Communication and creativity - a path to higher impact?

Hi,

I hope you are doing safe and well. I tend to do my Spring Cleaning in Summer/Autumn rather than Spring, so last month the Lambert HQ has been a hive of simplification and tidying.

My last few weeks have been about sorting, decluttering, tidying and fixing things. The studio is looking clearer, although I keep buying antique furniture... and the house is starting to feel like a home after the renovation.

I'm also gearing up to host another Communication Super Power Workshop at a conference in Croatia. I've spent a lot of time revamping the first part of the in-person workshop, really digging into why communication skills are important. I'll share a new theory in a minute.

For those new to the Meeting Notes newsletter, welcome, I’m Rob, Chief Communication Architecture Officer at Cultivated Management. Every two weeks I publish this newsletter about envisioning bright futures of work and advice on improving communication skills - a genuine super power in the world of work.

Communication and Creativity - the pathway to bigger impact (and money)?
From the Cultivated Editorial Desk
A link worth of your energy and attention

Communication and Creativity - the pathway to bigger impact (and money)?

I've spent most of my career watching and studying other people. I've done this for a number of reasons.

I am insanely nosey.
I am always learning, and keen to spot behaviours, patterns and work that can help me grow as a leader, consultant and functioning member of society (just).
I am a natural born people watcher.

I also have a Zotero database full of articles, insights and research papers on communication and creativity.

What follows is a section from the newly revamped in-person communication workshop. I am running it for about the 700th time at a conference in Croatia this month. I have yet to add this content to the online communication workshop, but I will at some point next year, once I've tested it thoroughly.

I personally believe that 99% of problems in a business are communication related - and I'm likely not far from the truth.

Alfred Adler also said that "all problems are interpersonal relationship problems".

Relationships are formed through communication, so it's not a stretch to say that all problems are also interpersonal communication problems too. And communication skills, according to this MBA article, are some of the most in demand skills sought after by leaders and managers.

Effective communication in the workplace therefore is an essential skill to help the business thrive. I would also argue that developing the ability to communicate effectively is a wonderful thing for our careers too - if you're in a season of life where your career growth matters, of course.

Effective communication behaviours can help you to resolve conflict, provide clarity, alignment & action, and can literally move people into action. It's why it's one of my core 10 behaviours of effective employees, and is pretty much at the heart of everything I have done, and still do, including the Releasing Agility model.

However, after trawling through plenty of research, my own notes and my observations of other people, I've also got a theory that I'm busy testing.

I believe that there is a simple career ladder (maybe too simplistic) that, as you ascend it, requires better communication behaviours and skills.

Now, this is not scientific, nor fully tested, but I thought I'd share it as I got quite excited about it.

As we ascend this simple ladder or path, and we develop better communication skills to support it, the more impact we can make. This impact could be within the business you are employed in, your own business, or even broader than that.

With more impact comes the potential to earn more money too, if that's what interests you; which I'm convinced does to some extent.

I am still digging through papers and analysing other studies, but from my own experience I think this theory holds up well - it has utility.

Here's a diagram explaining my thinking around this subject.

Contributor

Level 1 is "contributor". This is where most people are when they are employed or doing a job. They are trading their freedom, values, energy, attention and time for money and work.

We work, we get paid. We may get paid by the hour, a day rate, or an annual salary, in exchange for our time, energy, attention and experience. In other words, we work some hours, delivery some value and get paid (and pension, bonus etc).

There are typically limits to being an employee, in that the ceiling for our salary and impact may only reach so far; quite far, but there will be limits.

Our time is finite and hence not scalable, and our energy and attention are variable and should be guarded carefully. In Take A Day Off I share several ideas, and stories, about how, if we're not careful, we could spend all of our time working. In other words, we could be exchanging our precious commodities of time, energy and attention towards work, with no time for play, life, love and family. It happens a lot.

I've been there before too and no matter how many more hours I worked, I didn't really see an uplift in my impact, nor pay. In fact, I noticed the reverse. I was burning out doing 60-80 hours a week, and each week I was getting less done. That was until I shifted to a higher level - we'll come on to that.

We may make impact, and earn some decent money as an employee, and feel secure in a role, or have a decent day rate, but it's not scaleable. There are limits around time, energy and attention.

We've also got to hope we work for a company that appreciates our input and our personal resources of time, energy and attention. We're not all that lucky and can probably point quite easily to someone we know who is working 60+ hours a week in exchange for a regular annual salary.

Management

Level 2 is about management, and in some respect, leadership. This is really about delegation and our ability to get more done by building a team of people to help.

It's fair to say that organisations exist because it's not possible for a single person to do everything that needs doing. And so they scale. The leaders hire people so that more work can get done (delegation), and people end up specialising and being put into functions (typically for financial reason). The company scales and grows - with the theory that more work (value) will get done. This isn't always the case though.

