From conflict to creativity
Posted on May 21, 2009 by Tom
Designers are big babies right? Always want to be right, picky about making alterations, trying to force an opinion on the client,… Working in teams is hell for a lot of creatives, they all want to be right, and as a result, none of them will and nothing will change, a perfect way to keep the status quo.
First of all, let’s agree that a team of creatives are the best way to find a good solution to a problem. Many minds can think of a lot more ideas than just one mind. But can they work together? A clash of ego’s in one small room? But in my last few posts I pointed out the importance of having goals and finding a way to make your company’s goal (or the problem at hand in this case) run parallel (or at least in part) with your goal.
On the one hand, you’ve got teams where everyone always agrees with everyone else. That’s great. No conflict, no harm done. But hardly very challenging if everyone says the same thing. With any luck, you’ll come with a few idea’s and almost randomly choose one that seems the best fit. And it may work for all you know, but isn’t it a waste of talent? And do you truly believe that everyone leaves the meeting fulfilled, happy with the outcome and their part in it?
On the other hand, you’ve got teams with a lot of different opinions, different ideas and no fear of expressing them, now that’s challenging! Trying to find your way out of all those idea’s, trying to figure out what’s the best idea and why. Convincing eachother why your idea is better or letting yourself being convinced why it’s not. The result? Going away from that meeting, you might have shouted at each other, thrown chairs,… but if you’ve got a solution, you’ll fight a lot harder to get to it than the first team.
