I think we underestimate the impact of symbolism in the workplace. I’m working on a longer post on this (which may, in turn, transform itself into a section of my master’s thesis — Go Zags), but for now I just want to poke at the general idea a little bit.

What I mean when I say everything means something is that almost everything we say, see, do, allow, prevent, facilitate, etc — it all tells everyone else in the organization something. It means something. There is some sort of meaning attached to it, and that meaning may or may not be what we intended it to be, if we even intended a message at all.

This is applies to soooo many different things in the workplace, but just for the sake of example, let’s take an appearance thing. When an executive wears a suit, what does that say to you? Well, it depends on who you are, doesn’t it? To you, it may simply mean that the executive enjoys dressing more formally for work, which of course is totally fine. Someone else may infer that it’s a symbol of the level and/or status the executive has achieved since they are able to afford such nice clothes. Still another might think it’s a power dynamic thing. Another might think it’s just an effort to impress people. There’s an infinite number of meanings someone could attach to an exec wearing a suit. The exec who donned the dapper attire? He or she may not have given it a second thought. Just threw something on.

Will all the assumptions folks make be fair? Well, no. But if you’re an exec in a suit (staying with our example), you need to be aware of what those are or might be. Think about what that suit says when put within the context of how you talk, act, lead, and treat others. All of those things start to come together like a mosaic to people; and again, the thing is that they can land all over the place on it. Some might think you’re an arrogant ass. Some might think you want to be noticed as an exec. Some might think you enjoy wearing several layers of clothing every day. Who knows. But it tells them something.

Now, imagine it’s not an exec wearing the suit. Imagine it’s a front-line employee. Well then we have a whole separate set of assumptions and meanings attached to that, don’t we? And as before, it will vary from person to person. Some may think the newbie just enjoys dressing up. Fair enough. Others might be convinced the newbie is more into sucking up. Why’s the new guy trying to dress like he’s some big shot? Everything means something.

You see the same dynamic at many churches, and of course it varies from church to church. In some places, the really good people wear coats and ties or appropriately-long dresses every week. If you don’t wear a coat and tie or the aforementioned dresses, you’re not quite as righteous. You’re probably a teensy-weensy bit more liberal (not like going-to-hell liberal; just whispered-about-behind-your-back liberal). Chances are that since you take a more casual approach to your appearance that also you take a more casual approach to God and spiritual life and don’t respect God. And if you wear jeans, oh man. You may as well just light yourself on fire and save hell the trouble. But it’s because everything means something, and it’s true in almost every context.

That’s why some parents obsess over their kidlets looking a certain way or having all the designer brand crap. In their mind, it’s often a status symbol. We have enough money that we can even buy our two-year-old expensive clothes that make him look like a tiny tennis player from Yale while holding the hand of this mother, whose sole hope in life is to qualify to be a “real” housewife of someplace. But you know why that happens? It’s likely because in their circles (of hell – hat tip to Dante), that means something. If your youngling is seen in off-brand attire, (or you have to purchase a used Maserati, etc) you’re probably in financial trouble.

I mean for the love of penguins on pogo sticks, think about how much conversation there’s been about Mark Zuckerberg’s wardrobe decisions. Good grief.

Or we could talk tattoos. Those tend to mean things.

Or any other number of things.

Clearly things mean things to these people. (I’m full of all sorts of brilliant insights today, yes? Things mean things? I mean, that’s some genius-level stuff right there.)

The same is true within organizations. Everything means something, from how we dress, to how we talk, to what our offices look like, to the hours we work, to how we do that work, and so on. And there’s no universal right or wrong on this one (simmer down, all you armchair philosophers; you Kant get all worked up about the phrasing there).

So what’s the point? The point is pretty simple. Just know that what you do means something. I’m not saying you have to cater to anybody or try to be everything to everybody (in fact, please don’t do that). But have the self-awareness to understand that even when you’re not saying something with words, you’re still telling your team something, because everything means something.

1. The Smooth Operators

These folks, they know exactly what to say and how to say it. They’re often fantastic with customers and act just the way they’re supposed to around certain people. But around others, they’re cynical, arrogant jackasses. But smooth cynical, arrogant jackasses.

2. The Beggars

Like they’re begging you to fire them. They do just enough not to get canned, but are so subversive and are such an awful influence on others. Often though, beggars put on a friendly air, but with just enough sarcasm that you know they’re being sarcastic.

