How can creatives and managers coexist?

2010 feb 24

The Myers Briggs personality tests are strong at classifying people into personality types, but what they are weak at is giving managers guidance on how they should handle the working relationships within a business. Creatives, in particular, are hard to "fit into" a rigid company culture.

In an article in the Bangkok Post, Dr Detlef Reis argues that although there may be an apparent conflict between the working practices of creatives and managers there are in fact ways in which they can work productively for the benefit of the company and its customers.

Dr Reis believes that creatives are inspired by a great challenge which they can solve through the creation of an elegant solution which will win the admiration of their colleagues and customers. For this to happen though, they need time to fully engage with the problem and come up with the most creative and - in their mind - the most desirable design.

Managers on the other hand are more focused on ticking off task lists and getting things done on time.

In order to balance these two world views, Dr Reis suggests that the company as a whole should focus on the end result of the creative process and to provide the resources required to enable it. The nature of these resources may range from the tangible - money, equipment - to the intangible - time, company culture - but the fundamental resource and requirement is a state of mind in all of the employees and managers of understanding of each others needs.

Links:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/economics/3308