I saw this article mentioned on the Fast Company blog: Too Much Management Can Block Innovation. The gist of the article is that commonly used management processes can stifle creativity. Those commonly used processes include annual performance reviews, individual accountablility, focus on budgets. The author of the article, Stanford’s Jeffrey Pfeffer, seems to endorse those counterintuitive management techniques like the ones in place at Southwest Airlines. At Southwest employees come first, customers second and shareholders third. The idea being that if management honestly believes and acts on that idea, then the employees will be happy in their work, and they will deliver a better product (excuse my oversimplification).
And as far as motivation goes: Money makes people happy, but freedom to innovate is worth more.
Goverment IT (overall) is too big and under too much scrutiny to have much chance at implementing something like that, but I’d like to think there were IT shops in government where the work is stimulating and rewarding. Or if not whole shops, then aspects to the job where you can exercise some creativity.
So is it your money or your life?
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