Creativity Central [Marty Baker]

So you’re at Square One.

It’s the rarified place where projects are incubated and launched. Rarified? Why such a lofty word for a project? The American Heritage Dictionary offers some insight – belonging to or reserved for a small select group or to make thin, less compact, or less dense.

The goal of this Square One series is about opening up [less dense] the possibilities of how to make smarter starts. This series is beginning of my new book -- Square One: The Art of the Smart Start.
Nothing exerts a greater gravitational force or influence over a project than the human factor. Bias, politics, motivation, personal agendas, ego and myriad subconscious hobgoblins are the major elephants in the room.

That’s the good news.

It’s good news because railing against the human factor is like shaking your fist at the rain. One of my favorite writers, Sheldon Kopp wrote a wonderfully insightful book called And End to Innocence – Facing Life Without Illusions.

“In addition to the chance blows to which life subjects everyone else, we add the needless suffering that comes from impossible demands that we be special, and that the world be just and fair.”
So shake hands with the human factor – the joy and the pain of all beginnings.
Smarter beginnings don’t mean easier beginnings. The human factor will determine just how difficult a project will be.

There are two basic questions you can answer that will help you with the handshake with reality. 1) How much leverage do you really have to influence the course of a project? 2) How motivated are you to influence the course of a project?

I have learned the leverage question the hard way. I have had the responsibility of managing a project but with limited authoritity to make key decisions. The answer to this question is critical if you want to successfully handle the human factor.

Reinhold Niebuhr’s prayer is a good start “…accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things that should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.”

The second question is equally important. How motivated how are you? If you don’t have true leverage how much are you willing to invest in a project?

Here’s a true story about leverage and motivation. A friend of mine told me about an experience he had as a freelancer at a large advertising agency. He was standing next to the president of the agency, watching employees leave at 5 PM -- the official hours of the agency.
The president told my friend, “I wish they’d start acting as stakeholders in this agency.” My friend replied, “If you treated them like stakeholders maybe they would.” (Remember my friend was a freelancer – which means he enjoyed the privilege of not having or needing leverage or approval.)

Recap: You can’t successfully navigate Square One if you don’t know what you can control and what you can’t. Whether or not you’re comfortable (or engaged) in Square One depends on your level of motivation.

Are you ready to shake hands?

I'm not happy with Dan and Chip Heath -- authors of "Made to Stick" and contributing writers for Fast Company.  I was about to publish a blog on how to use "pre-flight" checklists to accelerate innovation when my March Fast Company arrived and they beat me to the intellectual punch.

That's a good thing. Because it means the technique has lifted itself from the bottom floor of best practices and made it back into the board room.  Listen to Dan and Chip's take on checklist value, " The holy grail of checklists may be the one created by Dr. Peter Pronovost of the John Hopkins School of Medicine.  Intensive Care Unites (ICUs) often use IV lines to deliver medication and these lines can become infected, causing nasty health complications.  Pronovost frustrated by these preventable events, compiled a five-step checklist.

The checklist contained straightforward (i.e) common sense advice:  doctors should wash their hands before inserting an IV, a patient's skin should be cleaned with an antiseptic at the point of insertion and so forth." 

The results?  When Michigan's ICUs put the checklist into practice over an 18 month period -- line infections were virtually eliminated -- saving the hospital an estimated $175 million.  Yes, one hundred and seventy five million dollars  -- because they no longer needed to treat the associated complications.  And it saved nearly 1500 lives.

Now let's talk about the Hubble Trouble.  After its 1990 launch, it was found that the main mirror suffered from spherical aberration due to faulty quality control during its manufacturing, severely compromising the telescope's capabilities.  Here's where it gets even more interesting:

A design defect in a measuring device, probably compounded by human error in the device's assembly, caused the mirror flaw in the $1.5 billion Hubble Space Telescope, a federal panel said Thursday.

An investigation panel had previously reported that there was a 1.3-millimeter spacing error in the assembly of an optic instrument used to guide the machines that ground the surface of the telescope's main mirror. As a result, the mirror was deformed and it is unable to produce the precise images its designers hoped to achieve.

The key is that even when there is no ironclad "right" way, checklists can help people avoid blind spots in complex environments.   

Where could your business benefit from a checklist?  Well, if you listen to Gerald Haman of Solution People, virtually everywhere.  Haman is a big advocate and thought leader on questionating and question banks Qbanks.  It's a process that allows incremental innovation in nearly every area of your business. 

For example, the Pronovost IV checklist could have evolved by asking "In what ways could we reduce the number of infections with IV lines?"  One question -- and many answers. Wash hands, use antiseptic etc.  That one question led to millions in dollars in savings.   Haman has developed hundreds of question banks on a variety of subjects.  His successful meeting Qbank has over 150 questions.

