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How to Kill Good IdeasBy Morgan La Femina

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How to Kill a good idea: Sample

plan

Step 1: Design organizational structures

that systematically crush creativity Step 2: If it is broken dont fix it

Step 3: If it is broken keep doing what

your doing Step 4: Repeat as necessary

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Good Ideas Grow

They grow out of the creative process

Three components of creativity:

1: Expertise

2: Creative thinking skills

3: Motivation

Creativity should not becompartmentalized but span variousdepartments

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Definitions

Expertise: Knowledge (technical innature)

Creative - thinking skills: imagination,

capacity to take older ideas and usethem in new ways Motivation: Desire to accomplish,

passion, goal orientation

Expertise and creative thinking are inherentresources + motivation =accomplishments

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Types of Motivation

Intrinsic: Motivation that comes from theinside, internal drive toward a goal

Extrinsic: Motivation which is external,comes from outside the person

Extrinsic example: Money, job termination Intrinsic example: Interest, satisfaction in

goal completion, the challenge of work

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What Management Process

Effect Creativity?

Challenge

Freedom

Work-group features

Supervisory encouragement

Organizational Support

Workgroup features could be thepersonalities of team members, skill sorts,backgrounds

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KEYS

Authors used KEYS questionnaire forvarious workplace conditions

End Result: Most effective method ofincreasing creativity and motivation in an

employee was employee skill to job task

Right worker to right assignment

NOT first employee to most critical job

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Ways to Manage

Assign job and give freedom toemployee to finish it

Make creativity a top priority

Channel energies from infighting andgossip to excitement of task

Assemble diverse teams

Support workflow patterns thatincrease cross-team exchanges of ideasand information

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Ways to Mismanage

Open door policies that are not opendoor

Unpoweredempowered employees (in

name only) Unrealistic time pressures

Lack of resources

MicroManagement Changing goals, frequently, setting

unclear goals

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How I Differ with the Author

I believe the physical space of acompany and employees personal

space in the company is veryimportant (See Pixar article)

I do not believe monetary rewards

make people feel as though they arebeing controlled, maybe an incentiveto be lax or bend rules however

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Do:

Praise employees, offer constructivecriticism

Dont say no to a project just to satisfypolitics

Dont modify a project to the point that itreturns to the same old standard modelto meet comfort zones

Assign a failure value, discuss what canbe learned from a project failure Have frequent team meetings and allow

all opinions to be voiced

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Questions

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The end