THE LEADERSHIP LENS Newsletter <download pdf>
January 2008, © Mark Sincevich, Staash Press, LLC
A monthly resource providing insight, opinion and practical information on creativity, life balance & powerful communications

Fueled by Jazz

Riverboat Along the Seine River with the Louvre in the Background,
Paris, France, (c) Mark Sincevich

Closing my eyes and taking a deep breath, I am transported to Carnegie Hall on February 22, 1963 as I listen to one of the best jazz recordings, The Dave Brubeck Quartet at Carnegie Hall. You might know the quartet's most famous piece, "Take Five," written by Dave Brubeck and his alto-saxophonist partner, Paul Desmond. The quartet's piano, saxophone, bass and drums inspires and relaxes at the same time. If a conversation at my favorite local coffee shop gets a little too distracting when I am working remotely, I just increase the volume on my iPod. I search for the middle ground between masking the background buzz and listening to the music at the volume intended. I feel the creative coffee shop environment is increased when fueled by jazz.

Another reason why I like to work in independent coffee shops is due to the Observer Effect. The Observer Effect refers to changes the act of observing will make on the phenomenon being observed. If I observe somebody or a group, then whatever they are working on or are discussing will change. However, I like to use the Observer Effect to my advantage. Knowing others will be observing me; I will get a slightly different result versus working in the same place day after day. Creativity is like this; it needs the space to emerge, and has to be encouraged in order to form into a habit. This is why photography is such a great tool for creativity. It's easy to carry a camera with you, and you become more creative each time you snap a photograph.

Everything around us, everything, once started as an idea, but how can you come up with new ideas when you are not 'seeing' or aren't practicing your creativity? Claude Monet once said, "In order to see, we must forget the name of the thing we are looking at." How do you develop a creative habit when you are not encouraged to work in different locations for a potentially different result? Are you motivating your employees to take an object and come up with many new uses for it? The same level of thinking that brought you to your current success cannot create future products and services. One of the best ways to forget the name of thing you are looking at is to combine disciplines. This intersection of ideas will change your routine, but you need to get out and explore your world for this happen

Change Your Routine
A few years ago, the US Army had low recruiting numbers while video games continued to proliferate. If you tried to get the new Nintendo Wii game console this holiday season, you would have experienced first-hand the continuing popularity of video games. At the time, Lieutenant Colonel E. Casey Wardynski, an economics professor at West Point, convinced the Department of the Army to invest in the first video game combining two unrelated disciplines, recruiting and video gaming. The game was first released on July 4, 2002, and the following weekend it crashed the U.S. Army's servers! The initiative has been so successful that there are now over 7.5 million registered users, and a full 28% of the sites users click over to the Army's recruitment web pages. If the Army had stuck to traditional recruiting methods, they would not have been able to meet their recruiting goals. Colonel Wardynski changed his routine by combining disciplines to become more creative.

Creativity is so important for leadership; it is the first leg of the Leading with Focus tripod. A leader or organization needs to have a pool of ideas, as these are the future products and services of an organization. Also, when you are able to make an individual creative contribution, it means you will value your job more! Cross training in your organization is great way to encourage this process too. One participant from my creative program called, The Art of Seeing, said, "I believe that many people stifle their innovation tendencies in a quest to stick to the task. They are oftentimes seeing group acceptance and acknowledgement of their contribution (as the reason) ... I am not afraid to put ideas forward, though they may be unusual, incomplete, or indirectly related to the task. The issues we face are two-fold; generating ideas and exposing ideas." Clearly the creative way forward is to expose new ideas, but this involves risk.  

Get Closer
Taking risks can be uncomfortable as many organizations are only focused on short-term outcomes (i.e. quarterly sales) and not on behaviors to build a long-lasting enterprise. A huge part of being successful is figuring out what doesn't work until you get to what really works. And what works now isn't necessarily what will work next year. A few years ago I took a risk and traveled to Paris, France. I was burned out from working in the computer field, and felt I needed a change of environment to gain perspective. I was nervous as I didn't know anyone and wasn't going to attend a conference or to study in a formal program. However, I had faith in the creative process and bought a round trip ticket for three weeks. I filled in the lack of an itinerary coming up with creative solutions. I rented an apartment from Madame Sharazi in the 2nd Area (a 10-minute walk north of the Louvre), walked many miles a day to explore the city, and took thousands of photographs. I got much closer to the city of Paris than any guided tour ever could. Getting closer exposed me to new combinations of random events.

Create New Meanings
The Paris photography experience created new meanings for me. It allowed for an order of magnitude shift in my experience and knowledge about another country. It showed me first hand I need to be responsible for my own creative development, and creativity is a habit that needs to be exercised on a regular basis. You loose it or it diminishes. In your organization, it might mean creating new traditions to encourage risk-taking and rewarding employees who work remotely. Professor Teresa Amabile of the Harvard Business School said, "I've come to realize that firms in any industry do better, all else being equal, when they are able to harness creativity." If want the major competitive advantage of creativity, then you need to change your routine, get closer, and create new meanings from your experiences. This will enable the creative process to further emerge and it might get you more interested in jazz!  

About Mark Sincevich
Mark Sincevich works with organizations to develop leaders with more focus and creativity. He uses a unique photography angle in his speaking programs and writing. As a result of Mark's work, his customers gain a fresh perspective, generate new ideas, sharpen the focus and create more business. Mark is the chief perspective officer of his organization, Leading with Focus, the founder of Staash Press, and the executive director of the Digital Photography Institute. He is frequently quoted in the media and the author of three books including, The Leadership Lens. In between assignments, Mark can be found spending time with his family in the Washington, DC area or writing in cafés with character. He can be contacted at 301-654-3010 or www.leadingwithfocus.com .  

Book Mark to speak at your next meeting or event, and order, The Leadership Lens, available at www.staashpress.com/llens.html .