Basically, checklists are insurance against over-confidence or under training.   "A checklist doesn't have to mean huge binders full of obsessive and likely counterproductive process documentation.  Checklists simply make screw ups less likely," say the Heath brothers.

One of the subjects I talk about in my Inotivity Seminars is how you (or your company) can leverage the knowledge you already have to develop Qbanks and checklists that evolve.  Isn't that worth $175 million?  Check out Solution People from the blog roll on the left side of this page.  Or link to http://www.fastcompany.com.

If you would like a free PDF book on questionating and Qbanks, please send a request to inotivity@gmail.com and use the subject line "request PDF."   

There's a famous koan-like question:  What would you do if you knew you could not fail?  Surprisingly, most people struggle with this question.  Because once the desire is voiced, it begins a chorus of follow up questions. Somebody might say "I want to be a famous singer."  We'll how much time do want to spend away from your family?  You want to go on tour 300 days a year?  Do you want to do the early morning talk shows to promote the concert in every city?

When desire meets reality, people begin to ask more questions.  Ultimately, the desire may be more related to a psychological need for approval or a ego-inflating need for recognition.  It's a wonderful question for getting to the core of what you desire but it's a question with a dual personality. If there is no "failure" then you take challenge and risk out of the equation.  

Psychologists have consistently shown that achieving true satisfaction involves successfully overcoming a challenge or risk.  In one classic example, students who pledged a fraternity and experienced a more difficult path felt more satisfaction and loyalty when they were finally selected. 

Risk and challenge are always a part of the satisfaction equation.  Here's an idea inspired by Rob Bevan and Tim Wright.

• Draw a square grid
• Mark the left hand side as safe
• Mark the right hand side as dangerous
• Mark the bottom as serious
• Mark the top as silly
• Now position your creative ideas on the grid by marking a dot with a pencil
• Serious and safe ideas live somewhere in the bottom of the left corner

 
Here is an example I learned at a Creativity/Psychology conference in up-state New York.  I participated in a seminar about moving your boundaries.  During the session, we were all asked to do something totally ridiculous.  I enjoy being ridiculous so it was no problem for me.  But one woman, a guidance counselor, was unable to do anything silly.  She said she didn't see any value in it and it didn't reflect her buttoned up personality.  The leader worked with her in front of the group and she began to cry because she was never allowed to be silly in her family. Then, the leader said something to her that I could see had major impact.  He said, "if you can't be silly here how are you going to relate and guide students who are silly or humorous?"

What risks are you willing to take to become more creative in your life?

I think that many accomplished people are afraid of being amateurs again.  They avoid risk because it's uncomfortable.  But what if every mistake was applauded?  What if every failure was appreciated?  What would you do if you knew that your effort is what is valued and appreciated.

Happy risk taking. 

Sheldon Kopp has always been on my top 10 list of favorite writers.  Unfortunately, he's never been at the top of the best seller list.  His masterpiece is "If You See Buddha on the Road, Kill Him."  It is about the pilgrimage of psychotherapy patients.  It may be the clearest, most perceptive view of why therapists use metaphor and restatement to help patients grow. 

Cut to:  Today's advertising-branding-marketing-design firm.  Like Babe Ruth, for every home run, there are a lot of strike outs.  Many  of trips back to the creative dugout.  Agencies that live on the edge, die on the edge.  Conservative agencies generally live long and profit longer so the wallet gets fat, but the creatives egos drop down a peg from sheer embarrassment.

Is there a cure?  Yes.  One of the creative techniques I've used is what's called Business Phone Book.  The technique is to randomly find other professions that might approach your problem in a different way.  I found psychologist.  It reminded me of a book  Sheldon Kopp wrote in the 1970s -- Back to One.

It is a guide for psychotherapists on how to work nire effectively with clients.  And inside this book is the answer to the agencies frustrations.  Here is an overly simplified version of Kopp's therory.  It's called the Yoke That Frees.  Kopp's instruction in the Yoga of breath-counting gave him an insight into how to work with patients.   In Yoga breathing, he counted from 1 to 10. The challenge is that thoughts will coming charging in as you are counting.  They are tenacious.  So, his teacher said "Go back to One."   It's always go back to one.

Here's the connective tissue.  "Again and again, the therapist's willful attachment to how he or she is doing, to how the patient is progressing, to the results, to getting his or her own way.  These all arise as distractions from the work.  To free oneself from the bondage of attachment to its results, it is necessary to be clear about the work."  Going back to one means you can do your best work because you've created an absence of blame in which healing can occur."

