Getting the most out of your creative person

Getting the most from your creative person.

A much needed look into the creative mind.

Joshua Fedie | Principal, The “Adholics”

BNET recently published a study on Creative People and how to get the best out of them, you can read the article here: http://bit.ly/creativepeople

Here’s brief summary from the article about the study:

The experiment involved more than 500 computer programmers, each of whom had a TopCoder ranking. Each programmer was paired with the programmer closest to their ability level. In each pair, one person was asked how they preferred to work: Alone, competing against 19 other people, or as part of a five-person team. The programmers were split almost evenly in their preferences. The second programmer in that pair was given the same work environment as the first person. The result is two equally-talented groups of programmers. The only salient difference between them is that one group is working in an environment of their choice, while the other group has had their work environment decided for them. Some of the participants were eligible for cash prizes, while others were not.

What were the findings?

Teams vs. Individuals

The results underscore how important it is to let team players play on a team and to let loners alone:

• The programmers who got to choose how they worked produced algorithms that scored, on average, 83 percent higher than those who could not choose. That’s about the same improvement as the researchers got by offering a $1,000 cash prize.
• Programmers who got to choose their work environment worked harder. The researchers measured this by counting the number of algorithms the programmer submitted. Programmers often submit more than one version of an algorithm, since there is no cost to doing so and having each version ‘scored’ provides valuable feedback.
• Those who got to choose their work environment worked longer. Without a cash prize, those who got to choose their work environment spent about seven more hours working that those who did not get to choose. If there was a cash prize, those who were in the work environment of their choice put in almost 11 more hours than those who had the choice made for them. The fact that folks who got to choose how they worked put in more hours accounts for almost all of the difference in their performance compared to that of their peers.

My response: No S#!t!

The “Adholics”, having just reached the all-important 1-year milestone are a true testament to the fact that creative people need to be allowed to work when, how and where they want.

I’ve managed creatives at “Traditional” agencies for years where you put people valued for their creativity into boxes and expect them to be their best between the normal business hours of 8 to 5.

Does this work?

For some it can, I’m not saying you never get good creative from inside a cubicle….here comes the but:

But what I’ve found since launching a company that embraces a remote “work where you want” philosophy is that the creative is better more consistently. Furthermore, the people working on the assignments are generally happier to be doing so and have a more “get it done” attitude; many times working through the night to get something done knowing that the reward is a decompress day.

What’s a decompress day? You must work for the man:)

My message to the team of “Adholics” has always been I don’t care when you work on it or where as long as you stay in budget, on-time and produce something you are happy with.

Among other things not looked at in this study that I think worth mentioning is dress code.

Creatives don’t dress like bankers.

I can’t tell you how sad it makes me to see a designer huddled over a desk at 8am in a suit and tie under the fluorescent glow of the office lights in their little cubicle.  It’s akin to buying a minivan, it’s that much of a throwing-in-the-towel moment. No offense to any minivan owners, but you know what I mean right? It’s not the Porsche you dreamed of is it.

Allowing a creative mind to really produce takes embracing all the uniqueness of the individual.

Do you work best while listening to James Taylor or Tom Waits? Fine, do that.

Do you work best at 11am or 3am? Fine, do that.

Do you work best with me hovering over you watching your every move or staying out of the way until you’re ready to share? Fine, I’ll be over here when you want me.

It would be great if this article caused business owners employing creative people to take a step back and reexamine their own management style. But like a wise man once said, you can wish in one hand and crap in the other and see which gets filled first.

Until that day that may never come, The “Adholics” will be continuing to do what we love, where we want to, when we want to and we’ll still be doing it better.  Was that a bit arrogant?

Try us. We prove it every day.

Cheers,

Joshua Fedie

Principal | The “Adholics”