Herding Tigers: Be the Leader That Creative People Need - Henry, Todd Review & Synopsis

Synopsis A practical handbook for every manager charged with leading teams to creative brilliance, from the author of The Accidental Creative and Die Empty. Doing the work and leading the work are very different things. When you make the transition from maker to manager, you give ownership of projects to your team even though you could do them yourself better and faster. You're juggling expectations from your manager, who wants consistent, predictable output from an inherently unpredictable creative process. And you're managing the pushback from your team of brilliant, headstrong, and possibly overqualified creatives. Leading talented, creative people requires a different skill set than the one many management books offer. As a consultant to creative companies, Todd Henry knows firsthand what prevents creative leaders from guiding their teams to success, and in Herding Tigers he provides a bold new blueprint to help you be the leader your team needs. Learn to lead by influence instead of control. Discover how to create a stable culture that empowers your team to take bold creative risks. And learn how to fight to protect the time, energy, and resources they need to do their best work. Full of stories and practical advice, Herding Tigers will give you the confidence and the skills to foster an environment where clients, management, and employees have a product they can be proud of and a process that works. Review Todd Henry teaches leaders and organizations how to establish practices that lead to everyday brilliance. He is the author of four books (The Accidental Creative, Die Empty, Louder Than Words, Herding Tigers) which have been translated into more than a dozen languages, and he speaks and consults across dozens of industries on creativity, leadership, and passion for work. Visit ToddHenry.com to learn more.Chapter 1 What Creative People Need A company in which anyone is afraid to speak up, to differ, to be daring and original, is closing the coffin door on itself. -Leo Burnett Principle: There are two things creative people need more than anything else: stability and challenge. First, let�s discharge the myths about creative people that saturate the workplace. You may not think you believe any of them, as you were probably the target of these same myths at some point in your career, but it�s easy to fall into the trap of generalizing the people on your team when you�re under pressure to deliver results. You�ve probably heard something like: �They�re just so difficult,� or �You have to treat them soooo carefully,� or �Don�t bruise their precious egos.� Yes, there are certainly creative pros who regularly exhibit behaviors that feed these myths. In fact, you might even work next to someone who exhibits all of the behaviors I describe below. The problem is, we often use the isolated behavior of a few dysfunctional people to make broad assumptions about entire groups. Further, the problem with many workplace stereotypes is that they often point to symptoms rather than the core issues. Perhaps some creative people appear to be difficult because the expectations for a project keep changing midstream, after they've done a tremendous amount of conceptual work that will have to be rehashed just to get back to the starting line. Is it possible that what comes across as ego is merely a response to their craft's-which they've spent years mastering and cultivating-being challenged at a moment's notice by someone who has given their hard work a total of ten seconds of distracted consideration before scrapping it? Much of the dysfunction and tension that exists in the workplace is the result of highly creative people's needs not being met. If you step back and examine the patterns, you'll find that a lot of bad behavior occurs when there is poor or inattentive leadership. Five Myths about Creative People There are a handful of commonly held misunderstandings about creative people that I regularly encounter when talking with leaders. Like any stereotype, there are some elements of truth in all of them, but they oversimplify reality and create a lot of roadblocks to healthy collaboration. In addition, when you hold any of these myths to be true, even subconsciously, it can affect your ability to give your team what it truly needs from you. Myth 1: Creative people just want total freedom. I hear this all the time from leaders who come from less traditionally "creative" roles. There is a standing belief that creative people want to remove all boundaries so that they can have a wide-open field to play in. This perception is often the result of creative people on their team having pushed back against overly constrictive boundaries or challenged a direction with which they disagree, but it's not indicative of what most creative people truly want or need from their leadership. The truth is that creative people want boundaries. They crave boundaries. A wide-open playing field is not helpful to the creative process. Although it sounds strange to many people, the most common complaint that I hear from creative people is that they lack a predictable environment in which to do their work. (More on that below.) They know that they need clearly defined boundaries and resources so that they can focus on doing what they do best. However, when forced to choose between being overly restricted and completely free, creative people will choose freedom, which is not always in their best interest. Thus, striking a healthy balance is your role as the leader, and it's essential to good collaboration. Myth 2: Creative people care only about how "cool" the idea is. Another persistent myth is that creative people aren't concerned with the result, and they just want to work on something that feels cool and edgy and lets them exercise their creative muscles. This is also largely untrue. Most of the highly creative people I encounter are professionals and are very concerned with results. They understand that results equate to revenue, which equates to more work (and an on-time mortgage payment). However, they