74 • Creative, Ecient, and Eective Project Management
• Have the latest professional journals available for reference by team
members.
• Provide training on technology related to doing work on the project.
Lack of Data and Information
Both are keys to creativity. A lack of data and information makes it di-
cult to create and receive feedback on the validity of a creation. Otherwise,
whether a creation is practical and innovative becomes a matter of
conjecture and preference by certain individuals. Data and information
help overcome such bias. A symbiotic relationship exists between creativ-
ity and the sharing of data and information, if for no other reason than
to generate ideas. Creativity, by its very nature, requires and encourages
sharing of data, information, and ideas. Unfortunately, the opportunities
for sharing oen do not exist.
11
From a creativity perspective, here are some
ways to counter the aect and eect of a lack of data and information:
• Adopt a policy of sharing data and information.
• Encourage access to other sources of data and information beyond
the connes of the project.
• Provide the infrastructure, for example, a common repository.
• Use tools that follow common standards.
Too Much and Too Little Training
Training is important for creating, of course. However, too much training
can hinder creativity simply by reinforcing existing ideas and techniques
to such an extent that people struggle to see outside the box or to push
the boundaries of a paradigm. Too little training can also hinder creativity
because people may not be exposed to other ideas and techniques that could
open their minds. Instead, they continue to treat assumptions, values, and
beliefs as fact. Perhaps the right amount of training is what is important.
12
From a creativity perspective, here are some ways to counter the aect
and eect of too much and too little training:
• Identify relevant training for the project.
• Provide cascade training, for example, people sharing knowledge
gained from training elsewhere.
• Tailor training to the specic needs of individuals.
Challenges and Constraints • 75
Start and Stop Workflow
In today’s changing environment, it is not unusual for people to jump
from one responsibility or task to another before completing it. For
some reason, management, probably due to immense schedule and cost
pressure, thinks people can work at multiple tasks at the same time,
which is physically and mentally impossible, especially in highly intel-
lectual disciplines. e constant start and stop at work disrupts creative
thought and eort, causing relearning and reapplying of knowledge,
tools, and techniques. is start and stop makes it dicult to complete
anything in one sitting, let alone think creatively. It is time consuming
and wasteful due to time spent getting back up to speed. Dave Allan
etal. refer to this circumstance as “bar coding” and describe how it
arises and the corresponding consequences. It slices up one’s day into
discrete pieces that do not provide the time to focus, thereby not only
wasting time, but also destroying creativity.
13
From a creativity per-
spective, here are some ways to counter the aect and eect of starting
and stopping workow:
• Attempt to protect team members from nonproductive requests and
activities.
• Avoid continuously changing priorities.
• Keep assignments as consistent as possible.
Impatience
Creativity is not something you can turn on and o like a light switch,
although the analogy of idea creation is oen in the form of a light bulb.
It is, rather, more like a continuous knob light switch, whereby creativity
gradually grows and fades. is takes time, but in an environment of faster,
better, and cheaper, it does not give creativity the time it needs to percolate
to the surface. Whatever creativity does occur is oen a quick x, which
at the moment appears creative but is really a band-aid that may introduce
greater problems in the future. Sometimes, and perhaps more oen than
not, getting a solution quickly before all the facts and data are known and
veried leads to myopic solutions, sacricing the big picture for a little one.
Eugene Raudsepp refers to this tendency as premature particularization.
14
He also says that individuals who do take time oen face pressure from
peers and self-inicted guilt because they do not appear to be producing
76 • Creative, Ecient, and Eective Project Management
or contributing.
15
From a creativity perspective, here are some ways to
counter the aect and eect of impatience:
• Allow time for relaxation.
• Allow time to generate ideas.
• Keep the major goals and objectives in the forefront of team mem-
bers’ minds.
Specialization
In the past few centuries, specialization has become a way of life for most
people in the business world. Except for senior leadership, most people
are specialists, for example, soware engineers, nancial accountants,
and mechanical engineers. e reason is because the depth of knowledge
to succeed in a eld now oen takes years of education and experience
to acquire a good body of knowledge of a specialized subject. Despite
the advantages of specialization, it has its drawbacks when it comes to
creativity. Specialists see the world through a narrow lens, sometimes
ltering key information that would be deemed important in another
specialization. It sometimes also makes it dicult to communicate with
other people. Creativity suers because some specialists nd it dicult to
see the world from a paradigm that is dierent than the one prevailing in
their specialty, thus making it dicult to think outside the box.
