Right off the bat — big companies are, more often than not, magnets for greedy, power-hungry, lazy people. People who want everything they can get their hands on, while doing as little as possible. And every single time a Creative goes out of their way (against their own better judgment) to join a big company, they are immediately inundated with so much bullshit that they are gone within a year’s time. So why do Creatives hate big companies?
A Creative is typically the innovative, enthusiastic, open-minded individual who brings lots of cool ideas, experiences and solutions to a company. The Creative is the driving force in a [willing] group who energizes their coworkers with fresh ideas, concepts, and better ways of doing business. In ultra-sharp contrast, a big company is a collection of people who strive for a stable place to earn a buck and pay their bills. The drudgery and red tape that comes with working for a big company, means that only those with thick skins or those who don’t give a damn remain, while the rest eventually quit.
I would hate to be an HR person at a big company. Tasked with finding great talent, you have at your disposal lots of salary of offer, in exchange for a sad, dreary, uninspired work environment. So any time that you are fortunate enough to have a Creative show interest in your company, you are simultaneously thrilled and baffled as to why they are even looking into joining your organization.
What Creatives find in these huge employment behemoths, are small “villages” of employees. Like the television show Survivor, the employees in these big companies gather and create alliances, to help each other survive and move up the ranks. People hide in back rooms and cubicles, hoping to not be seen by managers who would give them more work to do. They forage for free food in the lunchroom, and sharpen their PowerPoint skills like spears, ready to fight for a chance at showing off to the VP.
God forbid, some Creative joins the company, with his almighty “hey, let’s solve some problems in an innovative and collaborative way“ attitude, and which point you look at him and say “don’t waste your time, and don’t make ME look bad“. Creatives are seen as aliens in the big company, and like the Twilight Zone episode, the villagers would kill the alien who offers a cure for cancer, because they just don’t understand that he comes to help.
Creatives hate big companies. They hate how big companies pretend to be innovative, but are typically incubators for un-innovative people. And they hate how big companies allow Creatives to get thrown under the bus, for the sake of the village and its politics.
The best way for Creatives to help a big company, is to not waste their HR’s time by sending a resume their way. You will only end up quitting sooner or later. And if you don’t quit, then eventually you become one of the greedy or lazy who gets assimilated.
Big companies seem to thrive on the greedy, the power-hungry, and the lazy among our society. No matter how creative you are, there are just some things you can’t fix...
All large organizations are bureaucratic, and bureaucracy demands conformity. Conformity is the opposite of creativity.
wurdan freo
Dec 28, 17 8:34 pm
yay... generalizations!
citizen
Dec 30, 17 1:52 pm
+++ I agree! (mostly)
curtkram
Dec 28, 17 8:59 pm
i read "the peter principle" the other day. i would recommend it. if you're in this environment, you might be mistaking the true cause.
Wilma Buttfit
Dec 28, 17 9:16 pm
^is that (peter principle) really worth an entire book?
curtkram
Dec 29, 17 11:00 am
yes. it's a short book, and he's kind of funny
BulgarBlogger
Dec 28, 17 9:54 pm
I read this and thought - wow, this is what I've wanted to say for years... No - I don't work for a large firm, but having worked for one in the past, I would never EVER do it again...
randomised
Dec 29, 17 2:33 am
The article is clearly not written very creatively, clearly a begrudged cubicle conformist who found out someone took his lunch from the company fridge...
Volunteer
Dec 29, 17 6:55 am
"Creative" is a noun? I guess if "gift" can be a verb why not?
LITS4FormZ
Dec 29, 17 10:38 am
This guy clearing couldn't cut it in the real world, so now he writes for HuffPo. Thanks for sharing!
Volunteer
Dec 29, 17 10:47 am
Michelangelo worked for the Catholic Church on the Sistine Chapel back in the day. That was about as biggie employer you could have but maybe Mike was a just contract employee with no bennies?
x-jla
Dec 29, 17 12:29 pm
I hear his benefit package included not burning in hell for eternity. That's something.
JLC-1
Dec 29, 17 1:11 pm
he had no competition inside the organization. plus, it wasn't as big as you would like it, more like today's Cayman islands.
Wilma Buttfit
Dec 29, 17 10:59 pm
Patron, not employer.
