Smarterware

Why the Manager’s Schedule Blows Creative Productivity

July 28th, 2009

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In his latest essay, Paul Graham describes the difference between what he calls the maker's schedule and the manager's schedule. Makers--the writers, coders, designers, editors, creative types--need half or whole days to produce anything that solves complicated problems. Managers schedule out their workdays in hour-long blocks. When managers schedule makers into midday meetings, they kill creative productivity in real but not-obvious ways. Graham considers himself a maker, and describes why meetings are the enemy of creativity:

I find one meeting can sometimes affect a whole day. A meeting commonly blows at least half a day, by breaking up a morning or afternoon. But in addition there's sometimes a cascading effect. If I know the afternoon is going to be broken up, I'm slightly less likely to start something ambitious in the morning. I know this may sound oversensitive, but if you're a maker, think of your own case. Don't your spirits rise at the thought of having an entire day free to work, with no appointments at all? Well, that means your spirits are correspondingly depressed when you don't. And ambitious projects are by definition close to the limits of your capacity. A small decrease in morale is enough to kill them off.

This resonates with me deeply.

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Enforced Dancing Boosts Morale and Shortens Meetings

July 27th, 2009

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Writer Dominic Ali came up with an unusual way to make office meetings more bearable--one that would make Ellen proud. In the comments of my recent post about meetings, Ali says:

At my previous job, I once took on a temporary acting communications director role. All of a sudden, I had eight people reporting to me. To keep impromptu meetings short, I instituted Dance Meetings. By playing some funk at low levels through my computer speakers, I'd encourage my colleagues to dance. We'd dance for the duration of the song as we discussed their projects, challenges, personal troubles, etc. The benefits were immediately clear.

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