creative@work

Ideas on Creativity for Executives in Marketing, Communications and Public Relations Issue 6 – December 2005

other people’s words

Don’t find fault! Find remedy!
― Henry Ford, founder of The Ford Motor Company

introduction
Since I began writing these monthly essays on creativity, one topic prevails among the responses I receive from
readers: how do you manage negativity in a brainstorm? The e-mails come from people frustrated with
supervisors or colleagues who ruin brainstorms with their negative attitude, but also from the supervisors and
colleagues themselves who realize, but don’t know how, or more so why they’re being negative. Since it’s
actually two intertwined and equal topics ― negativity and how to manage it, and how to properly prepare and
manage a brainstorm ― here’s a two-part creative@work.

how to kill creativity

Outside of house plants, is there anything easier to kill than creativity?
Many exceptionally fragile things come to mind: an egg, flowers, the ego of a Hollywood celebrity. But none
have less resiliency than creativity. How sad because creativity allows us to create or do something new and
different in our lives, to prevent it from falling into a mundane pattern, even for the most routine among us.
Its frailty is even more acute for business because creativity is as vital to corporate health and success as
accounting, operations and manufacturing. Peter Drucker took it one step further, famously arguing that
business has only two real functions: marketing and innovation. Beyond the well-known examples (Amazon,
Dell, Google or Ikea) companies like Illinois (USA) Tool Works ― makers of such exciting equipment as industrial
fasteners and zip-strip enclosures ― have said creativity and innovation are its two imperatives to long-term
growth, a point echoed in the media just a few days later by the new director of the Nippon Keidanren (the
Japan Business Federation). More and more universities now offer separate curricula in creativity and innovation
in its MBA programs, and as topics, they are one of the most requested subjects from the archives of Harvard
Business Review, Business Week and The McKinsey Quarterly.
I could go on and on, but we’d be violently agreeing that creativity and innovation are extremely important,
and by default, that brainstorms are important. Yet, there seems to be universal agreement that negativity is the
single biggest obstacle to creativity. More so, negativity in brainstorms ― whether it’s a brainstorm in a
conference room, or a spur-of-the-moment discussion over a desktop ― frequently prevents us from being
creative at work. Why the contradiction between our belief and behaviour? What causes negativity? And most
of all, what can we do about it?
Negativity is actually many emotions and behaviours, exhibited in many different ways, among them pessimism
(that won’t work), adversarial (let me play devil’s advocate), dismissal (we’ve already tried that) or disdain (that’s a
stupid idea). It’s often self-directed. We self-censure or criticize our thoughts, using emotional and perceptual
blocks to burden our creative thinking, such as: I’m not creative. I don’t feel creative ___ (today, this morning).
I’m not as creative as “so and so.” I’m really uncomfortable when I have to be creative.
The dynamics of a group fuel our negativity further, compounding the problem with a larger range and depth
of emotions, mostly fear, such as: I will lose face in front of my peers. People will think my ideas are dumb or bad. I
hate making public mistakes. I fear taking risks which might jeopardize _____ (my job, my reputation). I fear exposing
my weaknesses in front of others. Other emotions are based on insecurity or chaos. I hate ambiguity. I can only
evaluate in terms of how much something will cost. I must be highly efficient at work because mistakes are costly and
wrong.
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Why we are negative is a more complex conversation. The most common answer I hear is people are
impatient to get the creative ideas. Brainstorming ― harnessing the intellectual power of a group of people to
solve a problem or generate new ideas ― is ideal in theory, but in the immortal words of a colleague: Where’s
the intelligence in wasting time coming up with ideas which don’t or won’t work? Give me the ‘big idea’ now. Again,
there’s a certain irony here. Why can we spend a considerable amount of time on discussing, debating and
massaging the right strategy, but then be too anxious to wait for the creative process to happen appropriately?
Is it because creative thinking is essentially invisible (there’s no reports, analysis or statistical data) so it doesn’t
seem like there’s any work? We wrongly have the false impression that ideas should appear before us in perfect
form, in a blinding flash of inspiration ― no work, no labour ― and that simply never happens.
Other people I speak to clearly want to avoid any personal blame. They say it’s a conditioned response (and
they’re right), built up through formal education. In school, we are taught to learn one common answer
through memorization, or a repetitive way of doing a specific task. In other words, there’s one way to do
something ― and anything else is wrong. That’s virtually the opposite of creativity: creating as many possible
solutions to solve a need or problem.
We could also blame our negativity on how our culture (innate or chosen) influences how we live, work and
think. We define ourselves ― or are defined ― by “society” which could be our nationality, our community or
our workplace, and to change that definition can take a Herculean effort. In fact, some cultures see negativity
― in particular, toward creativity ― as acceptable, if not preferable. Being, acting or thinking different has been
wrong in virtually every country on Earth. It’s understandable that it may be one of the most difficult
influences to overcome, but it’s certainly not a reason to stay the same.

