Lets kick off 2012 with a bang. Here is the most viewed post of 2011. Tomorrow we will rip into some new content.

Childlike creativity is amazing. Kids know no boundaries or barriers…they just create.

A study performed by Amiable & Hennessy, researchers for the Harvard Business Review, uncovered several “Creativity Killers” for school age children – some of which also impact adults. The six “sure fire ways to crush children’s (or adult’s) creativity” look like this:

• Surveillance – Putting people under a microscope and making them feel like they’re being watched rarely produces great art. Any time we have to apply surveillance, we probably have made the wrong hire, do not have enough trust in our teams, or are being way too controlling.
• Extreme Evaluation – Extreme evaluation crushes a kid’s confidence. Likewise, it can crush an adult’s confidence. We need to learn to coach, develop, and articulate desired results. When dealing with creative people, it’s important to remember the emotions required to actually create. Without that contact to our feelings, we lose the ability to create from our core. Evaluation is necessary, extreme evaluation just kills creativity.
• Unhealthy Competition – Focusing on competing with ourselves to create our best work. Competition can be a motivation, but it rarely works when it’s used as manipulation. When we build a culture of winners – a culture that is always attempting to bring out the best in ourselves – we are often enabled to outdo our “competition”.
• Over-control – Micro-managing how your children accomplish tasks. We never excel when we are micro-managed. As creatives, it’s so important that we under promise and over deliver so we avoid the need for micro-management. Anyone who has been micro-managed knows the impact it has on our creative thought, process, and ability.
• Restricting choice – Hinders kids from tapping into their curiosity. Curiosity is vital to creation. When we restrict choices, we pull options off the table. This might be a healthy exercise to jumpstart the brainstorming process, but it’s not healthy when troubleshooting problems or trying to come up with new ways to destroy the status quo in our organizations.
• Unreal Expectations – Setting expectations that cannot be met. We have to be real with what is possible, what can be created, and clearly communicate those expectations in a healthy, honest, and constructive way.

Once we have identified these creativity killers, we are able to be more supportive and cultivate environments where our best creative content can excel. Finding out what kills creativity can go a long way in helping promote creative process.

We need to always be sure we are:

• Giving plenty of space for the creative process and creativity to thrive.
• Encouraging our creative teams. Creative people must know it’s safe for them to create and have the confidence necessary to try things that have never been tried before.
• Helping focus our teams on getting better project-by-project. You can’t expect to pull off Cirque du Soleil when you have not been able to complete one worship song correctly. Pace. Get better in steps so you can win as a team.
• The minute we feel we are micro-managing, step back and allow our teams to succeed or fail. Sometimes the best thing that can happen to our creative process is for it to break so we can get better.
• Providing options, not barriers. Look for opportunities and avoid restrictive language like “Can’t”, “Won’t”, or “Never”.
• Always being clear on our expectations. Articulate what can be done and how, when, what is desired. You will never go wrong when you have defined expectations.

What are some of the things you feel kills your creativity? What are solutions to help build more conducive environments for creating.

The 2nd most popular post from 2011 is about the resistance our pastors have to our creative process. Do you deal with this?

Over the past few months, I have had the privilege to talk to a lot of the creative class working in churches. The biggest frustration that seems to be existing is what I call “the resistance of my pastor.” Now, I have to be honest: I don’t face this resistance. In fact, I feel my pastor pushes me to stretch the boundaries. But I get it – I really do. So, here are a few things I have learned that might help you as a creative leader learn to co-exist with your pastor or pastoral team:

• Have respect. No one is always right, but you knew who the pastor was when you took the job. Respect your pastor, honor him, and continue to work hard for him – even when he does not like your ideas.
• If you are honest with yourself, is there a reason you are facing resistance? Have you checked your work ethic? Are you handling yourself appropriately? Are you owning your job or renting it? Are you meeting expectations? I have found that most of the time resistance is being encountered because at some point, trust has been lost between the pastor and the person facing the resistance. Find out why and fix it…TODAY.
• Walk in his shoes for a minute. He is running an entire organization. He has to account for everyone, not just the creative team. He may be seeing things you are not seeing and he knows things that are happening in the organization that you don’t know about yet. Trust him.
• Find a work around. Every pastor has a few things they care about more than anything else. Take the time to find out what your pastor cares about and deliver on those things. If you end up spending 50% of your time making sure that the things he cares about are taken care of, it will still leave you with 50% of your time to go develop, create, and innovate for your ministry.
• Be willing to be wrong. Understand that not every idea we have as a creative class is a great idea. Accept it and learn to allow yourself to be corrected.
• Remember who had the baby. When you work for a pastor who birthed a church, you have to remember that it is his child. God entrusted him with it and he is closer to it than you. Be a great steward of the work in front of you and try to go above and beyond to help this baby grow, mature, and develop.
• Worry more about creating momentum than being right. Your pastor has a desire for your church to grow. Worry more about doing things that will birth momentum in your organization than you are about being right. Being right and losing families or momentum wont help anyone.
• “He does not get my process.” Duh. That’s why he hired you. Explain it so he understands why you are doing what you are doing. Then, if that still does not clear up the situation, adjust. You are a creative person. You were made to adjust. Creative people must be the most flexible in the organization because we are leading the charge towards growth, change and new.
• Remember the law of age. Young people have great ideas; older people know how to get things done. Don’t freak out if your ideas meet resistance. If you are passionate about them, find ways to make them work and stop using the excuse that your pastor wont let you. If you earn his trust, he will let you.
• Hard work is the best bridge. Rarely do we hear about people being criticized for hard work. So, if you feel you are running into a brick wall, find ways to accomplish your goals INSIDE the structure of the organization. Work hard. Work harder than anyone else and you will develop trust that will allow your innovation to take shape.

