The shrinking U.S. manufacturing sector exposes a maxim of the
modern economy: The work we once did with our hands is done
increasingly in our heads. The United States is transitioning into
an idea economy where innovation is replacing industrialization,
and creativity is the key to selling products and services.
Employees with a creative side are leading the way into the idea
economy. About 38 million workers-roughly 30 percent of the work
force-are employed in creative professions, and the number keeps
growing, says Richard Florida, author of The Rise of the
Creative Class (Basic Books). Over the next decade,
"we're going to see the 'creativization' of our
entire economy," Florida says.
Today, highly skilled workers from biologists to engineers see
themselves as artists who need space to think and create.
Heavy-handed management just gets in the way of the creative
process. So how do you oversee creative employees and keep everyone
in harmony?
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Managing the creative enterprise is as much art as science.
Creative people are driven by exciting work more than by a
paycheck, and they need to express themselves through their work-a
mind-set foreign to many employers. "The workplace of today
isn't set up to manage creative people," Florida says.
"It's a recipe for competitive disaster to manage creative
people like they're industrial workers."
Chris Winfield, co-founder of 10E20 Web Design LLC, a Web development firm in
New York City, is learning how to manage a staff of 15 that
includes nine Web designers. "[Creative employees] can be more
sensitive," says Winfield, 27, whose background is in business
and government. For example, point-blank criticism of projects
doesn't work with creatives, he's found. "No artist
wants to hear that you didn't like his painting."
Winfield is learning to offer freedom within structure. He acts
as the intermediary between client and designer, then he lets the
designers create. He praises each designer's work as he
critiques it. "I say, 'I love it, but we need to make
changes because this client is really picky.' It's telling
them it's wrong [without] making them feel bad," he says.
"If you do that, I don't think you'll go wrong."
10E20 estimates sales of $1.3 million for this year.
Gentle feedback is important, because creative employees are
more emotionally involved with their work, says Donna Dessart,
director of career services at The Art Institute of California in San
Francisco. She suggests including creatives in the brainstorming
and planning process to increase the chances a project will be
delivered on time and on budget. "Articulate the vision and
goals so the artist can demonstrate it back to you," she says.
"Let them be involved from the beginning."
But also know where to draw the line. Rick Garofalo, founder of
Repertoire,
an 18-employee interior design firm with locations in Boston and
New York City and annual sales of $9.5 million, has stopped
overloading his five designers with the financial aspects of the
business. "If I get too deep, sometimes they look at me like
the RCA dog. They really don't understand it," says
Garofalo, 48, whose background is in sales and marketing.
"It's that left-brain, right-brain thing." Instead,
he makes sure designers understand a client's budget
constraints before turning them loose on a project. He also wants
designers to have a good mix of projects-from the splashy to the
mundane-so they stay motivated. "Too much of one thing can be
dangerous for a creative mind," he says. "I make sure we
balance projects."
Time management is another area where creatives may need solid
direction. "Creative people are not the best time
managers," says Winfield. He's found that having Web
designers collaborate as a team on projects increases efficiency,
spurs even more creativity and helps the company meet
deadlines.
Innovative employers are structuring work iteratively,
rehearsing and trying again until valuable results emerge-the
opposite of how things get done in most companies, says Robert Austin, an
assistant professor at Harvard Business School and co-author of
Artful Making: What Managers Need to Know About How Artists
Work (Prentice Hall). "Creativity requires
exploration," Austin says. "Create a lab environment
where [creatives] can explore."
Also be flexible with scheduling, because creatives, especially
true visual artists, need to get away from your four walls to come
up with new ideas. "They need time to go somewhere where they
can get inspired and be creative, because that's what we're
paying them for," Dessart says. This means letting a designer
catch an afternoon art exhibit, for example. The employee is
working; it's just a different way of working.
Florida predicts the "boring, punch-a-clock 9-to-5
workplace" won't survive long in the idea economy.
"It doesn't matter if you're making widgets, wine,
cheese or software products," he says. "The key is to
unleash the creativity of all your people."
Chris Penttila is a freelance journalist in Chapel Hill,
North Carolina. She can be contacted at chris@sitting-duck.com.