Growth is good and natural to some extent but it typically needs some management to organise, provide clarity and take care of people. As a manager in a company you can expect your salary and impact to increase as you scale the value through delegation. You are essentially scaling your ability to get more done through contributors.

My blog is full of ideas about how to look after people, align them around strengths, improve the work and build companies that enrich the lives of all who work in it.

As you move from Level 1 to Level 2 you will need better communication skills. You will need to lead, to deal with conflict, to align people, to listen and to communicate the mission and goals simply. You will also have to deal with more politics and build relationships with other managers.

Systemic Thinking and Improvement

Level 3 in this hypothesis is systemic thinking and improvement.

In a sense you move from working in the system to working on the system.

Many managers don't achieve greater success because they are working in the system too much. They aren't optimising the world of work and are instead putting out fires, dealing with low performance and simply keeping the lights on. They are busy doing work rather than working out how everyone could do that work more easily and effectively.

There is value of working in the business, but it's even more impactful if you can optimise the system of work to increase value by working on it.

As you move to this level you're in the realms of leadership, consulting and optimising systems of work. This is where consultants play a lot. But you don't need to be external to the business to move to this level. Sure, you may still be trading your energy, time and attention for a salary, but you are being rewarded well for it because you are making giant improvements to the business. You're able to see the whole system of work, spot levers of change and optimise it, renew it, reset it, add to it etc.

I've done a post on creative problem solving here and building a strategy here; these are both opportunities to bring forth systemic changes to truly change a company.

When you master being able to observe the system, make sense of it and optimise it, you also then have the potential to go off and help other companies do this also.

As soon as I started working on the "system" and found ways to generate better ways of working, or new products, or new paths to value, my career really took off.

You're no longer trading your time, energy and attention for a salary as an individual contributor or manager, you are make 10x improvements to the value of the business, and therefore making big impacts, which in a high performing well run company, should result in better salaries too.

Again, it's not just about salaries, but instead about impact. If you can solve that gnarly systemic issue that has plagued the company for years, and has driven people mad, you will unlock huge potential in the business. This should translate into huge potential for yourself either inside the business, or outside in a new role.

Again, to do this you are going to need even more effective communication skills and behaviours. You'll need to clarify, align, sell, convince, listen and articulate the value of your potential improvements.

You will need to blow your own trumpet to some extent and give credit where it's due with humility and respect. You will need to be confident in your work, align people around it, move people into action and negotiate across functional boundaries. I spend a lot of my consulting time doing just this.

You can, at this level, influence, modify and change any system of work through your ability to move people into the right action - even if they don't always like your ideas or want to change.

Of course, you can be a manager or individual contributor and do systemic thinking - and this is how you elevate your career. Instead of merely working IN the business, you are working ON the business too. And by doing this you will open new opportunities most people cannot see.

Level 4 is Creativity

At this level you kind of transcend the business - and open pathways to new opportunities all over the place.

You are getting paid and rewarded for your ideas. If you're still working in a company, you may be creating new revenue streams, new products, new ways of doing things.

You may be creating new market opportunities, opening new lines of business and potentially innovating new business models. You are researching, studying, investigating and coming up with ideas. You are then selling these ideas, convincing other people of their merits and ultimately building relationship support for your ideas. You will then need to bring them to life - which is really hard.

You may be training, teaching and growing the capability of the business. You will be moving people into action. You will be seeding new thinking. And you will be making giant impacts.

A new revenue stream because of your idea is a big impact. A new way of working that changes the culture and stops people leaving, is a big impact. Ideally you would also be rewarded for it.

However, the real opportunities may lie outside of the company you work for.

You could be sharing your ideas online through videos, books, courses and blogs. You may get paid to share your ideas at conferences or guest speaking at other companies.

You may have products, online courses and multiple sources of income - because you are sharing what you know, you are creating new models of income and you are ultimately getting paid for your experience - and your ideas.

The means of production now, with the internet and high powered computers/phones, is low. This means you can enter into the education, entertainment and online world and share your ideas.

If that's not your bag, you may become an in demand consultant because your ideas resonate and help people. Or maybe a coach that supports other people in their work and careers.

But none of this is possible without brilliant communication skills.

None of this is possible if you're not willing to put yourself out there - and risk being wrong, or disliked. It's highly unlikely you will succeed if you don't have excellent communication skills and behaviours.

You'll need to learn how to present your ideas (on stage, in front of a camera etc). You'll need good writing skills and you'll need to learn how to listen. You will also need to work on your body language to deal with negotiations, sales pitches, impactful presentations and produce good videos.

It will require an immense amount of learning about how to communicate, plus learning the tools and techniques to share your ideas.

You cannot simply come up with good ideas; that's only half of the equation. You will need to learn how to communicate those ideas to people that matter. This may be inside the company you work for, to your customers or to the general public.