3. The No-Talent Ass Clowns

Somehow these jokers have survived in your organization for years on nothing but their ability to make folks chuckle from time to time. They put out just enough barely-mediocre work to keep their boss at bay, but they’re such a burden to any team they’re on because they’re not really interested in performing at a high level, improving their own performance, and so on.

4. The Ultracrepidarians

You know the type. They’re the ones who love to give advice and criticism about anything and everything, which isn’t necessarily bad in and of itself; but these guys do it from a position of acting like they know everything about everything. (And yes, Ultracrepidarian is a real word. Hat tip to those kids who made fun of me when I was but a wee lad. It sent me to the dictionary and thesaurus so I’d never be unarmed in a battle of wits ever again.)

5. The Curmudgeons

These cranky crabs are always having bad days and believe the only way to make theirs better is to make yours worse. So they do.

6. The Slangwhangers

My seven British readers will enjoy this one. These are those loud, obnoxious people who you just want to kick in the shin so at least they will have adequate reason for sounding as loud and annoying as a donkey in heat. (Don’t ask.)

7. The Popinjays

The pretentious ones. They’re so vain they probably think this post is about them.

8. The Malfeasants

They’re always breaking rules and doing things they’re not supposed to be doing. No matter how tight or loose your guidelines are, these guys are always pushing it anyway. Got a five-minute grace period before you officially count someone as late for work? Yeah, they’re coming in at six after.

9. The Wikipediots

Everything. They know everything. Well, they know everything about three and a half minutes into a conversation they’re sitting in on. In those three minutes they’ve looked up the topic on Wikipedia and memorized what they perceive to be the main points, as well as some more obscure facts to give the impression that they understand the finer nuances of whatever you’re discussing. Just for kicks sometime, start talking about a word that isn’t a word and ask them what they think about it. Watch them squirm, check their phone, then squirm some more.

10. The Fuss-Buckets

They find something to complain about with everything, and I mean everything. It may sound something like this:

Relaxed dress code? Great. But I still can’t wear my tankini? How lame.

Or this:

I think you can have fun at work too, but there’s a time for work and a time for fun.

Or this:

With all that laughing it’s a wonder they get anything done…

So look, if you’re one of these, don’t be too hard on yourself; you’re certainly not alone. We’re all human and we’ve all got our “stuff.” As teammates and leaders, it’s on us to help everyone from the Smooth Operators to the Fuss-Buckets grow and mature and develop, remembering that we’re far from perfect ourselves.

It’s the ever-elusive but always romantic notion of creativity. It is the unicorn. It is the thing that will make the angels in heaven (if you believe in such things) sing or the nothingness that is beyond now continue to do and be nothing (if you believe in such things).

We — myself included — talk so much about creativity, and yet when we look around most organizations, it’s not like we’re having to tell them to pump the brakes (thanks, David Wilhelm) on the creativity. We have good intentions; I really believe that. I know we do at Mazuma, and I know we have some wicked creative Mazumans there. Our AVP of Technology, Christian, who I mentioned in this post, and I were talking just yesterday about some things we think we could do to foster more creativity.

But upon further contemplation, rumination, and even some pontificating, I’ve come to the conclusion that this is a fool’s errand. Yes indeed. It’s bunk. Unicorn doodoo. Rubbish. Crap. BS. Or just regular S.

I think many of us are far closer to being able to eliminate all the creativity talk from the vernacular at our organizations than being able to see actual creativity flourish in any meaningful way within our organizations. So let’s just crush it. As some lyrical geniuses once serenaded us, “Quit playing games with my heart.” Let’s not play games with creativity’s heart. Let’s break it instead.

Here’s how I propose we do that. (PS. Eat it, Backstreet Boys)

1. Provide your team no feasible time to exercise creative effort.

You know what I mean, right? I mean, don’t stop saying you want them to be creative, but make sure they don’t actually have any time to do that. Their days need to be so jam-packed with other stuff that the most creative thing they’re doing is figuring out how to fit in a restroom break.

2. Provide them no outlet for their creative energy.

It’s important that the team not have any outlet for their creativity. There shouldn’t be anywhere to go to exert creative energy, and there shouldn’t be any particular business problems for which you want them to create solutions.

3. Don’t give them time to think.

Related to #1 above, time to think is terrible, because that’s often where good ideas come from, especially if more than one person has time to think at the same time. And God forbid they’re together when they do it. Then you’ll have this whole mess with them coming up with ideas, you saying no, them coming back with another idea, you saying no, etc.

