Let's Get Creative

Published by Ryan Paugh on March 15th, 2007 in Work | 0 Comments

As a simple cog in the complex mechanics of Corporate America, it's rare that I find something worth being thankful for (besides Friday), but today was a different day. I was thinking a lot about creativity, or lack thereof in the office, and I realized I probably have one of the coolest bosses in all of upper-management.

Why is she so cool? I've never seen someone in her position battle a bunch of dry, conservatives so valiantly only to get the majority of her creative talents transformed into mundane garbage. That's the kind of leader Gen-Y can look up to.

For me, the hardest part about getting through a "9 to 5" is the lack of creativity in what I do. And yes, having the amazing boss that I do, occasionally we'll get something by the head honchos and have a little fun, but that's few and far between.

Can you imagine how energetic employees would become if big business would just "let it all hang out," so to speak? And I don't expect some big transformation either, business is business and sometimes you can't get past the fact that it's overwhelmingly dull, but a little imagination would go a long way.

As a member of Gen-Y, I know we would respond kinder to the corporate world if we added a little flare to the routine workload. For instance, the other day my division sat down together, informally, and talked to one another. Without all the business jargon, we went around the room said a few things nobody knew about each other, then offered a few ideas to improve the way we do work.

Pretty simple huh? It's amazing what can happen when you put all the dry formalities of a staff meeting aside and talk like people normally do. And not once did someone mention how we could "leverage" something. I can't even explain how refreshing that was.

This interaction was a catalyst for a surge of evolutionary thought. If the corporate world wants to keep Gen-Y interested in what they have to offer, it's time to break down the conservative attitude and get inventive.

Some of my best moments in the corporate world began when a manager asked me to "get creative with it." That phrase is rocket fuel for my ego! I feel like I can do anything when I'm not held captive by the norm. Nevertheless, the typical day of lackluster projects leave my keyboard collecting dust. Even in my own writing, I find that a long day of complying with someone else's standards extinguishes my creative spark.

My proposal to the business world is to stop thinking that the conventional way is always the right way. Businesses seem to evolve not just by creating new business deliveries, but by creating new ways of delivering business.

So take a chance. Use your Gen-Y employees to that goal. We have a lot of great ideas that we're too intimidated to share. Encourage a little "thinking outside the box" and we'll crawl right out of our shell.

What do you have to lose? If it backfires, you can always just put the blame on us…