From a creativity perspective, here are some ways to counter the aect
and eect of specialization:
• Allow for training outside of one’s specialization.
• Provide cross-training.
• Provide opportunities for job enrichment.
• Reassign responsibilities whenever possible to broaden knowledge.
Craving for Predictability
In today’s dynamic economy, predictability seems like something in the
distant past. Yet human nature, as it is, will prefer predictability over
chaos because it gives a sense of stability and condence. Predictability
is not oen associated with creativity. e latter requires upsetting the
status quo by challenging sacred cows. You cannot have one without
aecting the other in the opposite way. A high correlation exists; more
Challenges and Constraints • 77
predictability is associated with less creativity, and less predictability is
associated more creativity. In part, this desire for predictability is reective
of an educational system that stresses appropriateness and order.
16
It is
also stressed by the prevailing paradigm of our day, says omas Kuhn,
because of normal science reinforcing the prevailing paradigm through
eclectic reinforcement of its premises.
17
e key is to shake up predictability by doing something creative that is
akin to jumping out of a running river, as Dave Allan et al. observes. By
jumping, so to speak, it stimulates creative thinking as the river continues
toow.
18
From a creativity perspective, here are some ways to counter the aect
and eect of a craving for predictability:
• Engage stakeholders in developing and managing plans.
• Establish and maintain eective communications.
• Institute good change management discipline.
• Perform risk management.
Inability to Adapt
People may not change, but the context may do so substantially. If people
cannot or refuse to change, then their ability to adapt is severely limited,
reecting their inability to be creative. Adaptability requires being creative
to survive and grow in a new environment. e inability to create is really,
therefore, an inability to adapt and to develop new ideas, processes,
products, services, and so on. James Adams identies some causes of an
inability to adapt, including inadequacies related to language skills to
articulate ideas, problem-solving denition, and strategizing for dealing
with problems.
19
Additionally, inexibility in thinking sometimes causes
one to deny evidence to the contrary. at, in turn, encourages some
people to make premature judgments before knowing the facts and data.
is premature judgment gets our ego involved, causing people to stick to
their judgment despite evidence to the contrary.
20
From a creativity per-
spective, here are some ways to counter the aect and eect of an inability
to adapt:
• Allow for open sharing of data and information.
• Be exible in applying tools, techniques, and procedures.
• Encourage critical thinking.
78 • Creative, Ecient, and Eective Project Management
• Provide cross-training.
• Provide training.
Poor Communications
A team of creative individuals that do not communicate with each other
will likely never be creative as a complete entity. One or two individuals
may be creative but not the whole team. To enable a team to be creative,
members need to share their ideas and proposals for discussion and
evaluation. Without a serious dialog, the group is a committee of people
working independently, coming together perhaps only occasionally. For a
team to create, its creative members must communicate. Otherwise, likely
no one will have any idea what each of the other team members thinks
ordoes.
From a creativity perspective, here are some ways to counter the aect
and eect of poor communications:
• Allow for open sharing of data, information, and ideas, for example,
team meetings.
• Apply eective listening skills on individual team levels.
• Encourage cross-checking of output as a means to acquire feedback.
• Encourage participating in the planning and management of the
project.
• Establish a dispute resolution process.
Poor Coordination
Team members must not only communicate, but also coordinate with
each other. e failure to coordinate can result in a wasteful, redundant
eort that results not only in duplicate eort but confusion over who is
doing what. How does this impact creativity? Simple. It means people are
busy spending more time and eort trying to determine who is doing
what rather than using it to direct energies into something creative, either
individually or as a group.
Even if a creative idea arises, it oen requires the participation of others
to develop and implement it. Even if we successfully solve a dicult prob-
lem or come up with a very worthwhile creative idea, people’s receptivity
may be low or nonexistent. e cooperation of others will be required even
more so if the solution or idea is to become a reality.
21
From a creativity
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