by Artwell Nwaila (@artwelln) In April 2013, Harvard Business Review published an article by Dr Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, titled “Seven Rules for Managing Creative People”. You may have come across the article because it sparked huge controversy as it used words such as “arrogant,” “bipolar” and “psychopathic” to describe creatives.
[HBR updated the headline on the post in question 10 April 2013 to “reflect that its intent is to discuss a small subset of people who happen to be both creative and difficult to work with; not to imply that all creative people are difficult”. The new headline reads “Seven Rules for Managing Creative-But-Difficult People”. — ed]
The silliest solutions
The article suggests the silliest solutions for dealing with creatives which include paying creative poorly because it drives productivity. And, if that is not ridiculous enough, the good doctor suggests that creatives should be surrounded by boring people, otherwise they will compete for ideas.
The article in summary looks like this:
- Spoil them and let them fail
- Surround them by semi-boring people
- Only involve them in meaningful work
- Don’t pressure them
- Pay them poorly [since changed to “Don’t overpay them”]
- Surprise them
- Make them feel important
Seven MORE ways
I could go on for days about this crazy article but instead have chosen to provide seven more ways to piss off creatives.
- Brief creatives verbally
Miscommunication is a big problem in any industry. It gets even trickier when it comes to translating instructions into creativity. It sounds like common sense but it’s a real issue.
Quick tips that won’t get your tyres slashed:
- Don’t brief verbally
- Don’t brief on a post-it and
- Don’t brief on the phone
- The “Please make the logo bigger” syndrome
Dear managers, design is not about the logo being bigger. Logo size does not relate to sales. Let the professionals finish the job and then discuss branding options that work at the end.
I can hear designers rising up to do the slow clap.
- Personal favors
If you are not going to pay extra, don’t ask creatives to do your personal duties.
Photographers and designer will agree with this point — no, we will not design your kid’s eight birthday invite, even if it will only take 10 minutes!
- Backseat creatives
There is nothing more annoying than a manager, or any senior person who is not specialised in creativity, hovering over your shoulder. This limits creative thinking and I’m sure it’s illegal somewhere on the planet.
- Death by deadlines
Ridiculously short deadlines equal terribly bad creative work, which in turn equals exhausted, unhappy staff. Expectations should be managed responsibly on all sides.
- Morbidly long meetings
It’s simple: creatives are allergic to long pointless gatherings unless there’s booze or entertainment
- Quote of death: “It shouldn’t take long”
If you want your creative department to go postal, keep on saying “it won’t take long”. Unless you have some kind of creative qualification, you will never know how long a job takes.
Other terms that will find you being a victim of a drive-by shooting are: “Make it pop”, “Be creative”, “Work your magic” and “Make it look like…”
Add the above to Dr Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic’s list and you have the perfect recipe to annoy creative successfully.
Artwell Nwaila (@artwelln) is a creative director at Offlimit Communications and publisher of the award-winning creative publication SA Creatives (@thesacreatives). His monthly column on MarkLives, “Creation”, takes a look at creative work from around the world and what we can learn from it in South Africa.
— MarkLives’ round-up of top ad and media industry news and opinion in your mailbox every three work days. Sign up here!