Everyday Architect
Dec 29, 17 11:11 am
Is "Creatives" just another term for "person who doesn't know yet what they don't know?"
So creative to just copy and paste the blog in its entirety too. Normally people would just post a link and add some commentary, but pasting the whole thing and then not getting around to the commentary for 2 hours ... that's some outside-the-box thinking right there.
x-jla
Dec 29, 17 12:27 pm
He was busy hassling his doorman.
BulgarBlogger
Dec 29, 17 12:05 pm
I engineered insurance that the article would get read without plagiarizing. I think that's pretty creative...
Everyday Architect
Dec 29, 17 12:30 pm
If you were that worried people wouldn't click on a HuffPo link you could have just used Bitly; http://bit.ly/2CljB9c
BulgarBlogger
Dec 29, 17 12:50 pm
jla-x - the doorman comments I've made in the past really struck a cord with you huh? lol
randomised
Dec 29, 17 1:28 pm
Not just a few comments, you dedicated an entire thread to it :)
Everyday Architect
Dec 29, 17 2:00 pm
That thread deserves to be in what I hope is an upcoming "Top Archinect Threads of 2017" listicle.
x-jla
Dec 29, 17 2:10 pm
Bulgar, it did. I don't like when people minimize the worth of working class people. Our value as human beings goes beyond what we do for a living. I encourage you to contemplate that idea. It will make you a better architect also when you value the importance of the guy laying the bricks. :)
x-jla
Dec 29, 17 2:14 pm
Architecture is created and maintained by many hands.
Peter Normand
Dec 29, 17 2:35 pm
Let me do some translating here:
"A Creative is typically the innovative, enthusiastic, open-minded individual who brings lots of cool ideas, experiences and solutions to a company"
Translation: I am from an Ivy League school or liberal arts collage and I believe my ideas are likely to be better than yours despite your years of experience. Also I am not interested in the task assigned to be I am interested in doing what I feel is important and I can not understand why you all do not have the same priorities as I do.
"The Creative is the driving force in a [willing] group who energizes their coworkers with fresh ideas, concepts, and better ways of doing business."
Translation: The creative person thinks they know how to do said task and thinks they should be in-charge. The creative has an idea for a way to do things and since it is a disruption of the past way of doing things it must be innovative.
"The drudgery and red tape that comes with working for a big company, means that only those with thick skins or those who don’t give a damn remain, while the rest eventually quit."
Translation: All of these rules are cramping my style, I am expecting, as a creative person, to have fun at work and to be constantly rewarded and entertained no matter how many deadlines I miss or mistakes I make.
"Creatives are seen as aliens in the big company, and like the Twilight Zone episode, the villagers would kill the alien who offers a cure for cancer, because they just don’t understand that he comes to help."
Translation: The coworkers are pissed at the creative for slaking off on their task, or worse the creative is proposing something that has already been tried six months ago before they were brought on to the team. Also possibly the coworkers know what the creative person is proposing is not going to work because, 1 it is illegal, 2 it is unethical, 3 it is not profitable.
"They hate how big companies pretend to be innovative, but are typically incubators for un-innovative people. And they hate how big companies allow Creatives to get thrown under the bus, for the sake of the village and its politics."
Translation: They don't like following rules such as dress codes, office hours or other rules that they believe inhibits their ability to be creative. The creative person also hates being held accountable and hates above all things being expected to complete task within a set time to a reasonable degree of accuracy or completeness. Measurable objectives are not how a creative person should be judged. Deliverables are for boring goal oriented people.
"Big companies seem to thrive on the greedy, the power-hungry, and the lazy among our society. No matter how creative you are, there are just some things you can’t fix..."
Translation: If you want to work for a business that makes money achieves their goals or their client's goals you may have to check you ego at the door. If you are unhappy working with others to achieve someone else goals you need to accept the fact you will not be popular or viewed as innovative or even helpful if all you want to do is be creative by disrupting and resisting rules and norms.
This sounds to me like those winning millennial articles that were so common a few years ago.
Over and OUT
Peter N
randomised
Dec 29, 17 2:59 pm
Those bloody "creatives", screw them!