4. Don’t challenge them to be creative.

For heaven’s (if you believe in such things) sake, do not under any circumstances challenge a clump of humans to be creative. There’s something in people that seems to come alive when provoked by a challenge. They’re able to muster creativity that even they may not have known they had. Clearly we don’t want that. Plus, if you challenge them to be creative, it could be misconstrued as you supporting creativity in a tangible way; and we’ve already established that we do not desire that.

5. Don’t give them “permission” to try things.

Always encourage them to play it safe. Now, don’t come right out and say, Don’t be creative and try new things. Be more subtle. When someone tries something and it doesn’t work, crush them (subtly). When someone throws out an idea that seems off the wall, literally throw that person off the wall. The latter isn’t as subtle either, but will still get the point across. That point is that it’s not safe to try new things.

6. Block social media.

You simply cannot have them being exposed to thoughts and ideas from all over the world. You never know when one of those pesky ideas will latch itself onto your employee’s brain stem with such determination that he or she won’t be able to rest until he or she has made that idea happen.

You also don’t want them communicating with so many different sorts of people. Who knows who these people are? How can you be sure they’re only straight-laced business folks like you need your employees to be? There are undoubtedly bad influences lurking behind every tweet. Like artists, for example.

7. Be sure to schedule their entire day full of meetings and/or tasks.

Remember, free time is wasted time. If people have time to sit still for even a few minutes other than to cram food down their throats (preferably while still working), their minds might be freed to actually think. Thinking is to be avoided at all costs. I know I try to avoid it.

8. In other words, do not set aside time for people to think and collaborate.

To be clear: You don’t want employees to have the time or space or permission to tackle problems together. One person’s creativity is often contagious, and believe me — that’s the last thing you need. Call the CDC if you suspect an outbreak.

9. Make “No” the default answer to new ideas.

It’s just simpler this way. You don’t have to think about the ideas; and the employees learn first not to get their hopes up, and eventually not to offer ideas at all. We would consider this a win.

10. Don’t acknowledge creative ideas that work for the organization.

Look, sometimes things get away from us and in spite of our best efforts, some crazy idea sneaks through and wouldn’t you be darned — it worked. Damage control time. The best thing to do — a best practice, if you will — is to ignore it altogether. Just act like you experienced the success through the regular course of business. You see, if you start pointing out when people’s creativity creates positive outcomes for the organization, you run the risk of them mistaking that for you actually encouraging creativity, which would be awful of course.

11. Don’t encourage the oddballs.

Remember when your parents said that whole “Don’t laugh; it only encourages him” thing? (Or was it only mine that said that to everyone else after I did something funny/mischievous?) Same principle applies here. If there are people within your organization who are a little different or quirky or creative or unorthodox, do not — I repeat, do not — encourage them. In fact, frown at them whenever they look in your general direction. Like literally frown.

If you can do these things, you stand a pretty good chance of crushing creativity on your team and within your organization. Just make sure you don’t try anything new to crush the creativity. Only tried and true creativity-crushing methods are appropriate.

Data is a thing. (No, Trekkies, not that Data.)

Intuition is a thing.

Hunches are things.

Logic is a thing.

Rational thinking is a thing.

Information is a thing. (Al Gore invented a superhighway for it, you know)

Obviously I’ve over-simplified the above, but the point is that all of these “things” are what we use to make decisions every day, be it as leaders; team members; family members; friends; neighbors; patrons at local eateries like Foo’s Fabulous Frozen Custard, the Roasterie or Dodge City Distillery; or consumers at online retailers like Amazon or Zappos. Heck, we use those things to determine our philosophical outlook on life itself to some degree, which determines the lens through which we view reality in many ways.

And just because it’s important to me — please note that we talked about frozen custard and philosophy in the same paragraph above. On what other blog….

The tricky part with all of those things above is that they’re interrelated and often interdependent, and there’s no universal standard that tells us how much weight we’re to assign to any of those particular things. What if logic seems to tell me one thing, but the numbers don’t appear to bear it out? What if the data points in one direction, but your intuition is pulling you in the other? What if all the experts are saying to do this or that, but you have a hunch that this other thing — different that the this-or-that that the experts have suggested — would be an even better solution?

And there’s the rub.

