Every now and then I update my Facebook status. Afterwards I can see myself falling into the trap of measuring my personal success based on the number of comments or “Likes” my post received. Sound familiar? This incentive of getting people’s attention is a very powerful tool to use in a creative process. It can work wonders.
I am amazed by the social media phenomenon. In a couple of years it has grown from being something for nerds to a multi-billion dollar business, competing with traditional communication channels such as newspapers, TV and direct marketing. How come?
One answer is the expectation to be recognized. To be seen by other people. As human beings we are addicted to getting people’s attention and their opinions about what we do and who we are—it’s programmed in our DNA. The reward is that our ego gets an energy boost—and we’re constantly looking for the next opportunity to refill. If you like this post…please click Like ;-)
The creative process also has cravings. It needs energy form other people’s opinions and feelings.
We have ~500 developers in Colombo, Sri Lanka working with product development and support. We cannot allow a continent or the time difference to interfere with our creativity and innovation process. We need our employees to interact and get energized by our customers for them to maximize their motivation to work wonders. Regardless of time zone and distance.
Does it work? Yes, it does! Below are some quotes from team members on a project I managed in the spring.
- “I’m so inspired, we get feedback from the customer the week after we have developed something, not 6-8 months later when it might be implemented and it’s too late”
- “I’m proud of the solution I have built”
- “The iterations raise our motivation as we feel we play an important role”
- “Through continuous testing of on-going work you get needed feedback to secure product functionality, usability and quality,”
“Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun.” — Mary Lou Cook
