As Gordon Torr shares, creativity is a driving force of modern economies and of civilization. While productivity remains important, only innovation can give a company or a society a let up on the other. Unfortunately, few people are highly creative – a trait that requires both talent and nurturing. Managing talent in a way that leads to productive results is its own challenge with its own nuance. Torr shares some thoughts that can advance good ideas into reality.
Torr’s demographics should be noted: He’s in industry, he’s a Brit, and he’s from an advertising background. I work in academics (medical research), I’m an American, and I work in technology. Thus, managing creativity looks very different for us. Nonetheless, I found a few suggestions that I could take from this book.
He compares managing creatives to the job that patrons did for creatives centuries ago. They covered the cost of living, commissioned open but directed work, and then rewarded noteworthy results. By doing so, they nurtured a promising person’s creativity. He also highlights that such people deserve recognition on their own right because without them, the creative genius would not be expressed.
To be honest, the first half of the book did not hit my sweet spot. Torr discusses the virtues of creative people – a topic I do not need convincing of. He then describes how people need to accommodate creatives’ personal foibles, like a self-interested nature or social oddity. While I’m always a fan of more tolerance, I’m likewise concerned that creatives don’t become rude and ill-mannered, too. Torr needs more balance and moderation on that point. I’m concerned that this book, like society at large, can become a bit of “us vs. them.”
Overall, this book provides an interesting read about the position of creatives in the business world. In the sciences in universities, I feel that many of these concerns are thankfully better managed that Torr describes. I appreciate his attention to the need for creatives to drive organizations and society along. I wish more people would collaborate with creatives – and more creatives would collaborate with business – so that we can advance society together.
Managing Creative People: Lessons in Leadership for the Ideas Economy
By Gordon Torr
Copyright (c) 2008
John Wiley & Sons
ISBN13 9780470726457
Page Count: 293
Genre: Management
www.amazon.com