Withholding Initiative, Withholding Creativity

A positive and passionate employee of a small non-profit organization had been routinely taking the initiative and using his creativity to update a display area near the entrance. After a couple years on the job though, he confessed a little sadly that he now reluctantly found himself withholding his initiative and creativity more often than not, more often than he wanted to. He still had a lot of ideas, but his experiences over the previous years had produced a shift in his behaviour.

The non-profit was run by a volunteer board of directors, and board members had widely differing opinions on what was acceptable and what was desirable in this display area. So, whenever he'd take the initiative and update the display, three board members would love it, two would hate it, and he'd end up having to take it down. Then, he'd try something else and two different board members would love it, two would be neutral, and one would protest. The frustration of having so many creative initiatives challenged, and reversed, damaged his will to take new risks, to take the chance of trying something new. He adpoted new lethargic behaviours to suit the environment, to survive in the culture, to fit the reality of how management actually operated.

By working with the board to clarify who was responsible for the display, and to provide a clear guideline for the content they wanted in the display, the frustration of reporting to several rather random bosses was greatly reduced. While there were still some differences of opinion amongst the board members about his displays, the new structure freed him from the immediate conflicts and challenges, and rejuvenated his creative spirit.

People generally want to give you their drive, passion and creativity. If you create an environment that encourages them to withhold their initiative, you'll end up with risk-averse employees who passively wait for you to tell them exactly what you want them to do.