also get frustrated when an obsession with practicality means prematurely sacrificing creative possibility. Settling quickly on the easiest and most apparent answer and then moving straight to execution might seem like an efficient use of resources, but it often means failing to bring the best thought and effort to the project, which is demoralizing to the team. Over time, this approach is a recipe for burnout and turnover, both of which cost the organization dearly. Myth 3: Creative people lack analytical ability or business acumen. I've heard the equivalent of "Just focus on making things look good, and let me worry about the strategy" tossed out in a meeting. Not in those words, of course, but the sentiment is still there. The truth is that most creatives have a well-honed analytical process, which is essential to their creative process. It is often a circuitous one, analyzing many sides of the problem at once, rather than the linear, straight-line analysis that many strategists use. Consequently, it often yields insights that others have overlooked. The kind of systems thinking that creative people provide is of tremendous value to the organization and should be welcomed at the table during strategic discussions. As we'll see in a later chapter, inviting input into the process is also a way to reinforce trust on your team. Myth 4: Creative people are either egomaniacs or completely insecure. It's important to distinguish between actions and traits. Yes, many creative people respond to a change in an important project or to a difficult conversation by posturing or leading with their egos. Some completely retreat into themselves and need constant reassurance that they're on the right track. However, don't think that this is how they would prefer things to be. Many creative people have developed learned responses to unhealthy organizational dynamics, and they are simply acting out of self-protection. Again, this isn't always the case. I've run into some remarkable egomaniacs out there, and there are some people who lack simple self-confidence. However, more often than not these exhibitions are an attempt to communicate that there is something they aren't getting from you or the organization. Myth 5: Creative people tend to be flighty or flaky. One of the common misconceptions about highly creative people is that they are quick to jump ship when a more interesting idea comes along. They will work hard until they are no longer interested, and then they'll lose interest and phone it in so that they can work on the idea they really like. The truth is that most highly creative people are extremely committed to their craft or area of specialty, but they can certainly be distractible if not led well. There is a method to their madness, though, and because they tend to be more aware of stimuli in the environment and tend to be able to make loose connections between them more easily, they can quickly get off track. This isn't a bug; it's a feature. This awareness and ability to see patterns can be of tremendous benefit if it can be channeled into the work that the organization values. However, you need to do your job as a leader and regularly communicate your values, the problem you're trying to solve, and the existing constraints for the project so that the team understands its parameters well. I realize that I have been painting with a broad brush. Are there creative people who want total freedom? Of course. Are some flaky and unable to focus? Sure. Are there creative people with overinflated egos? You bet. However, holding these broad stereotypes about creatives does more damage than good, and you can't let them persist inside your organization. You need to fight for and defend your team. Every creative pro is unique and will have to be strategically and intentionally led, but there are a few things that most of them need in order to thrive. What Creative People Need: Stability and Challenge As a leader, there are two key things that creative people need from you more than anything else: stability and challenge. Stability means that the environment around them is as predictable as it can reasonably be so they can focus their creative instincts on solving the actual problems the work presents instead of wasting them trying to resolve the uncertainty of the work environment. Challenge means that they are given the chance to engage in work that stimulates them, allows them to grow, and instills a sense of personal accomplishment. The Components of Stability To be clear, stability doesn't mean that there will never be last-minute changes or unexpected curveballs. Of course that will happen. You cannot predict client demands or organizational shifts every time. However, your team needs to see that you are doing your best to create an environment in which those distracting and demoralizing shifts are kept to a minimum so that they can pour themselves fully into their work. There are two key components of stability that you should focus on, and that I'll be addressing in various ways throughout the rest of the book: clarity and protection. Clarity. Your team needs you to be clear about your expectations, even when you are uncertain that they are the right ones, so that they don't have to worry about rework or wasted time. Many leaders waffle or get very unclear when they are uncertain because they don't want to be wrong or they are trying to protect themselves. This is the kiss of death in creative work, because ideas that lack precision lack punch. They will wither and die. If you want your team to do great work, you need to take the first risk by giving it clear direction. Take Stephen, for example. He was a designer for a small creative team. Because of the time-consuming nature of his work, even slight changes to the direction of a project could mean hours of rework, even though it didn't seem like a big deal to the organization's leaders. However, the problem wasn't the changes; it was the cavalier way in which they were made. It was typically late in the project before leaders would make a subjective decision about what they liked and what they