Employee Development: Through the Lens of Matisse’s Cut-Outs

Every time I view an art exhibit I go through with dual perspectives—the first an appreciation for the form, function and technique of the artist within a historical context. The second, to see what metaphors and analogies I can draw from the form, function, and technique to my personal and professional lives.

Late in his life, Henri Matisse’s health declined, and he found himself sanctioned to a chair or bed for the majority of his day. Instead of giving up on creativity, he found a new outlet, what he called “drawing with scissors” that enabled him to transcend his physical limitations and resulted in a new art form that is now on a glorious display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

What’s interesting about this art is the technique of overlay, non-waste, and maneuverability—a fantastic metaphor for employee development.

Overlay—Matisse took considerable time deeming any aspect of a cut-out complete. Since each piece cut was done from free-form, no two were alike. When he wasn’t completely satisfied with the performance from a piece, he would add subtle changes by pinning tiny cuts of paper to make the form just right. He didn’t discard the imperfect piece.

In corporations we often subjugate the imperfect—when all that is needed is a subtle shift or minor addition. We look at the short-term picture instead of the long-term masterpiece. Investing in correcting imperfections with minor additions instead of removing them all together and starting from scratch is a long-term strategy with unlimited potential.

Non-waste—Matisse used both the positive and the negative space with his cut-outs. When a piece of paper fell to the ground after the original form was cut, he evaluated the leftover and found a way to organically work it into his composition—or into future compositions.

With employee development, we often see only the final goal—the final product—without giving appreciation to the steps that were taken to reach that end state. The efforts that your employees exert to deliver the final result need to be recognized. Who knows—the steps that were taken along the way could result in a product of their own.

Maneuverability—Matisse used his walls as a living canvas. He would direct cut-outs to be pinned in one location, only to move them around multiple times after until he found just the right fit. Often, the right move of one piece would lead to the creation of an entire new work, or the placement of a piece into a new landscape.

With employees, finding the right fit is important. To be immovable is detrimental to organizational progress. A good leader will know how to figure out where to best place each employee, realizing that the initial intention—perhaps the initial job someone was hired for—may not be the right fit.

Inject overlay, non-waste, and maneuverability techniques into your employee development approach and see what masterpieces develop.

Three Tips for Cultivating an Innovative Workforce: Attracting and Retaining Talent

Turn-over and the inability to attract innovative employees are two problems that plague many organizations and stunt business growth. Cultivating an environment that rewards entrepreneurial thinking—or intrapreneurship—is one key change a company can make towards keeping and attracting proactive and forward-thinking employees.

Here are three tips to help.

Tip 1: Provide time and space for innovation.

If you want employees to come up with new ideas, you need to give them time to create without penalty and during standard business hours. One of the most well-known examples of this practice is Google, who gives employees 20% of their work week to use creating ideas for Google-related products and services.

Doing this communicates to employees that you value their time and insight—that you welcome their ideas and encourage them to be active participants in the organization. In turn this produces a work environment where employees feel invested in the company and its success.

Tip 2: Generate a process for idea submission.

A lot of companies will provide time for innovation, but then leave employees wondering the proper way to actually communicate their ideas. Providing employees with a process for submitting or pitching their ideas lets them know what information needs to be presented, what research needs to be done, and gives direction for execution. This framework also can reduce time spent evaluating ideas, as only those ideas that are a bit more fleshed out will make it to the presentation stage. (Note: This doesn’t mean that quick, spur of the moment ideas aren’t valuable—in fact, sometimes they are the best ideas. But providing a venue for those, separate from the formal pitch, is essential and perhaps a precursor to the presentation.)

An example of a company who does this well is DreamWorks. At DreamWorks, employees at all levels can get education on how to pitch an idea. successfully—a program that encourages creation from all employees, not matter what their job role or title.

Tip 3: Reward the process, not the result.

One sure-fire way to squash innovation is to penalize employees if ideas don’t work out. Do not view this as wasted time. Instead, view this as time when an employee was actively participating in the betterment of the company. When you give employees permission to fail, they are willing to be more creative—more innovative and risky—with their thinking. This can often lead to the best ideas.

A great example of rewarding the process comes from Calgon who, upon advice from Alan Weiss of Summit Consulting Group, created a “Best Idea That Didn’t Work” award, giving respect to the process, and not the end result.

