What Motivates Creative People?

Until now creativity has been viewed as important but not essential for the survival of a company.  Companies instead have focused on efficiency, productivity, and continuous improvement to lead them to success.

But priorities are dramatically changing. In a Global CEO Survey conducted by IBM, CEOs identified "creativity" as the most important factor for the successful company of the future. 

By “creativity” they mean truly innovative skills found in jobs like architects, data scientists, designers, etc. ---- skills believed to have true strategic value.   Any employee can be creative in his/her work, but the result is not likely to be a “show-stopper” for the company as would the work results of this “creative group”.

Creative employees are different—certainly in the workplace.   Most of them just don’t care about the same things as other employees.  Because they are different, managers have had difficulty knowing how to motivate them.  None of the usual practices that work with other employees seem to work with them.

Creative employees are intrinsically motivated.  They set extraordinarily high standards for themselves.  Research has shown that management can’t get them to work harder or perform better by saying “here’s some more money”.  When extrinsic rewards are being dangled in front of them like carrots on a stick, they feel externally controlled — which becomes a negative for motivation. It’s almost like the more you pay them to do what they love, the less they will love it.

Of course companies need to pay them “enough” to satisfy them. If they don’t, compensation becomes a sore point and distraction.  In addition, they might have a spouse who is less interested in creativity than in paying the mortgage and saving for the kids’ college.

But if management really wants outstanding creative performance, the key is intrinsic motivation– the work itself. 

This is consistent with what I have been told by a couple of my creative friends who have started up companies and now are venture capitalists.  It’s not the money that motivates them (even though they usually make tons of it).  It’s the challenge, the “aha” moments, the discoveries that lead to significant breakthroughs that are the “highs” creative people live for. It’s almost addictive, and it’s absolutely the driver behind their success.

Example:  The wife of one of these friends tells the story of one of her husband’s “aha” moments.   He was in the shower when he had an “aha” moment ---- bolted from the shower and ran naked and dripping wet through the house to his office pumping his arms and singing at the top of his voice.  His path took him through the family room where she was entertaining some friends.   He was totally oblivious --- caught up in the high.

So how can management use the work itself to motivate creative employees?

1)Provide them the right work environment ---- free from bureaucratic excesses, administrative work, unrealistic/changing deadlines, company politics and micromanagement.  
2) Don’t make status check calls and keep track of what’s done/left to do. Spend time with them and really listen to what they have done. Try to understand how they approach and solve problems and what has worked/hasn’t worked.
3) Give them an important problem to solve that the company urgently needs solved. Let them know (if true) that no one else has been able to crack it. This can be a real motivator.

Being told what to do and how to do it with no tolerance of failure, little expectation of recognition, and arbitrary deadlines, can kill motivation. But providing a positive atmosphere where failures are examined constructively, where management really listens and success is recognized in unique ways, can result in spectacular results.

It takes work.  But isn’t it worth it?   CEOs seem to think so. 

What has your experience been in trying to motivate “creatives”?  Any successes you can share?

Jacque Vilet, President of Vilet International, has over 20 years’ experience in Global Human Resources with major multinationals such as Intel, National Semiconductor and Seagate Technology. She has managed both local/ in-country national and expatriate programs and has been an expat twice during her career.   Her true love is working with local national issues.  Jacque has the following certifications:  CCP, GPHR, HCS and SWP as well as a B.S. and M.S in Psychology and an MBA.    She belongs to SHRM, Human Capital Institute and World at Work.   Jacque been a speaker in the U.S., Asia and Europe, and is a regular contributor to various HR and talent management publications. 

Comments

[Vidal F]

Great article Jacque! It is indeed seem as a challenge for leaders to "manage" creative people, sometimes marginalized and labeled "high maintenance" due to the amount to attention they need.

But you know what? For one it’s definitely not for every company, and second it pays off considerably to have such individuals in your team if you organization has a nurturing culture.

They can't all be innovative genius, but if you get the right people they can certainly "contaminate" the rest of the staff to step up the game – and which company doesn’t want this problem?!

Here are two recent articles worth reading on the subject:

http://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/the-7-characteristics-of-highly-creative-people.html

http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2013/04/seven_rules_for_managing_creat.html

[Jacque Vilet]

Thanks Vidal. There are so many articles now about how to interview to make sure a person will "fit" the culture of a company. Well . . . . that's true you want to have people that "fit" --- but you need some (not a lot) of people that will "stir the pot". To shake things up, bring in new ideas, challenge the status quo. The problem is that these people really can be high maintance. BUT CEOs seem to think innovation/creativity is really critical now. So . . . .

[John A Bushfield]

Jacque - Creativity is an interesting phenomenon, and can mean different things to different people. It can be difficult to identify, and is many times a concealed attribute. I believe most of us have creative abilities, which under the right circumstances can be exercised in positive and meaningful ways.

The motivational steps you outline apply not just to demonstrably creative employees; they really apply to all employees. A work environment free of bureaucracy and politics, which provides a high degree of autonomy to work on important stuff can produce surprising results; even from those 'non-creative' individuals.

[Jacque Vilet]

So true. I certainly didn't mean to ignore other employees and agree that we all have some degree of creativity.

Just focusing on those employees that come up with the kinds of ideas that make the bottom line jump.

[Catherine Longo]

Motivation is such a hot topic in my workplace. I am a manager for a group of physician recruiters. The sales cycle is long so keeping them motivated is tough. I do feel that as a manager, you must know what motivates your people because it is different of course for each person. As far as incentives go, I have found that offering "PTO" (paid time off), is a strong motivator for increasing productivity.

[Jacque Vilet]

Thank you for your comments Catherine. Agree that motivation is different for each person.