Miles Jaffe
Dec 29, 17 5:54 pm
I believe you meant "whining millennial".
randomised
Dec 30, 17 4:55 am
That's the same, never heard an adult describe themselves as a "creative", ever :)
Schoon
Dec 31, 17 5:07 pm
100% agree with you Peter, and I'm one of those damn millennials!
x-jla
Dec 29, 17 2:45 pm
sometimes it's easier to call the kid whos homework is illegible "creative" rather than stupid... then all the stupid or lazy people run with that title. Truth is, being creative takes a lot of hard work. People should look at the floor boards of Pollacks studio more often and not just the finished work and the eccentric personality traits.
Little Joey rubs his feces on the walls..."he's just being creative."
randomised
Dec 29, 17 3:06 pm
This thread reminded me of "Happyish", the one season philosophical/existential comedy series with Steve Coogan as a middle aged advertising copy writer (if I recall correctly) surrounded by young creatives. Check it out if you haven't. Such a shame it never got a second season...
Peter Normand
Dec 29, 17 3:44 pm
also the great outdoors TV show is a similar situation.
nickmarsala
Dec 29, 17 10:55 pm
Why not join the Military?
nickmarsala
Dec 30, 17 11:53 am
Joining the Military is a great career and you do more than just blow things up. Why are you so anti-military?
randomised
Dec 30, 17 3:19 pm
Why are you so pro-military?
nickmarsala
Dec 30, 17 8:54 pm
How old are you?
Flatfish
Dec 30, 17 9:45 pm
The air force recently changed theirs to 39.
nickmarsala
Jan 4, 18 2:25 pm
I hate how they impose they unreasonable age limits
nickmarsala
Jan 6, 18 6:47 pm
I am not opposed to that but obviously it's a lot harder to get that than it is to enlist. How else are we all going to defeat our enemies abroad?
JLC-1
Dec 30, 17 11:00 am
looks more like big companies hate creatives
Wilma Buttfit
Dec 30, 17 12:29 pm
Creative people tend to make other people more self-aware and that is disasterous for management in big companies who thrive on lack of self-awareness. Can't drive the points hard very well if you are constantly reevaluating your methods. Creative people are annoying!
JLC-1
Dec 30, 17 1:42 pm
Very unproductive, unpredictable, uncontrlable.big orgs need order!!!!
randomised
Jan 2, 18 1:12 pm
Ordnung muß sein!
Schoon
Dec 31, 17 5:30 pm
Sure, big companies are often bureaucratic and set in their ways, so "innovative" ideas of newcomers are often ignored. But, I have heard so many stories from employers about kids coming in just out of school or with one or two years experience with ideas that are ridiculous, impractical, and often just plain wrong because they've had this idea drilled into their heads that they have to be "innovative" and "disruptive" in order to succeed. It's good to re-evaluate the old ways of doing things, but let's be honest, our ideas will actually change standard practice maybe once or twice in our lifetimes. The rest of the time, our ideas don't take hold because they're just not as good as we think they are.
I'm not a fan of the writing style of Huffpost's contributors in general, but this article is particularly vague and petulant even for them. Although, I can see how it would soothe the egos of self-appointed "Creatives" who read it.
geezertect
Dec 31, 17 5:45 pm
+++ Well said.
Wilma Buttfit
Dec 31, 17 6:46 pm
Aw, it sounds like no one likes your ideas and you are sad. Most everything is "created".
Wilma Buttfit
Dec 31, 17 6:58 pm
What do non-creative people even do? I really don't know, I've been self employed for almost 10 years and honestly have no idea what it would be like to NOT create stuff. Maybe it's how creativity is defined... I was talking to my father in law and he was telling me about in Moby Dick, they describe a Crow's nest on the mast so the whale spotter has a little house instead of just clinging to the mast. It was invented/created.
Wilma Buttfit
Dec 31, 17 6:59 pm
Humanity has does this inventing thing more than once or twice I think.
Wilma Buttfit
Dec 31, 17 7:06 pm
I guess the non-creative people would just keep trying to spot whales while clinging to the mast in the cold wind. Yeah, put them in charge. Pbth.
Schoon
Dec 31, 17 7:13 pm
I'm not using the title "Creative" as someone who creates. I'm using it with a sort of tongue-in-cheek definition of a person in a creative field who holds a mindset of self-aggrandizement, and who strives to be recognized as important without putting in the effort to deserve it.