Because here’s where we arbitrarily start ranking those things, if not overtly, certainly in a de facto sense. You’ve seen it happen a dozen times at least. I know I have. You’re sitting in a meeting and some version of the following conversation takes place.

BizPerson1: So we can clearly see from the previous 312 slides that the data points in a pretty obvious direction. People will notice us more if we wear tin foil hats in our locations.

BizPerson2: Wow. So according to your data, people with tin foil hats on were noticed almost twice as much as people without tin foil hats? Numbers don’t lie, people.

BizPerson3: Um, I hope the numbers and data will pardon me, but my gut tells me that having our teams wear tin foil hats is a terrible idea.

BizPerson2: Were you not paying attention to BizPerson1′s presentation? All the data, all the information — it all indicates that people in tin foil hats get noticed.

BizPerson1: Yeah. Where’s your data, BizPerson3? Hm? Got any actual data to back up your assertion?

BizPerson3: No, I have not done extensive research around how people respond to other people wearing tin foil hats, but I do tend to have a good feel for human “stuff,” and my intuition tells me that the tinfoil hat strategy would make us the laughing-stock of…well…maybe the whole world. I know your data says one thing, but I’m telling you — don’t do it.

BizPerson1: Well, I’m afraid we can’t make business decisions based on how you feel. Numbers don’t lie.

An exaggerated example of course, but its non-exaggerated cousin is played out all over the place every day. Now before you freak out and throw the square root of 417 at me, I’m not at all saying that numbers don’t matter or that data isn’t important. They do and it is. What I’m saying is that people have intuition for a reason. Will they always be right? Nope. Will your numbers always enable you to make the correct business decisions? Nope. But it doesn’t always have to be an either/or thing. They can be used in concert. And sometimes you just have to have the stones to go with your gut.

One of my favorite “coachings” I’ve ever received happened a few months back. I can’t remember what exactly prompted the discussion, but my boss told me not to back off my intuition. He told me use it and go with it because it was a strength of mine.

You see, sometimes I think we unwittingly buy into the lie that everything we need to know is always in the numbers. But if that were true, relationships would be a math equation and emotion would be a Sudoku thingy; there wouldn’t be gutsy risks — just extremely well-calculated ones.

As leaders, we’ve got to do a better job at learning who on our teams just seems to have that “thing” where their gut seems to be right a lot of the time. Their instincts tend to be right, even if it seems unlikely that they would be. Their intuition operates with clarity; for them it’s the equivalent of all your studies and numbers and data.

But that means us too, as leaders, need to have the guts to go with our intuition sometimes instead of hiding behind the numbers. Hiding behind the numbers is the easy way, because even if it goes wrong, it’s easy for us to say that with the information we had it seemed pretty clear that that was what we should have tried blah blah blah.

What’s harder is making a decision because you feel like it’s the one that needs to be made. Your gut tells you it’s the right one. You won’t have the luxury of hiding behind the numbers if you’re wrong, but at least you’re actually thinking and making decisions instead of doing what the numbers tell you to do.

417? You’ve got to be kidding, right?

Nope. 417. 4 – 1 – 7. 417 reasons I love my organization. Ready? Here we go.

1. I love its weird name. Mazuma. What the heck?

2. I get to work with folks who are becoming more than simply colleagues.

3-173. The Mighty Mazumans. I lucked out. These guys are awesome. Such an eclectic mix of people and personalities, each and every 170 of them.

174. I tricked my buddy into working here.

175. Our lending department has a punching bag. And it’s not a person. (most days)

176-183. I love my Culture/Branding/Development/HR/Corporate Social Responsibility gang. Each one of them is unique in their own way, and brings something different to the team. I’ll tell you this though — they care deeply about their work and the Mazumans and members for whom they do it.

184-188. I love my exec teammates. All great in their own ways, they’ve been nothing but kind, accepting, and supportive.

189. As Mazumans, we’re learning how to have fun together. At work. Yes, you read that correctly. Work…and fun…at the same time. It’s not an either/or proposition.

190. I love that we have clearly stated cultural values.

191. I love that having fun and being positive is one of them.

192. I love that creativity is another one.

193. I love that Mazumans are encouraged to learn and grow. We’re building a learning function basically from scratch, so it’s a long road; but we’ve got a vision, and when we pull it off, it’ll be pretty badass. It’ll just take us a hot minute to get there.