Finally, there’s the unacceptable school of thought which

suggests that we’re negative because it’s an unconscious way to We ultimately rob
avoid work or change. If I am negative, nothing happens. I don’t ourselves and the
have to do anything. I don’t have to change the status quo. I don’t
have to work harder. I don’t have to challenge myself. It’s also easy organization around us
to rationalize too. I help others by correcting their mistakes. I
clarify the group’s confusion by dominating all other opinions with of our most valuable
my own. I mentor others by demonstrating how smart I am by
pointing out why a particular idea won’t work. Shocking really: asset: new and original
not only do we not have to lift a finger, we can feel good about
ourselves in the process! thinking.
If we watch a negative person, we can see the destructive power of negativity, particularly its residual effect on
the situation as well as the organization’s culture. Short-term negativity ― in a brainstorm or meeting, for
example ― immediately fills the air with irritation, suspicion or fear, apprehension and animosity. It always
causes the other party to stop contributing momentarily, if not for the remainder of the meeting. Anything
resembling a collaborative environment ceases to exist. If the negativity continues long-term, becoming more
ingrained and accepted in the culture, the atmosphere eventually debilitates people altogether, creating
passive and apathetic employees.
Yes, it’s always easy to see faults in others ― how negative of us! ― but the real question is whether we can
recognize negativity in ourselves and stop it as quickly as possible. If not, we become an active part in
devastating our creativity ― in ourselves, in our teams, in our corporate culture, in the corporation itself. We
ultimately are robbing ourselves and the organization around us of our most valuable asset: new and original
thinking.
Does negativity ever have any positive value? I don’t believe so. There’s a vast difference between being
negative because we want to destroy an idea, and being constructive because we want to build on an idea and
make it better. Is it worth expending energy on a bad idea that will die on its own at the end of the
brainstorm? Is it worth tearing down a colleague’s confidence to build up our own? Perhaps it’s better to
show our teammates how to create and improve an idea ― all ideas ― so all of us win.
Above all, it may not be easy to overcome the detrimental effects of negative creative energy, but it’s not
impossible. The points I’ve outlined below are merely a guide, for yourself or to share with your teams to
understand and discuss the attitudes and actions of negativity. They can create long-term benefits only if
there’s a conscientious and ongoing agreement to keep negativity at bay ― starting, first and foremost ― in
your next brainstorm.
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1. Remember the purpose of creativity. It’s about producing the greatest volume of ideas that become
future products, enhanced features, improved services. To do so requires time, risks, mistakes and mind-
and soul-searching. If you let negativity prevent this from happening, then you’re fundamentally working
against yourself and the good of the organization.

2. Demonstrate that creativity is a skill to be learned, nurtured and rewarded. It’s more than simply
painting conference room walls vivid colours or placing toys on desks. Recognize people for thinking
differently in ways which are beneficial and pro-active toward the organization’s business situations.
Reward people for finding new ways to solve old problems, particularly in ways which run against the
typical methods of your corporate culture.

3. Censure your negativity instead of your creativity. In creative situations like a brainstorm, say nothing
instead of saying anything negative. If the brainstorm is properly run, the bad ideas will be discarded at the
end of the meeting. There is absolutely no reason to be pre-maturely judgmental. Again, the purpose of a
brainstorm is to generate as many ideas as possible. Don’t get in the way of that objective.

4. Force yourself to be positive instead of negative. There will always be bad ideas in brainstorms. Don’t
waste energy to deflate them further. Rather, focus your attention on the ideas which have potential.
Encourage people to build pro-actively to improve interesting ideas into good ideas. Improve ideas by
fixing them instead of pointing out the problems, particularly if you have seniority above the attendees.

5. If you must be negative, be negative about your negativity. Challenge why you’re dismissing an idea.
Instead of asking Why?, ask Why not? Address the real problem: Is it your fears or insecurities? You aren’t
sure how to sell this idea to your supervisor? Are you wary how you’ll build acceptance internally for a
particular idea? Spend time brainstorming how you’ll implement the idea externally and how your team
might generate support for the idea internally.

6. Remove yourselves from the creative situation if you can’t curtail your negativity. It’s your
corporate duty to do so. Besides, you probably have other work which needs your attention. If you feel
you need to be present, join the brainstorm at its end to see what’s been accomplished and to positively
comment only about the best ideas. Most of all, avoid distracting the best creative people around you
from the real issue at hand ― to come up with the very best ideas that you, your team and your company
needs to be successful for long-term growth.

Š Š Š

Burson-Marsteller is one of the largest communications advisory and public relations firms in the world, and proudly
holds an unrivalled track record in Asia Pacific. With its first office in Asia more than 30 years ago, Burson-Marsteller
Asia Pacific twice in the last four years received PR Week’s ‘Asia Pacific Agency Network of the Year’ Award. Burson-
Marsteller Asia Pacific has 25 offices in 14 countries throughout Asia, Australasia and the Middle East.

About the Author

Andy Eklund serves two capacities for Burson-Marsteller Asia Pacific: as regional creative director for
client services, and as managing director of training for Burson-Marsteller University Asia Pacific.
Formerly Burson-Marsteller’s worldwide creative director, Andy has taught more than 500+
communications skills workshops in 20 countries. If you would like more information on creativity,
innovation or communications training, please contact Andy directly at andy_eklund@bm.com, or at
+61 (2) 9928 1500. All creative@work points of view can be found at http://www.burson-
marsteller.com/pages/insights/povs
© 2005 Burson-Marsteller