AM