We will continue this list at another time…

What have you found that helps you create in an environment where your boss may not understand what you are trying to accomplish?

The 3rd most viewed post this past year was about ideas. I would love to know what you think about it.

Creativity in leadership is expected more today than ever before. About 18 months ago, IBM sourced 150 CEO’s to ask what the most important trait in leadership had become. More than two thirds claimed creativity as the new go-to trait. This is not surprising in a world where innovation is quickly becoming the new “norm” and scaring the establishment. I mean, 15 years ago you still used a phone in your home with a cord. Now, you send emails from the phone in your pocket.

But, how does creativity translate in leadership? It’s not just marketing or ideation, creativity plays out best in leadership when it is allowed to be a natural extension of the person who stewards it; when the creative leader is allowed to look at situations, problems, systems, cultures, and then handle each scenario differently. See, it’s not as much about sitting around coming up with cool ideas or sexy campaigns as it is about doing the necessary work to find new and better ways to reach our goals.

There is no field where this could be more true than in our church world. We’ve fallen in love with our methods almost as much as our message. We’ve stopped innovating in ministry and have allowed our methods to determine what we do and when we do it. We’ve stopped creatively customizing ministry to meet the needs of our community! The reason that some churches are connecting better than others is not because of cool videos, good music or great programs. It’s because they’ve stopped being safe, challenged their methods, and started to lead creatively in their communities. These churches started to get creative with how they minister and started to GIVE something different.

Your organization is not going to morph form Xerox of the 80′s to Apple in a week. But, as the creative force of your organization, start to make small steps towards where you know you need to go. Start to challenge the status quo and ask a lot of questions. Stop accepting mediocre. If you know where we need to go, start taking us there. But, be steadfast…it WILL BE MESSY. Change creates FRICTION…and a lot of it. You will not win all the popularity contests, either, because change and creative leadership challenge our systems. People LOVE systems – but a lot of times, they’re broken. We need you to step up and help us fix it. Start today.

Today HUSTLE is the topic on the 4th most popular post from 2011. This is one of my personal favorites. We don’t get to control everything in our worlds, but we do have the responsibility to control what we can control…no matter what. Hope you enjoy.

There are so many variables in our lives that we can’t control – things like weather, nature, or other people’s actions or intentions. But there is something that we have total control over…how we do our work. We have control over what we do, how invested we are in what we do, and how we prioritize our time. We control how hard we work, when we rest, and how much prep we put into our project. We control our hustle.

• Hustle is a mentality.
• Hustle is not just our work ethic, it’s our approach to how we work.
• Hustle makes us do things others simply refuse to engage.
• Hustle is not mystic, hustle is practical.
• Hustle takes prioritizing and delegating.
• Hustle requires doing the hard work; the work that moves good to great.
• Hustle is going the extra extra mile.
• Hustle is the streets and the office.
• Hustle is being prepared so we have options.
• Hustle is getting to work, not having to work.
• Hustle is not based on salary, title, or resources.
• Hustle doesn’t allow excuses.
• Hustle doesn’t understand “can’t”.
• Hustle is setting other people up to win.
• Hustle is clearing obstacles, not allowing them to keep you from your goal.
• Hustle is the last 10% when 90% would do just fine.
• Hustle is the last tweak that most people wouldn’t notice.
• Hustle is going with your gut when you know it won’t be popular.
• Hustle is following that voice that says ‘this is crazy’.
• Hustle is getting up no matter how many times you’re knocked down.
• Hustle can’t stop.

We need your hustle. If you don’t hustle, we can’t be all that we’re intended to be.

Are you hustling? How do you define hustle? How do you engage a hustler’s mentality?

Leading a creative team is a heavy responsibility. Creative teams tend to be a little messy, a little emotional, and even a bit eccentric. The normal rules in management or leadership may not always apply. Everyday we learn new things about our teams and our selves that help us to find new ways to accomplish the goals that we are tasked to create. Leading a creative team starts with understanding of creative people. As creative teams create, they leave small traces of their DNA on each element created. It is a unique element to our discipline. Here is a short list of tools necessary to lead a healthy team.

• If you do not care more than anyone else, if you are not willing to be a hustler, quit now.
• Put together a team of people who care about the work at hand. If there is not a high level of caring, when things get hard people will quit.
• Protect that team. Let them know they are protected so they can do their best work. It is our job as leaders to be the buffer between the creative force and the rest of our organization.
• Set expectations early and repeat them often. Creative people need the reminder and must be clear on what is expected. If it is not clear there will be misunderstandings. What is expected? When is it expected? What should it look and feel like?
• Only have meetings when necessary. Let people work so they can accomplish the goals necessary.
• If you have to have meetings, take a lot of notes and follow up in email to keep expectations clear.
• Make sure roles are clear. Everyone should know what they are to do and how it is to be done. Create space for people to be creative, but build healthy bumpers around our teams.
• Keep superiors in the know. Make sure you are updating and keeping everyone as current as possible on how things are progressing. Be a champion for the members of your team.
• Edit often. Always look for ways to remove rather than add…simple is better.
• Be urgent about what we have to accomplish, but dont become reactionary.
• Take time to celebrate wins. As frequently as possible. And praise those who made the wins happen.
• Under promise and over deliver. The opposite will destroy trust in our teams.
• Manage the process. If people start to slip on performance, be willing to have hard conversations.
• Bad news never gets better with time. Share it early so there is time to adjust rather than waiting and not having margin to adjust.
• Create space for inspiration and creativity. That is the core of the work so if we are not creating space for this to happen, we will not create our best work.

This is not the definitive list, but it is a solid starting point. What are some of your best practices in leading creative teams? What would you add to this list? What do you wish your boss knew about leading a creative team?