2. Reward success and failure; punish inaction. As Sutton puts it, "Creativity is a function of the quantity of work produced." This is a version of Seth Godin's "just ship" philosophy. Sutton suggests measuring activity level as an indicator of performance – whether someone is doing something or doing nothing – and evaluating accordingly.
3. Ignore people who have solved the exact problem you face. The managerial tendency is to give familiar assignments to those who have been successful on similar assignments in the past. Resist this! Assuming you have a capable and talented team, present work to an unlikely team member, and you may hit on a new way of looking at a problem.
4. Hire “slow learners” (of organizational code). It’s conventional practice to hire socially adept employees who quickly learn to do things “the right way” and slot comfortably into any team. Consider hiring “low self-monitors”, confident people who don’t feel or respond to pressures to follow the herd. You’ll increase the spectrum of what is possible just by cultivating the misfit element.
5. Seek out ways to avoid, distract, and bore customers. I like this one because it's confrontational, but once you get past the initial shock of the idea, possibility opens up. Investigating what it would look like to, say, bore your own customers, is a contrarian method of brainstorming that may help you to get clear and find holes in your reasoning so you can then pursue the opposite approach.
In the end, Sutton's “Weird Rules” are a reminder that one of the best strategies for inciting creativity is to upend the status quo. What accepted business practice can you turn on its head today?
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How Do You Get Weird?
What are your weird rules for sparking creativity?
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