Schoon
Dec 31, 17 7:16 pm
I understand everything you've said and I agree with it. I consider myself a creative person. However I also recognize that sometimes we can blow our own ideas out of proportion. We should understand why things are done the way they are before we try to implement changes. I guess my point is that I believe I should be an expert in a field before I can make truly meaningful improvements (and innovations) within it.
Wilma Buttfit
Jan 1, 18 1:23 pm
I know what you're saying. Personally, I don't find overly creative people that annoying nor so prevalent. However, "This is the way we've always done it" is (imo) the scariest phrase in any language.
archanonymous
Jan 1, 18 3:07 pm
In the push towards "Creativity" "Design Thinking" "Disruption" "Innovation" and other buzz-worthy topics, we've lost sight of the fact that much of architecture (and really, all human endeavors) involves a lot of hard work and refinement of relatively rare truly innovative ideas.
Out focus on novelty has left us unable to refine our craft. As Tinbeary says, you need to know the rules to break them (well). Otherwise you just end up with a proliferation of novel shapes, forms, and solutions when the careful refinement of an existing typology would be better.
sameolddoctor
Jan 1, 18 4:09 pm
I've seen more "creatives" at larger offices than at backyard remodel firms...
randomised
Jan 2, 18 2:46 am
Hate those contractors with a stamp, lowering the bar with every project realised.
Wilma Buttfit
Jan 2, 18 12:37 pm
As architects, wouldn't 90 percent of us be considered the annoying creative types?
Non Sequitur
Jan 2, 18 12:43 pm
I think we've significantly watered down the meaning of the term "creative".
Right off the bat — big companies are, more often than not, magnets for greedy, power-hungry, lazy people. People who want everything they can get their hands on, while doing as little as possible. And every single time a Creative goes out of their way (against their own better judgment) to join a big company, they are immediately inundated with so much bullshit that they are gone within a year’s time. So why do Creatives hate big companies?
A Creative is typically the innovative, enthusiastic, open-minded individual who brings lots of cool ideas, experiences and solutions to a company. The Creative is the driving force in a [willing] group who energizes their coworkers with fresh ideas, concepts, and better ways of doing business. In ultra-sharp contrast, a big company is a collection of people who strive for a stable place to earn a buck and pay their bills. The drudgery and red tape that comes with working for a big company, means that only those with thick skins or those who don’t give a damn remain, while the rest eventually quit.
I would hate to be an HR person at a big company. Tasked with finding great talent, you have at your disposal lots of salary of offer, in exchange for a sad, dreary, uninspired work environment. So any time that you are fortunate enough to have a Creative show interest in your company, you are simultaneously thrilled and baffled as to why they are even looking into joining your organization.
What Creatives find in these huge employment behemoths, are small “villages” of employees. Like the television show Survivor, the employees in these big companies gather and create alliances, to help each other survive and move up the ranks. People hide in back rooms and cubicles, hoping to not be seen by managers who would give them more work to do. They forage for free food in the lunchroom, and sharpen their PowerPoint skills like spears, ready to fight for a chance at showing off to the VP.
God forbid, some Creative joins the company, with his almighty “hey, let’s solve some problems in an innovative and collaborative way“ attitude, and which point you look at him and say “don’t waste your time, and don’t make ME look bad“. Creatives are seen as aliens in the big company, and like the Twilight Zone episode, the villagers would kill the alien who offers a cure for cancer, because they just don’t understand that he comes to help.
Creatives hate big companies. They hate how big companies pretend to be innovative, but are typically incubators for un-innovative people. And they hate how big companies allow Creatives to get thrown under the bus, for the sake of the village and its politics.
The best way for Creatives to help a big company, is to not waste their HR’s time by sending a resume their way. You will only end up quitting sooner or later. And if you don’t quit, then eventually you become one of the greedy or lazy who gets assimilated.
Big companies seem to thrive on the greedy, the power-hungry, and the lazy among our society. No matter how creative you are, there are just some things you can’t fix...
https://www.huffingtonpost.com...
All large organizations are bureaucratic, and bureaucracy demands conformity. Conformity is the opposite of creativity.
yay... generalizations!
+++ I agree! (mostly)
i read "the peter principle" the other day. i would recommend it. if you're in this environment, you might be mistaking the true cause.