194. I love how my Benefits & Comp Manager and my Development & Culture Manager balance each other out. I’m also surprised that they haven’t strangled each other yet. In fact, they genuinely seem to like each other, though they almost couldn’t be more opposite.

195. Mazumans are encouraged to be themselves. Takes a while to really “get” this one, but we’re working on it.

196. Change is a normal part of life at Mazuma. If you don’t like change, you’d hate Mazuma. If you like to not only embrace, but also drive change, you’d fit in just fine.

197-317. I have that many different things on my wall. They’re pictures or pieces of art or objects or posters or quotes or vintage advertisements or stuff Mazumans have brought for the wall. It’s such an eclectic mix of cool, interesting, inspiring, funny, and thought-provoking stuff.

318. I’m not micro-managed.

319. We have meetings outside sometimes.

320. A couple of weeks ago, the HR and Development gang set up beach chairs and a beach umbrella outside and made margaritas for the whole building.

321. Our MSS department keeps doing stuff to brighten the day of others. They did a mini-carnival for the whole building, they did a cookout for the whole building, etc.

322. There are so many Mazumans with really inspiring life stories.

323. There’s an actual, real-deal positive and encouraging relationship between my gang and Deonne’s (COO Ops) gang. It’s not always like that in organizations. Let’s just say I’ve seen it be a bit more adversarial in nature.

324. To the best of our ability, we simply will not hire someone who doesn’t fit our culture, even if that person is the most technically skilled person on the planet. Plus, come one, if that person really is that, he or she should have no problem finding a place to land. It just won’t be at Mazuma unless he or she matches the culture.

325. A string of bad luck led to our gang being short-handed, but to watch them band together and work ridiculously hard to get stuff done was inspiring.

326. You can show as many toes as you’ve got. Perhaps that needs some further explanation. I hadn’t been at Mazuma long when I got the question: Exactly how many toes can be showing through my shoes? I know it’s two, but you can sort of see part of a third toe so I don’t know if I can wear them to work.

I was dumbfounded. My response? I don’t really care how many toes you show at work. Heck, if you’ve got twelve, show ‘em all. Use your good sense and wear shoes appropriate for work.

Then I looked at the dress code and immediately understood why I would get such a seemingly bizarre question. The dress code was like this 4, 923 page document detailing precisely what one could or could not wear. We trimmed to a page and a half.

327. We have fantastic benefits. We really do. There’s even a way to basically get your healthcare free. How many organizations do that for their people?

328. Sometimes I work from a coffee shop. Or from outside a coffee shop. Or somewhere outside. And it’s OK because our CEO isn’t held hostage to the notion that people have to be chained to their desks.

329. I love watching the next generation of Mazumans come into their own, especially those who demonstrate leadership skills. They often don’t mean to or know they’re doing it, but that’s almost better because that means it’s just kind of who they are.

330-1. Zero. That’s the number of times I’ve gotten static about all the appointments I have to go to for the cornucopia of medical stuff I’ve got going.

331. Our CEO is a driver, but if you take six seconds to get to know him, he’s got this kind, human, caring heart.

332. Sometimes the aforementioned CEO isn’t great with his words in an email, which I give him a hard time about, and he takes it in stride. He doesn’t take himself too seriously.

333. I have never, in all my time at Mazuma, seen him not stop whatever he’s doing and talk to anyone who stops by his office, be it for five seconds or an hour.

334-399. 65 years Mazuma has been serving the Kansas City area. That’s a long time to be invested in a community. And believe me when I tell you that the best is yet to come.

400. I have a particular teammate who pops in every once in a while to see how I’m doing. How I’m really doing. Means a lot.

401. My exec teammates are OK with my….oddness.

402. I get to do stuff I love. Culture and branding? Are you kidding me?

403. Another Mazuman teammate of mind has a bigger heart than almost anyone I know and cares about Mazuma more than anyone I know. And it shows.

404. Mazuma has the chutzpah to try things. Our CEO is OK with what he calls excellent failure.

405. We’ve got some unbelievably cool stuff on the horizon. I could tell you more but then I’d have to kill you. (I’m an Italian with either a gun or a cannoli. Hint: it’s not the cannoli.)

