How to do work differently? Get creative.

Many people are now asking, what can I be doing to support Black Lives Matter? From a workplace point of view, one way to make a difference is to do work differently. Go about the same work, tackle the same problems, but do it in a way that may be more inclusive than you have done in the past.
 
Earlier this month, I facilitated a book review of Creativity Inc., written by Pixar’s co-founder, Ed Catmull. After accomplishing his career goals of making a full-length, animated feature film, he then turned his efforts towards a new goal – creating an organizational culture of creativity. He views creativity as the magic that brings people together and produces exceptional outcomes. At Pixar, he made it his primary goal to explore, analyze, experiment, and evaluate how to build a culture of creativity. Even if you don’t work for an exceptionally creative organization, there are many things you as a leader can implement—or simply experiment with—on your own team. This creative mindset leads to an openness to experiment and do work differently.

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Some Nuggets of Inspiration from Ed Catmull of Pixar Animation

• Give everyone, at every level, the freedom to ‘problem-solve without permission.’ Encourage people at any level to manage the problems they encounter and take ownership for the solution. Catmull explains that a mistake he had made in the past was to confuse the organizational structure with the communication structure. What are some biases that you may have about people at different levels in your organization? How have you prepared your team, at all levels, to think analytically, problem-solve, and identify solutions? When you encourage others, at any level, to take ownership your team not only feels valued but you, as the leader will be able to focus your attention on more strategic matters.

 

• Protect the ‘Ugly Baby.’ Catmull recognizes that amazing ideas rarely start out as amazing. He knew from past experience that most great ideas start out as ordinary ones—or worse. Those ideas that “got to great” did so because they were nurtured. Catmull explains that you have to nurture and protect your ‘Ugly Baby,’ his term for budding creative ideas, so they have a chance to blossom. From a diversity standpoint, think about who you often turn to for new ideas. Is it always the same people? Whose ideas are heard? In what ways can you broaden your scope to bring in more diverse ideas? How do you create a safe environment for people to toss out half-baked ideas?

 

• Focus on the team, not individual talent. Catmull worked with a team of amazing creatives. Yet he says the power of the company was in the composition of great teams, more so than the presence of individuals with particular talent. If you give a good idea to a mediocre team, they will screw it up. If you give a mediocre idea to a brilliant team, they will either fix it or throw it away and come up with something even better. How are you investing in your team? Do you leverage the differences on your team or do the differences hinder performance? Do your team members know how to have healthy debate while preserving relationships?

 
Check out the book for more, or check out my discussion summary on the In the Know book club page.
 
What’s coming up for you? I challenge you to experiment and think about what you have influence over to create a more inclusive and diverse working environment. Let us know how you’re doing work differently.

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