Harness Creativity Through Best Practice
I just perused a presentation that one of my team members gave me from another business pundit that thinks that best practices are a bad idea. It reminds of a book I read called Be an Orange in B-school 15 years ago, and other books I have seen since.
They all expound on the need for us each to be “different” in all ways in how we approach our work. Imagine a company where everyone does everything different – chaos and unhappiness!
This premise that to be different requires avoiding anything in the realm of wisdom or best practices is bad advice. These books seem to be written by folks who while creative have limited understanding on how to lead others.
Keep in mind, at the fundamental level, it is people that get any great idea built and people who must operate a successful company.
There are certain types who are better-suited work on the “new-new” and some who prefer absolute consistency. Both are required to run a company. When you find the former, keep and nurture them. But even the ability to thrive in the ambiguity of disruption (new markets and new systems) requires a basis of predictability and consistency in the approach to getting the work done.
In my opinion, these books are outright false, or at least in-genuine. Innovators should always strive for creativity, but leaders must constantly seek a means to simplify what we do through the pragmatism of process and best practice. This makes life easier for those who help us get our ideas to market.
Final Words
By the way, I went to Amazon to see if I could find that Orange book, and as I expected it was not there. Looks like the author has finally come around and has written a new book called The Simple Truth About Your Business: Why Focused and Steady Beats Business at the Speed of Light. I wondered what happened to all those oranges he made? If you want really good advice I suggest skipping the snake oil salesman and reading Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan. These are innovators and leaders that are worth the listen.
To your health,
The Team at imagine.GO
