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Creating the Creative Climate - Part 13

If the letter is to reject an idea, it should summarize the details of the proposed suggestion; tell and explain what action was taken; and tell why the idea cannot be adopted. Give the worker enough information about your investigation of his idea to show that it was considered fairly. Then be sure to thank the suggester and ask him to try again. The whole letter should be positive in nature and show appreciation of the worker's effort, coopera­tion in company objectives, and his eagerness to do a better job.

If the letter is one informing a worker that his idea has been accepted, you follow somewhat the same general content: de­scribe his suggestion briefly; explain the investigation and testing, if any; show him the benefits you expect from it; explain how his reward or award was computed; encourage him to submit more ideas. And, of course, express your appreciation. Remember that the successful "inventor" will "spread the word around" that they do, indeed, like good ideas "upstairs." Give him some proof in the form of intelligent information of just how his idea was handled from beginning to end.

All of this makes it apparent that building a more creative climate is not the easiest task an executive can undertake. How­ever, the stakes are high and the rewards are tremendous. Mr. A. L. Simberg, Supervisor of Personnel, Research and Develop­ment of the AC Spark Plug Division, made a report on the four-year results of their program. He said: "While many tangible re­sults and dollar savings have occurred either directly or indirectly because of the Creativity Program, it is impossible to list them all. In addition to specific results, many employees have made general statements along the following lines:

1. The creativity program has tended to make everyone much more aware of problems and problem areas and has increased their sensitivity to them.

2. People are much more responsive to suggestions. They are willing to try many more things than previously. The basic philosophy of the entire organization has been permeated with "green light" thinking. The first reaction to novel ideas is seldom negative.

3. The number of ideas has shown a marked up-turn. Evidentially, the theorem that quantity helps in producing quality seems to have taken effect. The first obstacle encountered seldom stops anyone any more.

4. Much value to the organization has accrued from the principle of having more than one solution to a problem. It is the rule, rather than the exception, for people to turn in three or four alternatives for solving problems.

5. The creativity program has helped our employees not only on the job, but in their home life and outside activities as well. One engineer, who also serves as a minister on Sundays, attests to its help in preparing his sermons; another talks about its uses in working through the local Youth Bureau and finding unusual and interesting
tasks for the boys with whom he works.

At the Duquesne, Pennsylvania, Works of the U.S. Steel Cor­poration, a unique company-wide creativity program aimed at in­creasing safety is under way with the title "Operation Attitude." Mr. W. W. Keenan, Supervisor of Safety, reported that in the first two years of the program, the workers of the Duquesne plant had completed the study of 4,300 job procedures. Unnumbered changes in operating practice, and hundreds of pieces of equip­ment, large and small, were installed at the suggestion of the production workers themselves.

"Operation Attitude has the effect of giving us 6,000 safety men," says Mr. Keenan. "And having that many persons concen­trating on this job is a lot more effective than relying on a few hundred management personnel or a handful of safety engineers, believe me."

He also reported that out of the study of the 4,300 standard pro­cedures have come literally hundreds of recommendations for new or different equipment, or changes or additions to machinery already in use, in order to provide maximum safety on the job. Some of these recommendations, he said, are so simple and under­standable that safety men shudder to think that they overlooked them. Others are more complex and reflect sound thinking and long years of experience on the job.

But profitable and productive as a creative climate can be, there is one caution for the executive who undertakes to build it in his company: it cannot be accomplished overnight no matter how willing or how sold you yourself are. But one thing we do know:

Creativity in any company must come from the top!

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