69
4
Challenges and Constraints
INTRODUCTION
Enabling creativity in a project environment does not come easily.
While it sometimes occurs spontaneously without any help, more
oen than not, the environment must be conducive for creativ-
ity to occur. Identifying some of the challenges and constraints that
inhibit creativitygoes a long way in helping to foster it in the project
environment.
THE LIST
Here are some of the common challenges and constraints inhibiting
productivity in the project environment:
• Groupthink
• Mores, beliefs, values
• Fear
• Mismatch
• Lack of tools
• Lack of data and information
• Too much and too little training
• Starting and stopping workow
• Impatience
• Specialization
• Craving for predictability
• Inability to adapt
70 • Creative, Ecient, and Eective Project Management
• Poor communications
• Poor coordination
• Leaping to judgment
• Faster, better, cheaper philosophy
• Stretching resources too thin
• Silos
• Focusing on the past or future, not the present
• Lack of sharing
• Compliant workforce
• Hierarchy
• Not listening to inner voice
• Taking on only what is known
• Management’s lack of responsiveness
• Success
• Too many positive and negative incentives
• Team composition imbalance
• Dominance of brain thinking
• Inghting
Groupthink
William Sonnenschein observes in e Diversity Toolkit that people
prefer to associate and work with individuals like themselves; working
with dissimilar backgrounds widens challenges and our perspec-
tives, augmenting creativity.
1
However, peer pressure is one of the most
prevalent pressures inhibiting creativity. e desire to get along with
peers is oen so strong that it can stie creativity, both on individual or
group levels. Team members may be reluctant to speak up to avoid pun-
ishment, ranging from ridicule to ostracism. e pressure can become so
immense that denial of reality occurs even in the midst of facts and data
to the contrary; groupthink is the term to describe this condition. Most
people like to get along with others for many reasons, but especially in
the work environment. is pressure to conform has intensied. Eugene
Raudsepp, in How Creative Are You? notes that this conformity has spread
like a disease, from the moment we attend school to our work environ-
ment, where we become institutionalized.
2
Some of the consequences of
this pressure include reliance on others for self-worth and a desire to be
accepted by a group.
3
Naturally, few people are willing to create under
such circumstances.
Challenges and Constraints • 71
From a creativity perspective, here are some ways to counter the aect
and eect of groupthink:
• Bring people on board with dierent backgrounds, knowledge,
experience, and personalities.
• Encourage questioning of proposals, ideas, thoughts, and so on.
• Reassign teaming relationships.
Mores, Beliefs, Values
e culture of an organization can have an immense impact on creativity
in people. e mores, beliefs, and values may be so strong that any
creativity that is contrary to the culture will, either overtly or indirectly, be
repressed or suppressed. In some cases, it can lead to punishment to serve
as an example of people transgressing what is held dear by an organiza-
tion or group. Of course, the culture can be interlinked with groupthink,
whereby the mores, beliefs, and values become the cement that prevents
any creative thought.
What is required is a better understanding of those mores, beliefs, and
values that potentially cause what Roger von Oech refers to as mental
locks.
4
Understanding of mores, beliefs, and values can help overcome
many mental locks. William Sonnenshein agrees, observing that it aects
how we perceive and approach the world around us through our behavior
and communications.
5
From a creativity perspective, here are some ways
to counter the aect and eect of mores, beliefs, and values:
• Assign people whose mores, beliefs, and values are dierent from the
prevalent ones in the group.
• Assign someone the role of being a devil’s advocate.
• Investigate other projects’ ways of doing business.
Fear
Franklin Roosevelt was right about fear: the only thing we have to fear is fear
itself. Fear of reprisal, ostracism, ridicule, and many other forms can stie
individual and group creativity. Fear, such as of a major termination or mas-
sive layos, can become so intense, that being creative is the last thing anyone
wants to do unless it protects them from becoming a victim. Fear can arise
from a minor comment, especially from someone in authority or having a
72 • Creative, Ecient, and Eective Project Management
substantial inuence on us.
6
Fear does not have to result from something
negative; it can also originate from something positive. Anexample would
be fear of not receiving a substantial nancial award or an opportunity for
greater advancement. Positive or negative, fear can inhibit creativity. e
ability to overcome fear makes the dierence in whether innovation is
brought into reality.
7
Naturally, being creative and innovative raises the wall
of resistance because it increases the stakes and generates the opportunity
for reprisal by some others. Eugene Raudsepp observes that the people hav-
ing a vested interest in the status quo will defend it and, the more an idea
threatens what currently exists, the greater the resistance.
8
Fear can quickly translate into insecurity. Some people feel vulnerable
psychologically, even perhaps physically, if they exercise too much
creativity. Aer all, creativity upsets the status quo, especially for people
who hold a vested interest in maintaining it. If some creative people feel
they will not be supported or protected, they will cease to create, whether
the sense of insecurity is real or imaginary. When people feel insecure,
they oen side with the one who holds the power, meaning they will
support the status quo.
It is rare that a creative person can withstand the onslaught of superiors,
peers, and subordinates and continue his or her creative pursuits. To be
a creative person requires considerable courage because he or she must
confront the protectors of the status quo with an idea that challenges their
legitimacy.
9
Additionally, few people can withstand the negative thoughts
and actions of others.
10
From a creativity perspective, here are some ways to counter the aect
and eect of fear and insecurity:
• Encourage team members to share their thoughts and experiences
with others on the team.
• Encourage team members to stretch the limits of rules, procedures,
and so on.
• Keep all key stakeholders engaged in the outcome of creative tasks.
• Perform benchmarking to expose team members to new ideas,
processes, and so on.
• Provide frequent one-on-one sessions with the more fearful team
members.
• Provide training on relevant tasks to enhance competence and
condence.
• Recognize and reward team members who take risks.
Challenges and Constraints • 73
• Use a buddy system; for example, assign two or more people to a
dicult task.
• Visit other projects and organizations to learn new ideas, processes,
and techniques.
Mismatch
Creativity can be dicult if people are hired into a job or on a team
that does not match their talents, knowledge, skills, or personalities.
Mismatches can cause people to work hard just to t in a job that they
have been assigned; their focus, though, is on survival, not necessarily
being creative. Any attempt at being creative, no matter how signicant,
could easily make them a target of more experienced peers who could
attack them with character assassination or sabotage. History is replete
with examples of people who, coming from another eld with little experi-
ence in the new one, have a creative idea and are then assailed by people
established within an organization.
From a creativity perspective, here are some ways to counter the aect
and eect of mismatch:
• Allow people to identify or choose tasks on which to work.
• Assign people to tasks aer having them take a personality
assessment.
• Have periodic one-on-one sessions with individuals to assess task
performance.
Lack of Tools
Being creative oen requires having the necessary tools, for example,
technologies, to develop new ideas. Not having access to these tools can
retard activities or add frustration to them when trying to experiment to
test their validity. As a result, some people may nd it dicult to innovate
because they have no sense of probability or likelihood that their creation
will work, and if so, whether it will under acceptable, normal conditions.
From a creativity perspective, here are some ways to counter the aect
and eect of a lack of tools:
• Have people increase their awareness of technological advancements
in their profession.
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