Blueprint for a Creative Culture [Commonwealth Club of SF, Mar 2011]
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Transcript of Blueprint for a Creative Culture [Commonwealth Club of SF, Mar 2011]
Building engagement in your organization
Blueprint for a Creative Culture | March 2011
e Commonwealth Club March 23, 2011 #creativecultureblueprint
Kate Rutter, Adaptive Path www.intelleto.com | www.adaptivepath.com twitter : @katerutter | @adaptivepath
Introduce me
Blueprint for a Creative Culture | March 2011
I’m a designer and strategist. Designing delightful experiences makes me tick. Making things visual and visible makes my heart sing.
Over the past few years I’ve been exploring what makes creative cultures tick, with a goal of ensuring that everyone can bring their most inspired self to work each and every day.
Adaptive Path is a User Experience strategy and design consultancy. Our mission is to help companies make products and services that deliver great experiences that improve people’s lives.
Adaptive Path
Hi, I’m Kate.
Blueprint for a Creative Culture | March 2011
Blueprint for a Creative Culture | March 2011
Every individual has the right and
responsibility to do work that is interesting, fun &
meaningful. Every company has the responsibility to
create a space where people can do their best work openly and effectively.
I believe...
Blueprint for a Creative Culture | March 2011
...and the us/them divide is arti"cial and damaging
to the human spirit.
Companies are made of people. And we are those
people.
And I believe...
Blueprint for a Creative Culture | March 2011
How did he get there?
possibilities create! opportunities become! responsibilities dependencies lead to!
LOBOTOMIES!
spirals into!
Blueprint for a Creative Culture | March 2011
But it’s not isolated.
Playing with the model
Blueprint for a Creative Culture | March 2011
What if...
possibilities opportunities responsibilities dependencies create! become! lead to!
Blueprint for a Creative Culture | March 2011
What if it looked like this?
become!responsibilities
dependencies
lead to!
possibilities that!inspire!
opportunities
create!
Blueprint for a Creative Culture | March 2011
LOBOTOMIES!
Blueprint for a Creative Culture | March 2011
Meanwhile...
Enter this book
and this article.
Blueprint for a Creative Culture | March 2011
a cultural landscape
Blueprint for a Creative Culture | March 2011
WHAT CREATES IT?!
WHAT FEEDS IT?!
WHAT SUPPORTS IT?!
Blueprint for a Creative Culture | March 2011
e blueprint is a guide for a creative culture.
WHAT CREATES IT?!
WHAT FEEDS IT?!
WHAT SUPPORTS IT?!
Blueprint for a Creative Culture | March 2011
e blueprint is a guide for a creative culture.
Expertise!
Motivation!
Challenge!Freedom!
Resources!
Blueprint for a Creative Culture | March 2011
Workgroup features!
Supervisory encouragement!
Leadership support!
Creative thinking skills!
e blueprint is a guide for a creative culture.
Blueprint for a Creative Culture | March 2011
WHAT CREATES IT?!
Expertise!
Motivation! Knowledge • tactical • procedural • intellectual
Acquired by • formal education, • professional experience • interactions with colleagues & peers
Intellectual space for problem-solving and solution-"nding
Ability to look across intellectual spaces for ideas
Capacity to combine ideas in new ways
Ability to depart from the status quo
Perseverance
Intrinsic • passion • interest • challenge
Extrinsic • carrot &stick
Creative thinking skills!
Brown
Bags
Blueprint for a Creative Culture | March 2011
In Brown Bags the team gathers to get exposed to different ideas and discusses topics related to our work. Tuesdays from 12-1 is set aside, but if there is a lot going on, Brown Bags can happen more often.
Anyone can host a Brown Bag, and they often feature special guests. We've heard from futurists, software developers, people doing cool research, and seen demos of digital or design tools. If there’s not a guest, we’ve watched TED talks.
Internal brown bags have included staff portfolio sharing, focused discussions of internal projects and ad-hoc working sessions on a wide variety of topics.
WHAT CREATES IT?!
Brown
Bags
Blueprint for a Creative Culture | March 2011
WHAT FEEDS IT?!
Challenge!Freedom! Resources!
Ability to de"ne “how”: sense of ownership, autonomy
Decide the best "t of the approach & expertise
Clearly de"ned goals that don’t shift
Space: a place to focus, a place to explore, tools
Culture: open & honest Money: legitimate, fair and
an appropriate amount Time: realistic and real
deadlines, time for exploration
Match people with work Know people: interests,
skills, expertise
Open Design
Sessions
Open design sessions are one-hour sessions where a project team opens up participation to others. During the hour the team has access to fresh perspectives, ideas and experiences to help think through a problem and give feedback on the work.
This open working style encourages the free sharing of ideas and approaches and serves as cross-project pollination. Working together enables people who don’t frequently work together to collaborate.
Getting exposure to each other’s interests, skills and expertise smoothes the path for people working together in the future, and knits the culture together through sharing ideas.
Blueprint for a Creative Culture | March 2011
WHAT FEEDS IT?!
Open Design
Sessions
Blueprint for a Creative Culture | March 2011
WHAT SUPPORTS IT?!
Workgroup features!
Mutual support
Diverse perspectives
Willingness to help in difficult times
Shared excitement
Supervisory encouragement!
Communicate that the work matters
Meet ideas with an open mind
Banish negative bias
Guard against a culture of fear
Celebrate failure
Discuss ideas promptly
Reward participation in a timely manner
Recognize the creative work 5-minute
Madness
Blueprint for a Creative Culture | March 2011
At the monthly all-hand meeting, we have 5-minute sessions where someone can make a statement that they don’t know is true, or that they think may not be true.
Then the group discusses it for 5 minutes (time-enforced.)
