In Search of Meaning (11.1): Empowering ‘I’

Leading Geeks by Paul Glen Boy, I never would have voluntarily picked this one up.

Anyone who manages creative people–not just “geeks,” which the author describes as people who are really good at high technology creative projects–should check this book out.

For one, author Paul Glen jumps right in with why leading this type of personality is much, much different from “managing” workers.

The main thing to do is to let people who are creative follow their own initiatives and leads.

Not try to tell them what to do.

Power stuff of old “leadership” manuals goes out the window when it comes to getting the most out of smart, creative people who see their work as miniature expressions of art.

Here’s some diagrams that Glen uses to make the distinction between traditional leadership (Fig. 1) and what he calls “The Content of Geek Leadership” (Fig. 2)

Fig 1.Managers in traditional models tend to tell people what to do and how to do it.
Traditional leadership and management style as Paul Glen writes in Leading Geeks

Fig 2.People who lead creative teams are more facilitators than dictators.
Creative people and how to lead and manage them as Paul Glen writes in Leading Geeks

I like this.

I think this note is important, too:

Geeks are best able to function at peak efficiency when everything makes sense.

When they:

fully understand the mission, vision, and values of their overall organization

can clearly articulate their role within the organization

and feel that the values of the organization are consistently upheld by leaders and followers alike,

they are able to become highly motivated and remarkably productive. –Paul Glen, Leading Geeks

One of my favorite moments of all time is when I learned the fundamental theorem of calculus one afternoon in Julie Graves’s classroom at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics.

Seeing how the delta x’s beneath a graph formed segmented areas that began to–fuzzily at first, and then quite suddenly, as delta x approached zero–turn magically into a tale of integration was… wow! Stunning. I have never been so engaged in anything anyone’s ever said since. The beauty in simplicity of it. The simplicity of its beauty.

This was part of an experimental calculus curriculum.

Our math teachers were writing a new textbook on how to teach and apply some of the stuff of precal and cal, and we the students were active participants in shaping how the book would evolve.

Talk about having a clear sense of the mission and goals, knowing your role, and feeling your contributions are valued!

I still really love math. And graph paper.

Logic. Inquiry. Curiosity. All very important. But then, so is intent.

If creative people know the people who direct their projects are asking the right questions, engaging their passion for seeking the new, and celebrating the small victories along the way, that is ace.

What is the series In Search of Meaning?

When Design Kompany starts a new project, we ask clients to recommend books. And we get a whole bunch of interesting lists.

Learning to think about how you think is just one way for us to gain insight on what will make a fitting identity design for you. So we like to do some reading up, and researching, and musing, like in these posts about books and in our doodles on Adobe Illustrator for Design Kompany to test out sketch ideas.

I recently wrote about the samurai Miyamoto Musashi, but one of my favorites was The Baron in the Trees by Italo Calvino. In fact, The Baron was so engaging, it prompted this entire series.

Design Kompany loves to help people get clear about their mission, goals, and vision.

Without a clear sense of your company’s identity, how the heck is anyone going to buy into your ideas or products?

Also see
Trait of a Leader: The Constructive Spirit of Discontent