Tina Fey’s humorous (I know that’s an oxymoron) article about her experiences on SNL, ‘Lessons from Late Night’ (The New Yorker, March 14, 2011) offers managers of creative types, or as I was once referred to, ‘Chief Driver of the Clown Car’, some insight in how to keep the show running and the clowns from crying. Her discovery of the power of ‘policing enthusiasm’ as a successful managerial tactic to keep all the plates spinning is a good tactic for leaders of creative types everywhere, not to mention advertising/marketing/public relations agencies that attract clowns of various sizes and talents.
In my own experience of working under the big top I’ve encountered many creative environments where policing enthusiasm was the goal, yet rarely attained. These environments come in many forms. There is the agency where everyone has toys on their desks, Nerf darts fly through the air and power coffee and tea is freely available in the kitchen. The result is often hyped-up foam warfare between bickering parties who too often leave for new battle fields in another circus.
Then there is the circus where no one laughs, heads are down, work is serious and nothing of real value ever happens, unless you consider the Whack-a-Mole management style of value. But you can never keep a true clown down, and soon creativity, though often perverted as practical jokes, (to this day the remote control fart machine remains, in my mind, as the all time greatest office prank), runs unharnessed, and again, clowns trudge off into the sunset seeking a new traveling show.
For management the secret to successfully policing enthusiasm is to be a good audience. All clowns seek an audience. It’s why we show up bleary-eyed and sleep deprived with horrible creative ideas we spent several nights agonizing over, (Bowser the Flying Dog never had a chance), its why we abhor wearing suits unless sailing and actually think dwarf-bowling is an under appreciated reality TV concept: all proceeds would go to charity!
No, we just need an audience. And here is the secret ingredient that only the best managers know how to add to the mix: we need it when we fail as much as we need it when we succeed. Failure, as the good ring masters know, is an event. And when that event is recognized and appreciated, enthusiasm is truly being policed and the clowns will come up with some golden nuggets.