This helps us say things that we’re not sure of, encourages people to speak up about things that feel unformed, keeps us uncomfortable, and keeps us open to being wrong in service to sharing ideas.
This in turn helps us keep our creative thinking skills honed because it encourages departing from the status quo. It reinforces the importance of diverse perspectives in our workgroups.
And it supports open communication, meeting ideas with an open mind and taking risks.
WHAT SUPPORTS IT?!
5-minute
Madness
Blueprint for a Creative Culture | March 2011
WHAT SUPPORTS IT?!
Leadership support!
Mandate information-sharing Implement creative principles
Promote open & clear communication Ensure political problems don’t fester
Encourage sharing outside the organization
Guerilla
Collaboration
Blueprint for a Creative Culture | March 2011
Why wait for Leadership support? DIY culture change at a large non-profit
WHAT SUPPORTS IT?!
Guerilla
Collaboration
Freedom! Ability to de"ne “how”: sense
of ownership, autonomy
Resources! Space: a place to focus,
a place to explore, tools Diverse perspectives Willingness to help in difficult
times Shared excitement
Workgroup features!
Meet ideas with an open mind Supervisory encouragement! Leadership support!
Mandate information-sharing Implement creative principles Promote open & clear communication
Expertise! Knowledge from interactions
with colleagues
Intellectual space for problem-solving and solution-"nding
Motivation! Intrinsic
• passion • interest • challenge
Ability to depart from the status quo
Perseverance
Creative thinking skills!
As an assessment tool…
What are we already doing to
foster a creative culture?
What are we missing?
Think about how your organization
functions…what areas of the creative
blueprint are already in play?
! What specific elements are present?
! What activities promote or reinforce these
elements?
! What elements are not yet part of your
organizational behavior?
! What kind of activities, processes or
behaviors could help fill the gaps?
As an inspiration tool…
How can we build more creative
thinking into our culture?
What could that look like?
What areas & elements of the creative
blueprint are most interesting to you?
! What are 2-3 ideas for activities that could
introduce the element?
! How could these activities be introduced?
! What are some ways to observe the impact?
Putting the blueprint to work
Creative / (krē-ā
ˈtĭv) / –adje
ctive
Characterize
d by origina
lity and
expressivene
ss; imaginat
ive.
Culture / (kŭlˈc
hər) / –nou
n
The predomin
ating attitu
des and beha
vior
that charact
erize the fu
nctioning of
a
group or org
anization.
Blueprint
/ (blo͞oˈprĭnt)
/ –noun
A detailed p
lan of actio
n.
A model or p
rototype.
Sample activities include : casual interactions
! processes ! meetings ! physical space !
tools ! policies ! behaviors ! routines
! workshops ! retreats ! celebrations
? !?
Creative thinking is the fuel that powers new
ideas, exploration, invention and progress in
the world. Staying fresh and engaged is
crucial to making this happen. But it takes a
team approach to create and foster a culture
that thrives on creativity.
How does workplace culture support creative
thinking? What activities do people and
organizations do to foster curiosity, collective
engagement and making ideas happen?
This creative culture blueprint is a way to
assess your culture, to understand why some
activities promote inventive thinking (and why
some kill it), and to envision & build a culture
where creativity is appropriate, useful and
sustaining.
What makes a creative culture?
Digital versions of the blueprint are available for download at : http://www.adaptivepath.com/ideas/essays/archives/001192.php
For assessment & inspiration
Blueprint for a Creative Culture | March 2011
Blueprint for a Creative Culture | March 2011
Putting it to work
Blueprint for a Creative Culture | March 2011
2
what is one thing you do that you want to stop doing, but that others depend on you for? 1
1
something you are passionate about. 2
2
on the card, write down... 1 minute
Blueprint for a Creative Culture | March 2011
~ Heraclitus
“! “!A wonderful harmony is created when we join together the seemingly unconnected.
What is one thing you do that you want to stop doing, but that others depend on you for?
Blueprint for a Creative Culture | March 2011
1
Something you are passionate about. 2 2
1 2
3
3
What is one idea for how you can satisfy both?
on the card, write down... 2 minutes
Blueprint for a Creative Culture | March 2011
4 Now share your great idea with the person sitting next to you.
3 minutes
Blueprint for a Creative Culture | March 2011
Your toolkit: A model for awareness, so you know when it’s time to envision new possibilities.
A blueprint for how to create, feed and support a creative culture.
A personal starting point to put into practice.
Blueprint for a Creative Culture | March 2011
Talk to 2 new people about your work. Actively listen for and write down possibilities.
your challenge
Pilot a 5-minute madness one time. See where it takes you.
Host a Brown Bag or a collaborative problem-solving session. Bring new ideas into your environment.
Blueprint for a Creative Culture | March 2011
a future vision...
Companies are made of people who are open, inspired and who support each other in envisioning and building positive futures. We claim our own power, and use it.
Every company is a place where we can do our best work openly and
effectively.
Blueprint for a Creative Culture | March 2011
Each and every one of us uses our creative mojo in work
that is interesting, fun & meaningful.
a future vision...
Blueprint for a Creative Culture | March 2011
Blueprint for a Creative Culture | March 2011
LOBOTOMIES!
and best of all...
Blueprint for a Creative Culture | March 2011
Shout-outs to... Dr. Teresa Amabile for her catalyzing article HBR for publishing awesome stuff Leah Buley for sharing a few of her sketches the folks at Adaptive Path for the everyday activities that create, feed and support a creative environment!
you! thanks!
Kate Rutter, Adaptive Path http://www.intelleto.com twitter : @katerutter
opportunities
responsibilities
dependencies
create!
become!lead to!
possibilities that!inspire!