Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Elements of a Creative Culture

Matt Williams, CEO of The Martin Agency, shared his insights about the elements of a creative corporate culture with Kellogg Insights.   I think two points are worth emphasizing here.  

First, Williams argued that leaders should "celebrate the work, not just the wins."  In other words, be sure to honor and reward people for terrific work even if they don't land the big contract or make a key sale to a potential customer.  Sometimes you do great work, but you don't achieve the ultimate goal.  Celebrate that creativity.  

Second, Williams argues that we should "avoid hiring a lot of people who are 'similarly creative."" He argues that we need to be wary of "creative redundancy."   There are different types of creative people.  Some people are very broad thinkers; they are all about big ideas.  Others are wonderful at challenging the existing ideas on the table and making them better.  Some people are very visual in the way that they process information and share ideas.  Others tend to be excellent writers.  You want a mix of creative types to create a successful organization, and you want some level of healthy tension among these types. 

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