Managing the Creative Types!

I remember a young guy who used to work with me in my previous engagement with a T&D company. He was employed as our IT Manager of sorts. Fresh out of college, with long hair, baggy pants, blood shot eyes and devil may care attitude. I met him at the pub he was working in once and despite my less than satisfactory first impression of him, I was intrigued by his sharp mind and interest in what I did. He then proceeded to tell me what IT, specifically web-sites can do for my business. The next day, I spoke of this guy to my boss and he was employed a week later.

He developed an impressive website for which we just had to give him the words and a rough idea of what we expected to see. With that, he did wonders.

The trouble was, he was the archetypical creative type with a rebellious streak to boot. He will walk into the office at 9.30 (30 minutes later than us) and would drag himself through the day. However, as the day progresses, he will become livelier and livelier and while we would be tired by 6pm he would be all fired up and shooting off ideas and concepts. There was once, he almost sleep walked into the office because he was so excited about a particular thing we asked him t do that he didn't sleep the whole night. The catch is, his work day starts at 10 pm!

He didn't last long with us. With hindsight, I will say now that it was us who didn't last long with him. We just could not (maybe even did not want to) accommodate this guy. His style was against everything sacred we held about work ethics and such!

Every time I share this story with managers, a knowing look will flash across their faces. Every office will have this creative type. It is not limited to any particular job function. You will find them through out the organization. These talents are waiting to be unearthed. These are potentials waiting to be unleashed.

Although every business will have its own unique requirements and limitations, I would like to propose the following general rules on how to manage these creative types:

1. Understand them. Talk to them often and in as much a casual manner as possible.These people are not interested in power and position. They need to be shown appreciation for their creative ideas. They need to be acknowledged as subject matter experts.

2. Develop a mutually agreed flexibility options. These can range from working time, reporting schedule, project time-lines, etc.

3. Provide continued resource. Send them to conferences and seminars related to their area of interest. Subscribe magazines and journals for them.

4. Allow them to exhibit their particular quirky habits as long as it is not going to affect the company's image and bottom line! Come on, if they want to have hip-hop songs let them have it.

5. If you have to disagree to their ideas, first praise them for taking the trouble to think about it. Then, proceed to argue your case why it will not be feasible. Conclude by saying that, maybe it will be better to keep it at the back burner for a more suitable set of circumstances in the future.

6. Don't ever insinuate that they are only good at coming out with ideas and not good at implementing them! Thats your job.

7. Finally, let them loose BUT not before the targets are clearly spelled out and deliverables are defined.


It will not be easy guys but trust me that these are gems that we need in our organizations.

The Rise of the Tatas and Wongs and Carloses.

Well, I am using the words Tata, Wong and Jose figuratively to mean India, China and South America (yes South America. Not many seem to think that South America is waiting in line to take over the mettle of world economy!)

Just a few days ago, it was announced that the Yankees (Ford) have sold the Brits (Jaguar and Land Rover) to the Indians (Tata). We all know that MG Rover is owned by the Chinese (Nanjing Autombile Company). Soon it is quite possible that NAC may evoke the same feelings that BMW evokes today or Tata may mean the same sense of pride and superiority as Bentley does today. And then of course we have Carlos Slim who is buying over everything in sight. Embraer, the Brazilian plane maker is having a go at the traditional playgrounds of Boeing and Airbus. Mittal owns a huge chunk of world steel output. The list goes on.

I have written before on the rise of these nations. I am moved to write again on this subject because I feel infuriated when I hear Malaysians talk and behave like we are still the Malaysia we used to be in the 70s and 80s and early 90s. There was a time when Malaysia was the blue eyed boy of world corporate leaders but not anymore.Where are we today? Nowhere! Think about it...what is our competitive advantage? Truly Asia? World class infrastructure? Skilled work force? Cheap production cost? Biotechnology? Political stability? Open economy? Ease of doing business? Which ever way we look at it, somebody else is doing a better job at the so called competitive advantage that we claim we have. Remember the early private higher education entrepreneurs in Malaysia? They were the first to innovate in this region to bring in the concept of twinning, 3+0 and so on. Where are we now in this? Our neighbours who learned from us have almost wiped us out of the picture.

The point is this : We are loosing at every end because we are stuck in the past. The world has changed. Regions that were once so downtrodden that they needed the Salvation Army and Doctors Without Frontiers are now exporting CEOs, pharmaceuticals, space technology and attracting MBA students from first world countries.

However, there is something that is still in our favour for the time being. The current world economy is all about India and China and we have a very special bond with these 2 nations. Our histories have intertwined at some of the most dramatic moments of history. We have known each other for so long that we have come to respect and accept each other. It is time now to make this relationship pay. I would urge our decision makers to abandon their jaundiced perception and parochial mind set and embrace these two nations. Use our fellow Malaysians who are Indians and Chinese in a strategic manner to benefit the nation as a whole. Do away with insular thinking. Eliminate all forms of institutionalized road-blocks so that we can unlock the value we have created in our relationship with India and China.

We should start by sending our students over there. Corporate leaders should take study tours to these countries. Learn their cost management strategies. Learn their production innovations. Copy their supply chain management. Spy on their next big move. See what else they have up their sleeves. And then, offer them whatever that we have that can make them better at what they do. Create a branding for Malaysia as their partners.

And, we better start doing this soon as I don't think there are many Malaysians who speak Spanish and Portuguese!

Malaysian Post-Election Lessons for Corporate Organizations

I guess for the most part, you have already gone back to your daily routines by now. The exciting moments of 8th March and the subsequent days probably a distant memory for most of us who need to get back to our bread and butter issues (which are pretty expensive these days). Since my last blog posting, I have conducted a Leadership program for the dynamic people of UMW Toyota and by the time many of you find some time to read this, I would have conducted my second Supervisory Skills program for ASTRO and another program of the same title for SILK Highway. Of course, the topic of the general election inevitably cropped up and we had a good discussion. My last blog posting seems to have touched a chord with many of you guys. Thanks for all your emails.