didn't, which meant that Stephen would have to come in early or stay over the weekend to keep the project on track for delivery. Stephen came to resent these changes; he wasn't angry because the decisions were made, but because they were entirely avoidable if there had been more diligence in setting clear expectations early in the process. Instead, there was always a "wait and see" approach, and Stephen was inevitably the one who paid the price. Over time, he lost his passion for his work and would simply wait for his manager to tell him what to do rather than putting much effort into the early stages of the project. This meant, of course, that the team wasn't getting the best out of him, and his own personal satisfaction with his work plummeted. It was lose-lose. Even if Stephen's manager had given him clear direction from the start, had worked to get buy-in from the organization's leaders at key moments in the project timeline, and had fought to keep everyone focused and invested throughout the process, it's still possible the direction might have needed to change at some point. However, Stephen wouldn't have felt devalued and taken for granted and would likely still be a thriving member of the team. Clarity about expectations and stability would have made a huge difference in his experience and the quality of his work. Unfortunately for the organization, Stephen has since taken his talents to a company that better appreciates the unique challenges of creative work. Clarity also means providing your team a predictable space in which to do its work. Creativity requires healthy, well-defined boundaries. Unbounded freedom is not helpful, especially when doing work that requires risk. Are there clear terms of engagement, systems, processes, and principles for collaboration, or are they perpetually shifting with the political winds of the organization? Do you back up your words with actions, or is your team constantly wondering when the other shoe will drop? Is it clear what your words actually mean, or is there dissonance between perception and reality? Finally, your team needs to know what you value, what that means with regard to your expectations, and how that behavior will be rewarded. There's nothing more demoralizing than spending weeks working on what you believe to be a critical project only to realize that it didn't really matter as much as you had originally thought. Similarly, it's maddening to work hard and play by the perceived rules of the team only to find out that the game was rigged from the start, and you're never going to get the promotion that was dangled in front of you. You want your team focusing on the uncertainty out there, not the uncertainty within your own organization. Clarity allows team members to have the mental bandwidth to do their job with excellence. Protection. Stability is not just about clarity. I can yell to you: "Hey! I have a really clear view of a crouching lion that's about to attack!" while standing at a safe distance, but it doesn't really help you. You also need my protection, which I am in a unique position to provide because my point of view gives me advance warning that you don't have. Your people need to know that you have their back and that you will stand up for them when the time comes. This means that you are willing to fend off needless organizational demands and ensure that they have the time and bandwidth to focus on doing their most important work. It also means standing in the gap for their ideas and defending your team instead of throwing people under the bus when things go awry. A young account manager told me that one of her managers always spoke bravely in meetings about how he stands up for the team and would empathize with what it had to go through because someone higher up in the organization had changed his mind. All of those brave words counted for nothing when one day she overheard him casually blaming the team for a failure that was really his fault, and she realized that his protective stance was just posturing. In truth, he was selling out the team for the sake of his own career. If you want the team to take risks and do great work, people need to know that you have their back. You have to stand up for them, and you can never throw them under the bus. The quickest path to irrelevance as a leader is to sell out your team one time. If you do, you will never regain its trust. Herding Tigers A practical handbook for every manager charged with leading teams to creative brilliance, from the author of The Accidental Creative and Die Empty. Doing the work and leading the work are very different things. When you make the transition from maker to manager, you give ownership of projects to your team even though you could do them yourself better and faster. You're juggling expectations from your manager, who wants consistent, predictable output from an inherently unpredictable creative process. And you're managing the pushback from your team of brilliant, headstrong, and possibly overqualified creatives. Leading talented, creative people requires a different skill set than the one many management books offer. As a consultant to creative companies, Todd Henry knows firsthand what prevents creative leaders from guiding their teams to success, and in Herding Tigers he provides a bold new blueprint to help you be the leader your team needs. Learn to lead by influence instead of control. Discover how to create a stable culture that empowers your team to take bold creative risks. And learn how to fight to protect the time, energy, and resources they need to do their best work. Full of stories and practical advice, Herding Tigers will give you the confidence and the skills to foster an environment where clients, management, and employees have a product they can be proud of and a process that works. A practical handbook for every manager charged with leading teams to creative brilliance, from the author of The Accidental Creative and Die Empty. Doing the work and leading the work are very different things." Managing Change, Creativity and Innovation This bestselling text brings a fresh and unique