This is a thing of simplicity and great beauty:

The name of this art installation is Before I Die, and it was conceived by artist and designer Candy Chang. This excerpt from her website explains the motivation behind the piece:
“It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day and forget what really matters to you. With help from friends and neighbors, I turned the side of an abandoned house in my neighborhood into a giant chalkboard to invite people to share what is important to them. Before I Die transforms a neglected space into a constructive one where we can learn the hopes and aspirations of the people around us.“

As you can see, people in the neighborhood (and beyond) really took to the work. Notice that people did this of their own free will. They didn’t get paid to help create or add their thoughts to the piece. This was something that spoke to their need to express themselves, to be a part of something beautiful, and to contribute to a collective effort.
 

All too often as business leaders we talk about business. What the numbers are or should be. We discuss productivity, both our own and others. Efficiency and effectiveness measures. Sorting and making sense of massive amounts of data so organizational strategies can be adjusted appropriately. 

We rarely talk about creativity, about that which inspires. Ignored in many business related conversations are the events and objects of beauty and grace that make us come alive. Why is that? Is it because it’s not quantifiable the same way a balance sheet is? Is it because it’s difficult to measure the ROI?

I believe it’s because, like human beings themselves, it’s messy and not easy to sort into distinct categories. Yet this is the crisis we face now, in the midst of a recession and massive social change. How do leaders, and people in general, learn to sort through that messiness? How do we recreate our institutions to allow people to be more, both from a productivity standpoint as well as a creative one?
I do believe that most organizations have mastered the basics when it comes to efficiency and productivity. What needs to happen now is mastery of motivation and recognition. Traditional incentive programs only work to a certain extent. Studies have shown (as demonstrated by Dan Pink in the RSA.org video posted below) that people aren’t as motivated by money as we think. As we move away from task based work to more project and team based work we need to rethink what is going to keep people motivated.

This is true in customer service focused areas, such as retail. It’s been traditionally perceived as task oriented, yet I can tell you from experience that’s there’s more to it than that. Providing great customer service is a creative as well as technical process. Think about the barista that knows your name and how to make your favorite drink. Think about the sales associate that put together the right clothing outfit for you. The difference between a purely transactional encounter and an experiential one is that human touch. The person providing the elevated form of service didn’t leave part of themselves at home. They were there, with you, in the moment. They were able to make quick decisions to help you get what you wanted. They wanted you to be satisfied with the service. They cared.
Organizations need to do the same for their employees, to be there and to provide an exceptional experience. To do this effectively they need to provide several key things:

1. Good pay. You have to pay people enough so they can focus more of their time and attention on work than on their bills. Do the necessary research to find out how competitive you are in comparison to others in your industry. If you want to attract great talent go one further and research organizations in adjacent industries. This will give you an idea of what other talent pools you may be able to pull from, and what it may cost to do so.
2. Give people room to make their own decisions. In a customer service environment the best employees are those you don’t have to think about. They know what the hard and soft controls are and work within them to give the customer the best possible service. They only involve supervisors when it’s a situation that they’ve attempted to resolve but can’t.
3. Connection to a great purpose. Just like in the art piece at the beginning of this post, people want to be a part of something special. How does your organization create and generate a sense of pride amongst its employees? Maybe its through volunteer work. Perhaps its through open communication. Every year Zappos sends out a request to all its employees and vendors to contribute to its Culture Book. This book is an unfiltered representation of the brand. It gives those that contribute a way to express how they feel about the company. How many organizations would trust employees to communicate openly and honestly about it? This is part of what differentiates Zappos from its competitors. And it pays off-the company earned $1 billion in sales in 2008.
4. Respect. The work that people do has value. Acknowledge that and the person performing it, especially when they don’t perform to expectations.

Creating a creative and vibrant work environment can be difficult. When done well it can be a way to give employees a canvas by which to express themselves and build a successful organization.

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