Give some thought to what Florida and Goodnight are suggesting in ‘Managing for Creativity’-
(http://www.creativeclass.org/acrobat/managing_for_creativity.pdf)
We all have a part to play in changing the corporate culture. And Dave’s right - creative people are not drones… and the ones you want aren’t looking for today’s corporate environment, either.
Best,
George

Regarding the ‘past performance’ thing… adaptability is a skill in itself, and while there is always the opportunity to rise to the occasion, it falls into the category of predictable behavior.

Cynical though it sounds, as a general principle, you’re right about choosing freedom in a smaller company. My career advice has always been:
Train until you are 30, in the biggest/best firms you can find;

Practice your craft, what ever it is until you are 40, moving to advance your level of responsibility (management experience);

If you are a senior manager by 40, you can weigh the options of staying in the big time, or moving down to a smaller company in a more senior position, otherwise, somewhere between 30 and 40, you definitely need to be moving out and up - probably in a smaller firm - or START YOUR OWN.

The trade-off in your career is always training versus authority. Usually, you can’t get both in the same place (at the speed you are capable of advancing or getting paid).

Maybe I’m wrong, but it appears to me that business today is less interested in the potential growth of an employee, than 50 years ago. Perhaps it was a romantic myth of my age that companies were excited to find candidates who could grow quickly and do more than they were hired to do. That every position was a line position.

Thanks for the fresh air, Keith. Sometimes we forget.
Best regards,
George

It has been my experience that most companies pay great lip service to the concept of innovation (’Innovate or die!’), and while substantial numbers of business consultants can make healthy incomes selling books and seminars preaching the need to do so, most companies (including some very successful and ‘innovative’ ones) do little more than tinker with a few minor details of their plans and structure. There is very little done to challenge the basic assumptions.

Here are two examples of unchallenged basic assumptions in recruiting:
1) Many companies seek to hire primarily or exclusively graduates of ‘great schools’ with ‘high GPAs’. *From my research, I have found no empirical evidence that such people are more ’successful’ in a work environment than those who do not fit that category. Yet, many of us continue to recruit with this faulty premise driving our efforts.

2) Behavioral interviewing: If I understand the concept and my training course properly, the underlying assumption is that past behavior is a valid predictor of future behavior. This is valid as long as the past behavior is identical with that of the future behavior. In other words, it makes sense if you’re hiring someone to do exactly what they’ve always done. **It does NOT accurately predict what they would do in novel circumstances, which is presumably why we would be hiring them.

IMHO, it does not benefit most people in large corporate settings to challenge the status quo in anything but the most innocuous ways, unless they have very powerful forces backing them up. It is much better for their careers to ‘go along’ giving 110% of precisely what is asked for. If you wish to be more ‘innovative’: work in a smaller organization, create your own, or be an independent.

Cheers,
Keith Halperin,
SPHR Emeritus

* I am interested in any reputable studies that DO indicate this; I just haven’t found them. If you can cite any, please contact me. -kh

** Again, if you can show me some empirical evidence to the contrary, I’m willing to stand corrected. -kh

Great ideas and Great Resumes are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Hopefully in looking at a great resume you would find those superb ideas represented and the results they cultivated presented as part of the work history.

Yes, I have seen ‘yes men’ advanced, but that is largely driven by the company culture. If the culture rewards talk without substance, then ‘yes men’ will advance.

If the company measures results closely and coaches on those results…then you can only fake it for a short period of time.

Glad you back in the saddle and looking forward to you unleashing your creative side even more.