Okay, a bit obtuse.  Reframed:  You can avoid the impasse of thinking you know what's best of the patient (client).  "When the therapist helps the patient (your client) to be happier without needing the patient to change, the therapists own impeccable work will be
reward enough."

 Some agencies are fortunate enough to have found or selected a client/partner.  (of like minds).  But in most cases, the agency will want to push the limits (even with sound research and expertise) and they will fail.  That begins an estrangement between you agency and the client.  It may be a small rift, but it's there.  So what if you went back to one?  The client isn't ready to change. It's that simple.  The key is that like a patient -- the client's defensive avoidance are old ways of behaving, maintained by continuing reinforcement or his or her own experience.

So, go back to one.  The pride comes in executing your craft and letting the client (patient) evolve with your guidance.  It may only be that you can only move the client an inch.  As for the work, you have to focus on picking clients that want to evolve. Clients that recognize that their current approach isn't working.  Think MasterCard before priceless.  Think Geico before The Martin Agency. 

One final thought.  Kopp also writes, "verbal expression of the patient's anger is always permissable."   It is a reaction to change or the frustration of not being "heard."  The same thing applies to creatives -- before they go back to one, they should be angry and disappointed.  Any investment of time, effort and a bit of their creative soul should be respected.  If my creatives back down too easily, how much were they really invested in solving the problem?  First vent, then go back to one.

I wish I'd known this 20 years ago.

"Your product may be good, but it will spark a conversation?"  Chip and Dan Heath -- best-selling authors of Made to Stick: Why some Ideas Survive and Others Die have a great premise.  That fostering the conversation you want your clients to have about your product should be a integral part of the product (service) development.

Let's talk about Double Tree Hotels.  Double tree isn't the Ritz but people generally don't talk about the great experience.  But Double Tree gets a lot of it's loyal customers talking about the fresh-baked chocolate-chip cookie they give you when you check in.  (It's a variation of the snack they give you on the airplane.  Even well heeled business CEOs -- get upset when they don't get the airline snack.)   As the Heaths say "Ritz-Carltons would likely outrank Double Tree in every survey dimension. Except the one that creates conversation.

"Call it the 105% Rule.  From a word-of-mouth perspective, it's virtually impossible to discuss a  5 % better experience. People talk about the exceptions, the unexpected, the highlights".  -And it's one of the reason Holiday Inn pulled "The No Surprises" campaign many years ago.

 Could a formal market research or focus group have justified the VW Beetle's bud vase?  Nearly, every bud vase I see in a VW has  a flower in it.   (And the bigger news is that "analysis has revealed that a customers' willingness to pay increases by $112 with the bud vase.) 

Here's the key.  When people with different opinions compromise, they meet in the middle -- not the edge. But the edge is what starts the conversation.  Innocent Drinks is making  splash because every bottled smoothy is wearing  a wool cap knitted by a grandmother. Crazy?  Yes, but the novelty factor is working it's magic.

According to the Heaths -- companies are waiting after the fact to let the PR machine or advertising to create "word of mouth" when you may be selling Brand X.  Until Ben and Jerry put cookie dough in ice cream -- nobody did it.  Raw dough?  I thought I was the only one who stole a slice from the Dough Boy.

What's your bud vase? Or smoothy woolen cap?  I still like animal crackers because it has a handle.  "Conversations can't be snapped on after the fact.  Just give your customer's something to talk about.

Check out the full story in June's Fast Company.  A good magazine getting greater. 

Recruits, I hope your RECON was successful.

Like  many boot camp training exercises, the real purpose of the exercise may be hidden.  In doing your book or library recon, you completed two of the most important steps in developing the creative habit.

 1.  The most important part was stimulus and response.  By looking mindfully at anything that capture your attention, you were engaging in the fundamental process of creativity.  Let me give you an example.  Creative people look at the same information everyone else is looking at and they see something different.  The famous architect Frank Gehry once created a building based on seeing  a photograph of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dancing.  Who else would have made that leap? Dr. Rene Laennec's stimulus for inventing the stethoscope was watching children sending signals to each other by tapping on the ends of a log.  So, the more you build the mindful looking habit -- the more opportunities you'll have to make novel connections.

2.  The 2nd building block is motivation.  Whether it is intrinsic (internally) or extrinsic (outside job/pay/person) the desire to make connections from various stimuli is the key.  Sun Tzu once said "Unhappy is the fate of one who tries to win his battles and succeed in his attacks without cultivating the spirit of enterprise, for the result is a waste of time and general stagnation."   Developing the creativity habit is about the desire to solve problems or challenges.    There are different levels of commitment to each problem.  For example, for a person's 52 birthday -- you might put 52 candles on the cakes or put  large 5 + 2.  Creativity in and out.   Other problems make take a lifetime of creativity.

