(2015 - 7/11) Crunch Time: The Death of Creativity

CALIBRATE 2015 (7/11) - http://www.calibratesf.com/

Crunch Time: The Death of Creativity -- Ryan Tang

http://engineering.sharethrough.com/blog/2015/11/13/crunch-time-the-death-of-creativity/

Extrinsic motivators like crunch time worked a hundred years ago in the era of low-tech factories. In the knowledge economy today, the high pressure of crunch time efforts often backfires. Using three case studies, Ryan explores the effect of crunch time, analyzing the positive and negative effects of management pressure.

Transcript

1. Crunch Time: The Death of Creativity Ryan Tang Cloud Foundry Engineering
2. Back to 1995
6. Crunch Time: Great for Manual Labor Bad for Knowledge Economy Three case studies: 1. Ryan’s Daily Get-To-Work-on-Time Project 2. The Marshmallow Challenge 3. The Candle Problem stress balls of varying happiness
7. Crunch Time: Great for Manual Labor Bad for Knowledge Economy Dig in to understand: • The effects of crunch time and external motivators • Building a workplace that fosters creativity stress balls of varying happiness
9. Project Get-To-Work-On-Time Project Manager: Me Allocated Worker: My 4-yr-old son Goal: Putting on Pants
10. Fake Deadline Kinda Fake Deadline Real Deadline
11. Project Kick Off Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet YAWN
12. Fake Deadline Kinda Fake Deadline Real Deadline Status: Report: Naked preschooler reading a book Status: Report: Son in superhero underwear, playing with toy trucks Status: Report: Achieved through last-minute heroics
13. The Pants Project Marshmallow Challenge Candle Problem Mechanism Did it Work? Creativity Time Pressure Low
14. The Marshmallow Challenge team of four 18 minutes marshmallowchallenge.com
15. Materials for the Challenge 20 sticks 1 yard 1 yard 1 marshmallow
16. Goal • Build the tallest freestanding structure • Marshmallow must be on top
18. Consistent Worst Performers Recent Graduates of Business School
19. Consistent Top Performers Recent Graduates of Kindergarten
20. Process Makes a Difference Discuss Plan Build Ta-da! 18 Mins Typical marshmallow-building process
21. Very Typical Discuss Plan Build Uh-oh! 18 Mins
22. How Recent Kindergarten Graduates Work Build Build Build Build 18 Mins
23. Marshmallow Crunch Time 0 10 20 30 Typical Performance of 10 Teams Height in inches
24. Raise The Stakes: $10,000
25. Crunch Time: No Standing Structures 0 10 20 30 Team Performance with High Stakes Height in inches
26. The Pants Project Marshmallow Challenge Candle Problem Mechanism Did it Work? Creativity Time Pressure Low High Stake Reward High
27. The Candle Problem Psychologist Karl Dunker, 1945 • Candle • Box of Tacks • Book of Matches Goal: Attach the lit candle on the wall such that the wax won’t drip on the table below
28. The Candle Solution
29. Candle Crunch Time Sam Glucksberg, 1962 Low Pressure Group: • No financial reward • Timed “to establish norms” Relax, no pressure
30. Candle Crunch Time Cash Reward Group: • Timed and compared with peers • Best time gets top prize • Top quartile gets smaller reward • Everyone else gets nothing Be vigilant!
31. Crunch Time: Pressure Comes From Two Sources 1 2 3
32. The Results Low Pressure Group: 7 minutes 41 seconds Cash Reward Group: 11 minutes 8 seconds
33. The Results Low Pressure Group: 7 minutes 41 seconds Cash Reward Group: 11 minutes 8 seconds The solution took 45% longer with cash incentives
34. Crunch Time Made People Slower (And Dumber) Low Pressure Group: 7 minutes 41 seconds Cash Reward Group: 11 minutes 8 seconds The solution took 45% longer with cash incentives
35. The Pants Project Marshmallow Challenge Candle Problem Mechanism Did it Work? Creativity Time Pressure Low High Stake Reward High Very High Moderate Financial Incentive
36. The Candle Problem
37. The Candle Problem for Dummies
38. Simple Candle Problem Low Pressure Group Cash Reward Group
39. Results for the Simple Candle Problem Low Pressure Group: 4 minutes 59 seconds Cash Reward Group: 3 minutes 40 seconds
40. Results for the Simple Candle Problem Low Pressure Group: 4 minutes 59 seconds Cash Reward Group: 3 minutes 40 seconds The simple problem was solved 25% faster with cash incentives
41. Crunch Time Works Well for the Simple Problem Low Pressure Group: 4 minutes 59 seconds Cash Reward Group: 3 minutes 40 seconds The simple problem was solved 25% faster with cash incentives
42. The Pants Project Marshmallow Challenge Candle Problem Mechanism Did it Work? Creativity Time Pressure Low High Stake Reward High for Dummies Very High Low Moderate Financial Incentive
43. Crunch Time Narrows Focus
44. Complex Problems Require Balance and Have Solutions That are not Obvious Monument to WWII Polish Cryptographers
45. Crunch Time: Great for Manual Labor Bad for Knowledge Economy • What does crunch time and external motivators buy? • How do we build a workplace that fosters creativity? stress balls of varying happiness
46. External Motivators Buys Compliance
47. Engagement Helps Creativity
48. Ingredients to Build Engagement Purpose Mastery Autonomy
49. Three Ideas for Workplace Engagement
50. It’s Everyone’s Job To Build the Culture That We Want