Creativity is a subject that can baffle management. Or, rather, how best to deal with it. If you're a company that does not have a culture of innovation and creativity, this can be a hard thing to swallow. Yet, dealing with the creative process is one of the easiest things to do.

Don’t manage creativity; manage FOR creativity. Provide an environment that is open and receptive to new ideas, as well as adequate time to develop them (be realistic). As with any process dealing with innovation, mistakes and screw ups will happen. That's all part of it.

When it happens, and it will, acknowledge error or failure and do so in a constructive and supportive way. Build it into your culture as part of the process (this is not as radical an idea as it may sound). Don’t ridicule failure; honor and embrace it.

While I realize this may be difficult for some corporate structures to do, you're only hurting yourself, and your employees, if you don't deal positively with failure. It's the only way for progress and creativity to evolve.

One way to acknowledge failure while still trying to maintain a sense of humor is to consider adopting the “suckless mentality”. This approach I've heard adopted by such innovative companies as Pixar Animation Studios. When presented with something that doesn’t quite measure up, say something like “Gee, that really sucks. However, if your tried this or that, it might suck less.” Be sincere when you say this so you don't come across as being a jerk.

Yeah, I know, it sounds funny unless you're the person being told your work sucks. Yet, if a company's culture embraces openness and positive reinforcement, you'll rise to the challenge and come up with a better approach or a more refined idea. Note to the potential jerks out there: Just don't go overboard with the suckless factor.

Marketing Syndicate believes in a creative and innovative culture. We want to help you develop and refine yours. If you don't have time for creativity, you don't have time to be successful. More information on our approach and services may be obtained by contacting Linden Lauve at llauve@marketingsyndicate.net.