Here's an example:  Let say you want to raise money for a hospital.  You walk into the book store and you see A) A book on the Porche 911, B) a book on Pottery and C) a book on Modern Dance.  Already you have three creative opportunities to make connections.  You can auction off a Porche 911 or other car to raise money.  You can create ceramic tiles embossed with the names of contributers on it and lay them in a "Giving Walk."  You can invite dance schools or professional dancers to give a performance for charity.  (Or you can create an event -- a black tie ballroom dancing night to promote contributions to the hospital.

That's just three books.  Three ideas.

 3. The most important thing to know is the difference between creativity and innovation.  (This is one of the key ideas I learned from Gerald Haman at the Thinkubater in Chicago.)  Creativity is making novel connections -- ideas.  Innovation is actually making that idea "happen."

The wonderful thing about developing the habit of creativity is that you can bring creativity to the process of innovation.  For example, let's say making ceramic tiles is your idea.  Well, there are many pottery schools in the area -- creativity is finding a way to get these tiles make as inexpensively as possible.  So, round 2 of creativity is "In what ways can (we) get the tiles made inexpensively or for free? "

 
4.  The 3rd building block is creating better questions.  Learned this from Tom Monahan. Usually, the best problems are stated like this "In what ways might I sell more kumquats?"   You can restate the problem "If the sky is the limit, what might be the best possible way to sell kumquats."   Then, you can start reframing the question "Why do I want to sell more kumquats?"  Or "In what other ways might I use kumquats to enrich other people's lives?"

That's it.  That's the boot camp.  Being receptive to all stimuli that you can react to in the context of solving a  problem or challenge.  Motivation is the fuel. 

The habit of creativity is like a muscle.  I needs to be developed, it needs to be in motion and it needs to be at rest.  The rest is what we call incubation.  Remember those books or magazines you selected, there are now incubating in your mind.  Even on pre-conscious level they are at work.  It may not solve your problem today or even within a year.  But at some point that connection will work.  

 Good work recruits.

Welcome new recruit.  Now drop and give me 20 ideas.  A military boot camp will break you down and build you back up as a soldier.  Creativity Boot Camp will do the same thing without the  barracks life.  But I will be your drill sergeant for the next few weeks.   My mission to  help you make a habit of creativity.   It's not easy.   Most people  flat out quit.  Listen to John Grisham.

"A Time to Kill and The Firm, those books were written over a five-year period, back-to-back, from about 1984 to about 1989. The bulk was written at five o'clock in the morning, from five 'til seven in the morning. I'd get up and go to the office that early. And again, it wasn't any fun, but it was a habit. It got to be part of the daily routine. And I remember several times being in court at nine o'clock in the morning, really tired, because writing takes a lot out of you. It's draining. And I would do it for an hour or two in the morning, and get ready for court, and go to court. Be standing, waiting for the judge, and be really tired."  John made a habit of creativity. 

Quentin Tarantino was my video clerk in Manhattan Beach, California.  While clerking for minimum wage he wrote Reservoir Dogs.   We would say "sure that's gonna happen."  I met his video partner Jerry a few years later and he told me that he was skeptical too, until Quentin gave him the script.  (If you watch Pulp Fiction again, check out the yellow cab -- the logo "Fat Jerry's Cab" was an inside joke --and Jerry did the artwork.)

The key here is an almost single-minded dedication to a passion driven goal.  But I am also talking about every day creativity.  You can apply creativity to nearly every thing you do.  And this may be creative blasphemy, but traditional methods of doing things is a great idea -- it saves time and effort.  It's auto pilot for mundane activities.  But if that traditional way of doing things isn't working or isn't giving you the opportunity to do other things, then you need to make creativity a habit.

 MISSION #1.  RECON.    First mission is to go on a recon mission.  Go to your nearest mega-bookstore or library and spend 30 minutes looking throughout the store.   Take a notebook with you.  I want you to write down the three books (or magazines or media) that truly push your passion button.  What is it that you want to know or need to know?  Don't be shy. Report back in the comment section.

Notes: What's this all about? It's about intrinsic motivation.  It is the engine that's going to drive your creativity.  It's a tank compared to job motivation -- which is just a Humvee.  I'm also going to divide recruits into two groups.  The Pros and the Joes.  If you are in advertising, marketing or the arts you're a Pro.  If your focus everyday is not the creative arts-- you're a Joe.  

Most Pros have evolved their personal way of working.  They are creative, but they don't make a habit of creativity -- they are among the most skeptical creative learners I know.  The Joes have a lot more enthusiasm, but haven't evolved a personal and consistent way of working.  Recruits that really perform and participate will get rewarded. 

Move it.