^is that (peter principle) really worth an entire book?
yes. it's a short book, and he's kind of funny
I read this and thought - wow, this is what I've wanted to say for years... No - I don't work for a large firm, but having worked for one in the past, I would never EVER do it again...
The article is clearly not written very creatively, clearly a begrudged cubicle conformist who found out someone took his lunch from the company fridge...
"Creative" is a noun? I guess if "gift" can be a verb why not?
This guy clearing couldn't cut it in the real world, so now he writes for HuffPo. Thanks for sharing!
Michelangelo worked for the Catholic Church on the Sistine Chapel back in the day. That was about as biggie employer you could have but maybe Mike was a just contract employee with no bennies?
I hear his benefit package included not burning in hell for eternity. That's something.
he had no competition inside the organization. plus, it wasn't as big as you would like it, more like today's Cayman islands.
Patron, not employer.
Is "Creatives" just another term for "person who doesn't know yet what they don't know?"
So creative to just copy and paste the blog in its entirety too. Normally people would just post a link and add some commentary, but pasting the whole thing and then not getting around to the commentary for 2 hours ... that's some outside-the-box thinking right there.
He was busy hassling his doorman.
I engineered insurance that the article would get read without plagiarizing. I think that's pretty creative...
If you were that worried people wouldn't click on a HuffPo link you could have just used Bitly; http://bit.ly/2CljB9c
jla-x - the doorman comments I've made in the past really struck a cord with you huh? lol
Not just a few comments, you dedicated an entire thread to it :)
That thread deserves to be in what I hope is an upcoming "Top Archinect Threads of 2017" listicle.
Bulgar, it did. I don't like when people minimize the worth of working class people. Our value as human beings goes beyond what we do for a living. I encourage you to contemplate that idea. It will make you a better architect also when you value the importance of the guy laying the bricks. :)
Architecture is created and maintained by many hands.
Let me do some translating here:
"A Creative is typically the innovative, enthusiastic, open-minded individual who brings lots of cool ideas, experiences and solutions to a company"
Translation: I am from an Ivy League school or liberal arts collage and I believe my ideas are likely to be better than yours despite your years of experience. Also I am not interested in the task assigned to be I am interested in doing what I feel is important and I can not understand why you all do not have the same priorities as I do.
"The Creative is the driving force in a [willing] group who energizes their coworkers with fresh ideas, concepts, and better ways of doing business."
Translation: The creative person thinks they know how to do said task and thinks they should be in-charge. The creative has an idea for a way to do things and since it is a disruption of the past way of doing things it must be innovative.
"The drudgery and red tape that comes with working for a big company, means that only those with thick skins or those who don’t give a damn remain, while the rest eventually quit."
Translation: All of these rules are cramping my style, I am expecting, as a creative person, to have fun at work and to be constantly rewarded and entertained no matter how many deadlines I miss or mistakes I make.
"Creatives are seen as aliens in the big company, and like the Twilight Zone episode, the villagers would kill the alien who offers a cure for cancer, because they just don’t understand that he comes to help."
Translation: The coworkers are pissed at the creative for slaking off on their task, or worse the creative is proposing something that has already been tried six months ago before they were brought on to the team. Also possibly the coworkers know what the creative person is proposing is not going to work because, 1 it is illegal, 2 it is unethical, 3 it is not profitable.
"They hate how big companies pretend to be innovative, but are typically incubators for un-innovative people. And they hate how big companies allow Creatives to get thrown under the bus, for the sake of the village and its politics."
Translation: They don't like following rules such as dress codes, office hours or other rules that they believe inhibits their ability to be creative. The creative person also hates being held accountable and hates above all things being expected to complete task within a set time to a reasonable degree of accuracy or completeness. Measurable objectives are not how a creative person should be judged. Deliverables are for boring goal oriented people.
"Big companies seem to thrive on the greedy, the power-hungry, and the lazy among our society. No matter how creative you are, there are just some things you can’t fix..."
Translation: If you want to work for a business that makes money achieves their goals or their client's goals you may have to check you ego at the door. If you are unhappy working with others to achieve someone else goals you need to accept the fact you will not be popular or viewed as innovative or even helpful if all you want to do is be creative by disrupting and resisting rules and norms.
This sounds to me like those winning millennial articles that were so common a few years ago.
Over and OUT
Peter N
Those bloody "creatives", screw them!
