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Creating the Creative Climate - Part 4

The man who really does want more ideas can begin to demon­strate it by following some advice that is so old, it is almost trite:

Maintain an open-door policy. Most executives have heard this, and many practice it. But the reason it doesn't always work for those who do practice it is that the door is often the only thing that is really open—the mind beyond the door is not.

Many executives who consider themselves to be completely approachable actually discourage any employees from approach­ing simply because the boss does not really mean it. A "boss" must be easy to talk to. He must, himself, assume the burden of making the interview successful when an employee comes in to submit an idea. After all, many employees don't really know (because they haven't been taught) how to present an idea. Furthermore, the average employee may lack confidence in his own idea. This comes, in part, from lack of experience. The organized effort to promote more creatively is a relatively new force in our cul­ture. If yours is an average company, you may as well assume that, up to now, no one has ever tried to encourage your workers to use their imaginations; no one has ever made them conscious of ideas, or what ideas are, or how to go about having them. You have the job of developing the confidence if you want the creativity. Therefore, it is up to you to pave the way. You must be a good listener when an employee comes to you with an idea; you must resist any temptation to reject the idea before you have given it enough thought to make sure that you fully understand it yourself.

If you, as an executive, have not formed the habit of trying to encourage your people to submit ideas, you will also have to watch out for another personal pitfall: that of prematurely re­jecting an idea through false pride. This, unfortunately, happens quite frequently. It may stem from the executive's chagrin that he didn't think of the idea himself—or from his fear of admitting to superiors that one of his subordinates was ahead of him on a problem. This makes it difficult for the executive to be objective in evaluating the idea, and, if it is your problem, will mean an added burden for you of always checking to be sure that you are being scrupulously fair to both the idea and the employee be­fore rejecting or accepting any new suggestion.

It has been said of Igor Sikorsky, one of the great aeronautical designers of all times and a creative man in tune with creative minds, that whenever a subordinate came to him with a sugges­tion, he would say, "Excellent! Now let's work it out this way" —and, busily sketching, he would often make radical changes. When the part got into production, it was often Sikorsky's design, but so well had he handled it that the employee believed it was his!

Related terms include business performance management and business knowledge.