approach to managing organizational change, taking the view that change, creativity and innovation are interconnected. It offers a strong theoretical understanding of change, creativity and innovation along with practical guidance and ideas for organizational change and development. The fourth edition comes with: lots of brand-new case studies and examples from around the world extra content on innovation and technology extended discussion and an additional chapter on the people aspects of change that includes culture, sensemaking and temporality Written in an engaging and accessible style, this books is essential for those studying organizational change management or creativity and innovation. In his book turns his Herding Tigers (2018) he turns attention to the problem of leading creative people and ... As he comments: You have to balance the practical need to say 'it's good enough' with your team's desire to push the limits ..." Lead with Super Clarity These are difficult times. The Covid-19 pandemic has proved to us that we cannot rely on tomorrow to be like today, there is no such thing as 'business as usual'. The social and economic upheaval has been devastating, and its effects long-lasting, making these times even more uncertain. The antidote to this uncertainty is clarity. Maanda Tshifularo has had the privilege of interacting with successful innovators, culture shifters, business leaders and thought leaders, and their 'common success denominator' is the ability to see, say, and do things, with purposeful clarity. He has identified 'Super Clarity' as the differentiator that helps leaders navigate the ambiguity and half-heartedness which have become the default state in many organisations, leading to plummeting employee morale and productivity. Not only does a super-clear leader achieve and make a meaningful contribution, but they also experience remarkable joy and personal growth in the journey. It has never been more crucial for leaders to provide clarity and, in this book, Maanda defines and explains the importance of Super Clarity, and how to translate purpose into our day-to-day activities to unlock exceptional results, job satisfaction, team cohesion and employee engagement. He outlines in Lead with Super Clarity the critical steps that we can take, as business leaders or in our own lives, to foster clarity, and, in so doing, create an environment characterised by purpose, insight and alignment. Maanda Tshifularo is the CEO and Founder of SuperLead Advisory (a strategy, operations and leadership consultancy), an adjunct faculty at the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS), an executive coach (Integral Coach UCT GSB and certified Gallup Strength Coach) and host of the SuperLead podcast and leadership summits. As an experienced executive, he has a track-record of leading business turn-arounds, new business ventures development and driving innovation and growth initiatives. Once you understand this, you'll have the confidence to liberate your team, giving them exciting challenges that stretch ... This is discussed by author Todd Henry in his book, Herding Tigers : Be the Leader That Creative People Need ." Secret no more! Secret no more! is an inspiring collection of articles written by 45 successful entrepreneurs, leaders and innovators from across the globe. Young tech gurus, experienced top-level CEOs, leadership experts and social entrepreneurs come together to share their secrets about creating and scaling a startup, innovating within existing companies and leading with authenticity and passion. Some people might argue that once exposed, a secret loses all its power. The philosophy of this book is the opposite. We believe that if you have knowledge, let others light their candles in it. Including contributions from: • Cesar Hidalgo • Guy Kawasaki • Joe Pulizzi • Robin Sharma • Selina Juul • Tania Ellis • Tony Ulwick • and many others ... Todd Henry is the author of The Accidental Creative , Die Empty, Louder Than Words, and Herding Tigers . His books have ... and he is an international speaker and consultant on creativity , productivity, leadership and passion for work." Creative Direction: Mastering the Transition from Talent to Leader Welcome to the Age of Creatives, where more and more makers, designers, writers, and artists are in demand. Learn how to succeed at managing other creatives ... once you understand the new strategies and mindset that are required. For creators, getting that promotion to management is exciting but can also be scary. The skills that made them so successful may not translate to the skill required to be a great manager, and this gets even more complicated when managing other creatives who often don't thrive under traditional management procedures. Creative Directions is a management masterclass in which readers attend lectures and seminars as they learn from some of the best in the business, including directors Ava DuVernay (When They See Us) and Joe Russo (Avengers: Endgame); two-time Academy Award-winning editor Angus Wall (The Social Network); executive producers from hit TV shows like The Simpsons and GLOW; and creative directors and leaders at businesses like Amazon, Apple, Disney, TikTok, and more. All of these lessons are provided in an attractive, easily accessible format so that readers can open the book to any page and find some actionable or inspirational insight or strategy. Readers will: Receive essential guidance on how to master the delicate balance required to successfully lead a creative team, like how to relinquish control while keeping the focus where it needs to be. Learn from star creative leaders in the entertainment industry on essential lessons they learned on their path to success. Gain insights on how to balance mastering the new skills you need as a leader with finding the time and energy to focus on the creative work you love. Enjoy the snackable, easy-reference format that makes the lessons easy to implement and apply. "Learn the new strategies and mindset required to manage other creative people. Taught by some of the most creative leaders in the world"--Jacket."