Innovation and Participation Killers: Three Phrases Leaders Should Never Use

Creating a culture that breeds and nurtures innovation is important in today’s global economy. Employees are increasingly mobile, and Generation Y and Z employees, in particular, aren’t afraid to leave and find new jobs if they don’t feel valued.

If you want to retain good employees, attract talent, and cultivate an environment of participation, creativity and innovation, DO NOT use these three phrases.

Stick to your job. That’s not in your job description.

Want to make an employee feel that they have no use beyond their immediate job description? These phrases kill any organizational buy-in and stop any incentive the employee had to think of ideas outside of their immediate scope. This tells employees that their thoughts have no value to the organization as a whole, and that the only thing that is important is their singular function.

Instead, ask questions.

  • How do you see this idea fitting in with your current charge?
  • How do you see this idea expanding your responsibilities?
  • How do you see this idea benefiting the organization as a whole?

Asking questions gets employees to make the connections on their own, that you might want to make for them. It also can give you enhanced understanding of the employee’s vision and how it can contribute to the greater goal.

We don’t have the resources.

This phrase is commonly used by managers without regard to the consequences. When you tell an employee this, you’re also communicating that his idea isn’t worth exploring or that her contribution isn’t good enough to warrant consideration. Managers that want to increase innovation find a way to provide resources for promising and invested employees, or encourage the employee to find the resources for him or herself. They also know that creativity thrives in the face of constraint.

Instead, issue a challenge.

I don’t have the resources immediately at my disposal to approve this today; however, why don’t we think of a couple of ways we could rearrange our priorities to make your idea a possibility.

or

I like this idea and want to think about how it fits into our overall strategy a bit more. Come up with a few solutions for how we could integrate this idea within our current operational plan and let’s meet tomorrow to discuss.

This lets the employee know that you do value the idea, and that you want to consider how the idea could come to fruition. It also encourages the employee to invest more time in his or her idea, which will increase buy-in to the organization and to your leadership.

That’s not the way we do things here.

Want to make an employee feel like she’s on an island and not a part of the team? Use this phrase. Telling an employee that he doesn’t know the way things are done communicates two negative things: (1) that he doesn’t know the organization well and that he should, and (2) that outside ideas, perspectives and innovations are not welcome.

Although organizations have rules and policies, it doesn’t mean that they should never be re-examined. Maybe this is the time and place to do that introspection.

Instead, encourage integration.

In the past we’ve approached this idea from a XYZ perspective. However, I think this new idea has promise. Let’s see how we can integrate your solution with our existing operations to improve the organization as a whole.

You can also challenge the employee to think of those means of integration and bring them to you for a conversation.

Remember, as a leader your team’s success is your success. Foster an environment where creativity and innovation can thrive and watch your team succeed.

Repurposing: Using Established Processes for Creativity and Results

For the second year, renowned evolutionary theorists met at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for the now-annual Festival of Bad Ah-Hoc Hypotheses (BAH-Fest). Here, researchers use traditional scientific methods and processes to develop satirical theories. The winner of the 2014 BAH-Fest presented a theory of how belly fat in middle-aged men evolved for floatation purposes to save his family from drowning.

I read an article by Angela Chin in the December 1, 2014 Wall Street Journal about this event and, aside from being amused, realized that there is a deeper lesson in this event—the repurposing of traditional methods for creativity and refinement.

In business, we have the tendency to take ourselves too seriously and often become unilaterally focused on a single objective—or the bottom line—that we miss the bigger picture.

Researchers and scientists often fall prey to this same behavior.

BAH-Fest is a way to shake off the traditional paradigmatic approaches and go back to basics—focusing on the scientific method and presenting sound (albeit satirical) research.

This mental shift to satire, while still remaining true to methodological roots, allows researchers to break from a one-track focus and give a presentation at an event which expands a greater goal of science—to bring about understanding, and, where appropriate, societal change.

I imagine that the “real” work from participants benefits immensely from this creative mental break, and brings about a renewed focus and clarity.

This can be replicated in your organization.

  • Where have your employees lost sight of the bigger picture?
  • What processes aren’t being followed well and are causing lapses in productivity?
  • How can you repurpose a process or system in your organization to unleash creativity?

Think about how you can create an outlet for innovation. By doing so, you can get back to basics and reunite your employees around the bigger goal or vision and expedite forward progress.

Need help? Let’s communicate about it.