406. I wear ties to work. Some days, I wear dress slacks, a shirt, and tie to work. I have the freedom to do that.

407. I wear business casual to work. Some days, I wear pants and a shirt to work. I have the freedom to do that.

408. I wear jeans and a t-shirt to work. Some days, I wear jeans and a t-shirt to work. I have the freedom to do that.

409. I do not wear a speedo to work. Mazumans do not have the freedom to do that.

410. When you walk by rooms within which folks are meeting, you often hear laughter. Thank goodness for non-uptight work environments.

411. Our CEO will listen to pretty much any idea you pitch him. Doesn’t mean he’ll say yes, but he’ll listen.

412. Living our core values is part of our annual performance reviews. A big part. Live it or leave it.

413. I have tattoos.

414. I don’t have to hide them at work.

415. We have what we call Semi-Happy Hours, where Mazumans gather at local watering holes to hang out, have a drink, and do whatever. Appetizers are typically on Mazuma. It’s only a Semi-Happy Hour because the drinks aren’t on Mazuma.

416. I love that I don’t get dirty looks about the huge, blue crashing wave I put onto one of my walls.

417. It’s the sort of situation where you just want to drop your anchor and live happily ever after.

It’s not as simple as telling them to be more creative, or nodding and smiling when someone mentions creativity or innovation. There has to be an intentional focus on it, or it will become an afterthought. You’ll have little bursts of creativity here and there from individuals, but nothing on the level or organizational creativity.

Here are some things you could take a look at:

1. Workspace

I’ve jokingly said before that cubicles are tiny, cubed prisons where ideas go to die. And by jokingly, I mean I’m being completely serious. It’s not that you can’t use cubicles, but you’ve got to figure out ways to get the team out of them sometimes. Or have really low walls. Or something.

Have meetings other places. Go outside for the love of pancakes and pogo sticks. When it’s feasible you could even let folks — gasp — meet offsite. You know, get some fresh air and all that. Studies show that humans think and work better that way.

Even the workspaces themselves need to be examined. What do they feel like? Just looking at them, what sorts of actions or behaviors or attitudes do you think they encourage? What symbolism do they bring? Are they sterile? Bright? Uniform? Individualized? Formal? Relaxed? Closed in? Open? Buzzing fluorescent lights? Natural light? Colorful? Colorless?

It all matters. It all combines to create a certain atmosphere. That atmosphere can be one that either encourages or stifles creativity.

2. Interaction with others who think differently

How easy is it for people to get together to talk, think, and create?

Some of us don’t have time to stand around and talk about solar-powered umbrellas. We have work to do, Matt.

Yeah, sarcasm’s like a second language to me, so I’m reading you loud and clear there. And don’t be silly — a solar-powered umbrella doesn’t even make sense.

I hate how something that is not just helpful, but necessary for an organization to be innovative is relegated to something that’s only done “if there’s time.” No, no, no. If it’s important, we make time for it. Simple as that. We make time for the most inane crap every day, but we can’t find time for that?

3. Rules

Or policies. Or guidelines. Or suggestions. Or unwritten codes. Whatever. Depending what they are, they can snuff out creativity. Like this one:

You may not be on the internet during work hours.

Really? You want them to be creative but don’t want them to access the single largest source of information and inspiration in the modern era? Seems a little off, no?

Or this one:

Social media networks are off-limits.

Oh geez. Think about how odd that must sound to employees, and especially those who were born later than others of us. They’re told to collaborate with others, but they’re told that they are not to access their largest network of people. Hm. I mentioned this in a #TChat a while back, but telling employees today that they can’t use social media is like telling employees a couple decades ago that they couldn’t use the telephone.

4. Resources

This is a tough one, because there’s so much uncertainty around it; but if you want something to happen, you’ve got put any number of things into it. Maybe that’s people, maybe it’s time, perhaps it’s money, and maybe it’s all those things.

5. Hiring

Very few interviews I’ve seen or heard of do anything substantive in the way of figuring out if candidates have any inclination toward creativity. Want a creative culture? Then interview and hire people who demonstrate creativity and a desire to exercise creative ability!

6. Leadership

Like anything else, leadership is absolutely critical here. If leadership is risk-averse, uber-conservative, loves tradition, prefers the status quo and so on; chances are that creativity will not thrive there.

On the other hand, if leadership is OK with people flexing their creative muscles everyone once in a while when they have free time, creativity will likely flourish, right?

No, sillies. It won’t because the above is still way too passive. It’s not enough for leadership to be OK with creativity. They should be pushing it, facilitating it, asking about it, and demonstrating it themselves in their own ways. We lucked out at Mazuma. Our CEO encourages creativity. It’s actually an element that we’re weaving into the culture. And he’s not just paying lip service to it. You should see what he let me do to my office.