I believe you meant "whining millennial".
That's the same, never heard an adult describe themselves as a "creative", ever :)
100% agree with you Peter, and I'm one of those damn millennials!
sometimes it's easier to call the kid whos homework is illegible "creative" rather than stupid... then all the stupid or lazy people run with that title. Truth is, being creative takes a lot of hard work. People should look at the floor boards of Pollacks studio more often and not just the finished work and the eccentric personality traits.
Little Joey rubs his feces on the walls..."he's just being creative."
This thread reminded me of "Happyish", the one season philosophical/existential comedy series with Steve Coogan as a middle aged advertising copy writer (if I recall correctly) surrounded by young creatives. Check it out if you haven't. Such a shame it never got a second season...
also the great outdoors TV show is a similar situation.
Why not join the Military?
Joining the Military is a great career and you do more than just blow things up. Why are you so anti-military?
Why are you so pro-military?
How old are you?
The air force recently changed theirs to 39.
I hate how they impose they unreasonable age limits
I am not opposed to that but obviously it's a lot harder to get that than it is to enlist. How else are we all going to defeat our enemies abroad?
looks more like big companies hate creatives
Creative people tend to make other people more self-aware and that is disasterous for management in big companies who thrive on lack of self-awareness. Can't drive the points hard very well if you are constantly reevaluating your methods. Creative people are annoying!
Very unproductive, unpredictable, uncontrlable.big orgs need order!!!!
Ordnung muß sein!
Sure, big companies are often bureaucratic and set in their ways, so "innovative" ideas of newcomers are often ignored. But, I have heard so many stories from employers about kids coming in just out of school or with one or two years experience with ideas that are ridiculous, impractical, and often just plain wrong because they've had this idea drilled into their heads that they have to be "innovative" and "disruptive" in order to succeed. It's good to re-evaluate the old ways of doing things, but let's be honest, our ideas will actually change standard practice maybe once or twice in our lifetimes. The rest of the time, our ideas don't take hold because they're just not as good as we think they are.
I'm not a fan of the writing style of Huffpost's contributors in general, but this article is particularly vague and petulant even for them. Although, I can see how it would soothe the egos of self-appointed "Creatives" who read it.
+++ Well said.
Aw, it sounds like no one likes your ideas and you are sad. Most everything is "created".
What do non-creative people even do? I really don't know, I've been self employed for almost 10 years and honestly have no idea what it would be like to NOT create stuff. Maybe it's how creativity is defined... I was talking to my father in law and he was telling me about in Moby Dick, they describe a Crow's nest on the mast so the whale spotter has a little house instead of just clinging to the mast. It was invented/created.
Humanity has does this inventing thing more than once or twice I think.
I guess the non-creative people would just keep trying to spot whales while clinging to the mast in the cold wind. Yeah, put them in charge. Pbth.
I'm not using the title "Creative" as someone who creates. I'm using it with a sort of tongue-in-cheek definition of a person in a creative field who holds a mindset of self-aggrandizement, and who strives to be recognized as important without putting in the effort to deserve it.
I understand everything you've said and I agree with it. I consider myself a creative person. However I also recognize that sometimes we can blow our own ideas out of proportion. We should understand why things are done the way they are before we try to implement changes. I guess my point is that I believe I should be an expert in a field before I can make truly meaningful improvements (and innovations) within it.
I know what you're saying. Personally, I don't find overly creative people that annoying nor so prevalent. However, "This is the way we've always done it" is (imo) the scariest phrase in any language.
In the push towards "Creativity" "Design Thinking" "Disruption" "Innovation" and other buzz-worthy topics, we've lost sight of the fact that much of architecture (and really, all human endeavors) involves a lot of hard work and refinement of relatively rare truly innovative ideas.
Out focus on novelty has left us unable to refine our craft. As Tinbeary says, you need to know the rules to break them (well). Otherwise you just end up with a proliferation of novel shapes, forms, and solutions when the careful refinement of an existing typology would be better.
I've seen more "creatives" at larger offices than at backyard remodel firms...
Hate those contractors with a stamp, lowering the bar with every project realised.
As architects, wouldn't 90 percent of us be considered the annoying creative types?
I think we've significantly watered down the meaning of the term "creative".
That's the answer a true creative would give