But I think there are yet lessons for us to learn from the 12th general election. If in my last blog posting I shared my thoughts on the immediate lessons to be learned from the dramatic change that have swept our political land-scape, in this posting I would like to share with you guys on my take on lessons to be learned for organizations that have just concluded a change initiative or are in the midst of one vis a vis what is happening in the Malaysian political sphere.

Allow me to briefly up-date you on the current post-election change scenario. First, there was disbelief. Then, there was a round of blame game (which I anticipate will become louder when the pain of loss settles in on the losers). Following this was of course, the confusion in states won over by the 'opposition'. By the way, we need to come with another term for 'them' as the term 'opposition' sounds so yesterday! Finally, we have an on-going drama in the states that are still under the traditional power.

Lets translate this to organizational change lessons.

1. Leaders who have not prepared their employees for the need to change or to expect, initiate and manage change should not suddenly demand that they accept the change especially if such a change was totally unexpected and driven by external market forces instead of by internal strategic thinking and renewal. If you have nurtured a rigid system, asking it to become flexible overnight is just too much to ask.

2. Change, whether self initiated or otherwise is always 'painful'. So, allow venting of emotion and frustration. By asking people to 'just get on with it' is an insult to them and is akin to belittling them by saying that they are not man enough to face up to challenges. The truth is, if the employees of an organization are not 'man enough' to face up to changes and challenges, one need not go further than the CEO's or GM's room to pin fault!

3. Keep communicating. There should be a truly open line of communication at all levels. This communication should be honest with pain, regret, fear and disappointments expressed openly. If this is done honestly, the shorter the venting off period will be and the quicker people will get back into the rhythm of functioning in the new environment. Using a 'business as usual' communication style only tends to confuse people as they can very well see for themselves that things are far from the usual.

4. Manage the eager beavers. There is bound to be some who, with hindsight, will shoot off new ideas, even radical ones. Respect them and give them the space. These individuals will be useful when it comes to implementing new collectively agreed upon ideas a few months later down the road.

5. Don't harp on the 'good old days'. Talk about the exciting days ahead instead. The 'good old days' are gone and it is better for corporate leaders to bury them and prepare for a new dawn. Spend time painting a realistic but exciting picture of a beautiful tomorrow. Provide vision, hope and directions.

6. Don't go back to those who had it too good during the so called 'good old days' to help manage the new scenario. They will do whatever they can to take the organization back to the old days as they are the ones who will loose the most in the new environment. By going back to these individuals, the organization paints it self into a corner of desperation.

7. No organization is an island. There are external stakeholders who need to be told of the change. They need to know what has happened and what to expect. They too need to readjust their thinking and expectations. So, they will probably be hungry for accurate and timely information. Remember that during times of change, no news is bad news.

Have a great week ahead everybody!

Lessons of Change from the 12th General Election

I am, just like most of you, quite dazed from the most unexpected turn of events over the weekend whereby the Malaysian electorate in a very uncharacteristic manner overwhelmingly voted against the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN). Just a few hours ago, the BN formed the government when the Prime Minister took his oath at the Istana Negara. The next few months will be extremely interesting and exciting as Malaysia will work hard to get used to this change.

Now, what can organizations learn from this episode. Much actually but I will summarize it along the following 7 issues:

1. There must be genuine effort to change at suitable intervals. The operating word here being genuine. If a so called change is carried out but is seen as a mere 'air-brush' type of change, it will back fire.

2. Don't underestimate the appeal of powerful and emotionally connected slogans and value statements when trying to bring about change. "Makkal Sakthi", if only somebody took the trouble to explain to non-Tamils, would have been appreciated better and more effective response could have been put in place.

3. When information flow is too filtered and overly colored to focus on only one side of a perspective than it opens up the possibility that anything opposite is considered as true by default. Hence, balanced information or a lack of it will determine the fate of the change effort.

4. A change effort must take into account the prevailing value structure. Change if it is driven top-down will have to circumvent the existing value structure. It can't go head on in an arrogant manner. It has to persuade, cajole and influence slowly and tenderly as the opposition parties have done with great effect. In contrast, the BN tried to use its generation old paternalistic communication style when in effect its audience are in a rebelious mood.

5. Every leader will hit a plateau in his ability to bring about fresh vision and mission. When that happens, he has 2 options : Either to re-invent himself or allow other to reinvent. When he fails to do either, change will be forced upon him.

6. It is said that by the time you understand a technology it is obsolete (as new technology doubles every five years according to some accounts). When life in general has got used to such a drastic pace in continuous change, what makes political parties and leaders think that old and tired mission statements and promises will continue to be attractive? The pace of thinking must keep up with the pace of change.

7. Change is usually top-driven but it is the ground that makes it work or otherwise. So, those who are initiating the change need to quickly abandon their thinking caps and put on their feeling caps. Once a change philosophy has been developed, leaders need to hit the ground to sense the feelings of the change targets. If they continue to sit in their towers and over-lord things, they will begin too loose touch with reality and begin to believe what they want to believe.


Well, coming back to the events of 8th March: Democracy worked. A particular type of change took place. There were winners. There were losers. New hope was created and with it a certain fear is also present. These are the characteristics of change.

We, as business leaders and managers can take a leaf out of this and in summary , to make change work we need : 1. Genuine effort, 2. Genuine communication, 3. Fresh and exciting ideas, 4. A good feel of the ground and 5. A good dose of common sense.

Lets make change work. There is no other option. Really.