So what say you? Agree? Disagree? What would you add to the list?

The thing is, I don’t believe those environments happen on accident. In fact, I’m certain they don’t. I have an acquaintance who works at Pixar and it’s crazy how intentional they are with creating environments that are conducive to people being creative. That’s actually this person’s job. Not making the films, but creating the spaces within which other creative folks will create other stuff. Fascinating.

Today and tomorrow we’re going to look at this a little closer. Today we’ll look at the individual level. What sorts of things should we be engaging in ourselves, encouraging in others, and ultimately making sure our organizations are facilitating as well?

1. Curiosity

Unless you’re a cat, there’s no need to be afraid of curiosity. I like to think that curiosity is what gives birth to creativity. We’re first curious about something, and it’s that curiosity that drives us to create. I’m trying to think of inventors who created something without first being curious about something, but I’m coming up empty.

2. Imagination

There was a study done recently wherein jazz musicians’ brains were monitored while they were improvising during gigs. Long, boring, tedious, academic story short — these musicians’ brains had essentially learned to “turn off” that little thing in there that tells you that this or that won’t work or might fail. So without that stopping them, their imagination thrived, unfettered, and you’ve heard the amazing results.

Same is true in our corporate environments. I’ll go into this a bit more tomorrow, but there are so many things in our various organizations that make it irritatingly difficult for people to even have time to be curious, let alone imagine anything.

3. Knowledge

Wait a second, you’re thinking. If it’s creativity, why would you need knowledge? Isn’t creativity by definition something totally new?

It’s a fair question, but let me explain why I say knowledge is part of it. What you know about a given subject or topic or thing gives your mind some sort of framework within which it can work. It provides it the tools it needs to think differently about things. If someone asked me to think creatively about astrophysics, I’d be screwed. Now if they asked me to think creatively about organizational culture, then I’d have a fighting chance. Make sense?

4. Motivated Attitude

Most of the time, you’ve got to want to be creative to be creative. You’ve got to work at being creative to be creative. I don’t feel that I’m terribly creative. Odd? Sure. Unique? Yeah, just like the rest of you (see what I did there?).

But every once in a while someone will walk into my office, look around at the walls and ask how I came up with some of the ideas. Or we’ll be in a meeting and something will click for me as I’m scribbling in my little black notebook like a weirdo. (See #4 in this post)

What most people don’t know — and yes, I realize this takes my nerdiness to an entirely new and embarrassing level — is that I actually work on it. Yes, my now former readers, I actually practice. I think people think you’ve either got it or you don’t, and I guess in some ways they’re correct in that some folks are naturally a bit more inclined in that direction; but I think everyone’s creative in their own way.

So a while back I started doing things to challenge myself to be creative. Sometimes they were business-related. Other times they weren’t. And now I have an arsenal of things that I do on a regular basis to stretch my mind. It’s almost like trying to make creative thinking a habit, for lack of a better word. But what it does is it makes me apply those thinking habits to the majority of the business conversations I’m in as well.

5. Community

This one will transition us nicely into tomorrow’s post, but I think it’s important to note here as well. Creativity doesn’t often happen in a vacuum. As Steve Johnson says, chance favors the connected mind. When people are together, talking, laughing, thinking, exploring — they’re going to throw out ideas. But it’s not usually those initial ideas that are the ones that end up being the ideas. Those ideas trigger something in someone else’s mind, and it snowballs. Before long, this group of folks has developed a creative solution that wouldn’t have been possible without the collective.

Blah blah. Who cares? You should. Don’t fall prey to the myth that only some people are creative and you’re not one of the chosen few. You are creative; it’s just a matter of figuring out in what way. So find things you’re curious about and that are interesting to you, use your imagination a little (even when the ideas sound silly), utilize all that knowledge you have locked away in that brain of yours, stay motivated and work at it, and surround yourself with others who are doing the same.

Tomorrow we’ll look at this from the organizational level. In the meantime, what would you add to this list? What helps you be creative?

“I want to be a leader, but I keep tripping myself up,” he said, sounding frustrated. That’s not a verbatim quote, but it was something like that.

But you already are a leader, I thought to myself.

“There’s no way I’ll ever be a CEO,” he mumbled, still forlorn.

“Why are you worried about being a CEO?” I asked.

