Ithuta JV

Source - Article by Bob Andrew

There are usually two types of people in any project team; those that generate new ideas and those that don’t. The creative ones are those that make mistakes and the non-creative those that don’t. Regrettably, it is usually the ones who never make mistakes that get noticed for promotion. Those that do make mistakes sometimes, either voluntarily or involuntarily, leave the project team, often to join other project teams where mistakes are viewed as part of the creative process. If they stay on, they are forced to learn not to make mistakes and in so doing become less and less creative. Eventually, the whole project team is likely to end up with a total complement of non-creative staff.

Non-creative people often prey on the mistakes of others, behaving like predators. They focus on and devour the mistakes, with little appreciation of the idea itself. They show very little enthusiasm for anything new or different. They do not realise that the innovative process includes making mistakes, and that creative people should be judged on the number of mistakes made, since this indicates the number of new ideas being developed. It’s the final result that really counts, and truly creative people will get to a final result, irrespective of the number of failures along the way.

In project teams, predators are easy to recognise: they are nitpickers, topic-jumpers and blockers. They are usually very negative in outlook, shirk responsibility and have little urgency, purpose or sense of direction. Predators will not take risks. Their growth cycle usually comprises the elements of non-achievement, boredom, low self confidence, immobilisation and non-achievement. A creative person’s development cycle, on the otherhand, comprises the achievement of goals, satisfaction, pride and enhanced self confidence. Predators and producers of new ideas do not work well together.

...

In one of his early books, A Passion For Excellence, Tom Peters suggested that creative people should be separated from predators, especially if working on fast track innovative projects. Treating creative people as skunks will make a project ‘smell’ of innovation. Skunks do not need a manager, they have no regard for corporate status symbols and will generally work to their own rules. Most skunks see themselves as free agents or as independent contractors. Skunks work well together: they will freely initiate ideas, they will seek and give opinions and will readily clarify, elaborate and summarise ideas among themselves. They will keep communicating with each other and will show encouragement and compromise where necessary. The sense of urgency that skunks have results in quick development/testing/modification of a new idea. Bring predators into the team and these group attributes will fast evaporate. How often have good skunk ideas vaporised when predators have become involved, for example, when good ideas have been confronted by predator accountants, planners, quality control specialists, time and motion experts and human resource departments? Skunks know that the rapid testing and proving of a new idea is the main task at hand. Other requirements can be considered and implemented later.

Skunks thrive on failure, for they view every one as a new challenge leading to the attainment of their goals. Their mission in life is to avoid boredom. Thomas Edison was a good skunk: he tried 10,000 different materials (9,999 were failures) for the electric light bulb. Skunks have two important attributes, which distinguish them from predators; they have drive and they are fast. Predators should learn not to mess with skunks!