Leaders can patiently create a climate of creativity, or they can crush it in a series of subtle comments and gestures. If you want to crush creativity and eliminate all the unnecessary bother of innovation, then here are ten steps that are guaranteed to succeed.
1. Criticize
When you hear a new idea criticize it. Show how smart you are by pointing out some of the weaknesses and flaws which will hold it back. New ideas tend to be partly-formed so it is easy to reject them as ‘bad’. This is a sure fire way to crush the creative spirit in your staff.
2. Ban brainstorms
Treat brainstorming as old-fashioned and passé. All that brainstorms do is throw up lots of new ideas that then have to be rejected. If your organization is not holding frequent brainstorm sessions to find creative solutions then you are not wasting time on new ideas.
3. Hoard problems
The CEO and senior team should shoulder the responsibility for solving all the company’s major problems. Strategic issues are too complicated and high-level for the ordinary staff. After all, if people at the grass-roots knew the strategic challenges the organization faces then they would feel insecure and threatened.
4. Focus on efficiency, not innovation
The current business model is the one that you helped develop and it is obviously the best one for the business. After all, if the makers of horse drawn carriages had improved quality they could have stopped automobiles taking their markets.
5. Overwork
Establish a culture of long hours and hard work. Encourage the belief that hard work alone will solve the problem. Make sure that the working day has no time for learning, fun, lateral thinking, wild ideas or testing of new initiatives.
6. Adhere to the plan
Plan in great detail and then do not deviate from the plan regardless of circumstances. Keep to the vision that was in the plan and ignore fads like market changes and customer fashions -- they will pass.
7. Punish mistakes
If someone tries an entrepreneurial idea that fails then blame and retribution must follow. Reward success and punish failure.
8. Don’t look outside
Other industries are fundamentally different and just because something works there does not mean it will work here. Find the solutions inside the business by working harder.
9. Promote people like you from within
If the CEO promotes people like him then he can achieve consistency and succession. It is best to find managers who agree with the CEO and praise him for his acumen and foresight.
10. Don’t waste money on training
Talent cannot be taught. Let new people learn your system. Work them hard, keep them focused on our business model and do not allow them to fool around with crazy experiments.