“Because that’s like the epitome of leadership,” he said. “And Sara [name substituted] said I could be one someday.”

“It wouldn’t surprise me a bit if you did become one,” I said. “But I’m still not sure why you’re worried about that right now.”

“Well I can’t be a CEO and keep screwing things up.”

I snorted. You cannot be serious, I thought to myself.

“You don’t think executives screw things up?”

“Well no I just meant that –”

“Meant what?” I said, cutting him off. “You’ve convinced yourself of so many leadership lies that you almost don’t know which way is up.”

Managers, front line folks, leaders, aspiring leaders, execs — we all fall for leadership lies sometimes. They’re these myths that we believe for some strange reason, and not only do we believe them, but we remind ourselves of their veracity over and over and over again.

Here are a few I here with more frequency.

1. “I want to be a leader, but [insert random excuse here.]“

I like big buts and I cannot lie, you other brothers can’t deny…

Except in this situation here, where the buts are subconscious parachutes. If you really, truly want to lead, then lead. Brilliant, right? I’ve yet to hear of an organization telling someone to stop demonstrating leadership ability.

2. “I need a title to lead.”

Repeat after me: A title does not make you a leader any more than dressing in a bedazzled white jumpsuit makes you Elvis.

I think the fixation comes from so many years within which rigidly hierarchical power structures squelched any and all initiative, independent thought, etc. But it’s 2013 kids. Sure, there are still some really anal organizations, but they’re increasingly full of anal people who dig that sort of thing. For the rest of us, there are options. And when you find yourselves situated somewhere, you can lead, regardless of whether you have what would be considered a formal leadership title or not.

3. “I try to lead but no one follows me.”

Keep this in mind too: leadership may not look exactly like what you thought it would or should.

You’re not going to walk in in the morning and within one hour have every teammate decked out in kilts and blue face paint ready to go to battle. A good place to start would be to read up on servant leadership. A guy named Greenleaf is most responsible for bringing it into the modern era conversation on leadership.

4. The path to leadership is paved by making fewer mistakes.

False.

5. Leaders make fewer mistakes.

False again. They’re human.

So what does that mean for you? It means that if you’re really a leader, you’re going to lead, regardless of what some silly nameplate or awful business card says. Additionally, you’re not going to fall into the trap of thinking that leading is just telling others what to do when in fact it’s more about serving others. So be human. Be you. Serve others. Lead well. The rest will take care of itself.

You get this idea. You take the idea and do something with it; you take it from concept to reality. Then you take that prototype and make it even better. And then you keep making that product, providing that service, etc.

You can see the things that have to happen. Ideation, creation, refining, and making it real.

1. Ideators

The sort of ideation we’re talking about here tends to have its origins in the minds of strategists, creators, and visionaries. It’s these folks who love to think, think, think. They might even be what some would call a bit of an “odd duck” or maybe an introvert. And just as you’re about to whisper to your colleague that Mr. Ideation over there wastes so much time thinking, Mr. I walks over to your area and says something starting with “So I have an idea I wanted to run by you…” Four and a half minutes later you’re trying to decide if the idea is crazy, brilliant, or a tasty cocktail of both.

2. Creators

But then what? Say the idea is fanfreakingtastic. It can’t simply live in Mr. Ideation’s head in perpetuity. That’s where our creators come in. They’re the ones who can decode these half-delusion-half-illuminations, and bring them from their current abstract form into something more concrete and tangible.

3. Refiners

But even then we’re not done, are we? We can’t simply make or do a thing one time and call it good. This is where the refiners come in. They take the creator’s prototype and start fiddling with it, pushing on it, prodding it, kicking the tires, kicking the tires harder, taking a knife to the tires, and figuring out every possible way they can conceive of to make the thing better.

4. The Finishers

At that point, you have a fully-formed, refined, widget. But now what? Here’s where your make-it-real folks come into the picture. They make it happen, whatever that means. Maybe that means closing deals. Perhaps that includes finding efficient ways to make an s-ton of widgets. They make those widgets — the same ones that were at one point some cockamamie idea floating around Mr. Ideator’s head — a real and viable thing.

Now, you smartypants kids (you know who you are — the ones who complained to the rest of us when you got a 99 on a test in your super-duper advanced Calculus for gifted students course) are thinking But wait, I do elements of each of those every day. Does that mean I’m still smarter than everyone else in the class?