Creativity vs Productivity

In my experience it's a challenge to let creative people be creative, because you absolutely need them to be, but to keep them aware of business goals, product releases and the general demands of keeping customer acquisition rates and general margins where they need to be.

I have faith in that general principle of getting the right people on the bus, getting them in the right seats, and seeing where the bus starts heading towards. But if the financials are shouting at you, the cost base is expanding and the clock is ticking it sure is a challenge to give talented, creative people the space they need to produce something special.

At Claromentis we need great, well designed and well thought out products. That requires creative input from our designers and information architects - and ultimately from our developers to make it all work. But the space and freedom they need costs money, and at the end of the day that space therefore has a limit.

There just seems to me to be fundamental tensions

• between financing creativity when the results are by definition uncertain, and the sound financial best practices of a well managed small business. 
• between creativity itself and the nature of a working week
• between goal setting, deadlines and artistic space and freedom

Perhaps I have to have enough resources to let them fail as many times as it takes before they produce the gems that will make the product line truly special.

A better solution would be to find a way to coach, mentor and manage them - find a balance somehow between creativity, business demands and resource allocation.