At this level your ability to communicate clearly, accurately and confidently will make or break whether your ideas land. This is the world of sales where the upper limit is pretty sky high. This is the world of high end consulting and coaching. And this is the world of the content creator, teacher and mixed media communicator.

I know several people on the speaking circuit who charge £10k +, for their courses - and are delivering two or three a week. Not only are they getting rewarded but they are teaching hundreds of people how to be better in their work. It's not possible though without them sharing their message online, at conferences, on the golf course or wherever else people with problems (and money) hang out.

I know people who make a fruitful living speaking at conferences and doing corporate speaking gigs. They have experience, ideas and a story to tell - and they are able to communicate effectively. They have also put themselves out there - and communicated their own value clearly.

I know sales people making seven figure salaries because they know how to listen, sell and build relationships. They are developing great communication skills and are learning how to sell their ideas and company products and services.

Your ability to come up with an idea and create new value from it is essential, but so too is the ability to communicate to the people that matter.

I know people with genius ideas that are going nowhere because they cannot communicate their ideas effectively. I know coaches and consultants who are clever, have ideas and know the theory, but they don't get results in a business. They have not yet developed the communication skills needed to move people into action around their ideas.

And I know plenty of people who have amazing stories to tell but simply aren't prepared to scale the communication impact ladder and move away from being a contributor.

There's no judgment in any of this - everyone is different. I present the model as an idea - not an absolute, or a right path to take, nor as something with any guarantees of success. It's a model to represent how communication skills are important.

We're all have different motivations and are in different seasons of life.

It's scary to move to the creative level because you may be wrong. You will fail often. You will make mistakes. You will need to grow. And it is hard work.

But one thing is clear from my own experience and that from growing research and observations, is that effective communication increases your chance of a bigger impact - and with bigger impact often comes bigger rewards (and failure sometimes!).

It's hard to stand on stage and sell your ideas, or move people into action, or convince people to join your growing movement. It's hard to write a book. It's hard to record good videos. It's hard to convince leaders to come together to solve problems.

It's hard to lead a business and provide clarity and alignment, so that right action happens. It's hard to go out and convince people to buy your product. It's hard to commit to a regular writing schedule. It's hard to go against the masses and share what you believe. It's hard to deal with haters. It's hard to stand in front of your team and move everyone in a new direction.

It's hard because it requires resilience, faith, self confidence, and of course, excellent communication skills. And it's not for everyone. It's not the path everyone can or should take. But I believe that communication skills will open pathways to more impact, if you want it.

A simple, yet one dimensional, way to look at this theory, is to spend some time looking at what you read, what you watch and what you listen to. Or look at who your leadership team bring in to do training. Or look at the consultants that are brought in to solve problems. When you do this you realise that they may not know more than you. They may not have your experience. They may not even be very good at all. They may be excellent. But they have all taken the steps to create something of value - and to communicate it.

I was lucky to attend a company event with an external motivational speaker. He was pretty good, had an interesting story to tell and left some nuggets of insights to help the business. His nuggets of insight were no different to mine, yet he'd done the work of sharing his ideas more effectively outside of work. He'd shared his ideas more broadly. He'd articulated his value better than I had. And he'd been rewarded with the opportunity to make a big impact for this business. And yes, he'd earned more from that 45 minute talk than I do in a month.

It's impact and communication, supported by experience and creative ideas.

That podcasts that you listen to are examples of someone who has some experience (hopefully) and has decided to share those ideas. That speaker you saw on stage did the same thing. That book you bought by a guru in X field is the same. That video you watched on YouTube is someone taking the step to share their ideas - hopefully in a well presented way.

A friend of mine is crushing YouTube with his medical advice. He earns more from YouTube by sharing his ideas, than he did as a full time doctor. I know someone who hosts a podcast about "small holding farms" who is crushing it in terms of audience numbers. She makes more from her podcast than she does from her small farm.

I know someone who used to be a teacher (contributor), then head teacher (manager), then local school improvement co-ordinator (systemic thinking) and now teaches teachers how to be better through online courses. She also makes more impact and more money than she did in any of those other roles.

I went from contributor, to manager, to systemic thinking consultant, to sharing my ideas from the stage. I've yet to get paid handsomely for my ideas but it's a journey I am on. My consulting days allow me to make more impact than I ever could as a contributor or manager.

This is a long winded way of saying that effective communication skills are a super power in the world of work.

It's also why the circles in the diagram are bigger at the lower level and smaller at the top - there are fewer people moving through the communication journey.

This model is a just that - a model. It is wrong, like all models, and I will fine tune it as I gather more evidence and data. I may even scrap it, but I thought it may be insightful or helpful as you contemplate your own journey.

There is also no right or wrong. Our seasons of life, motivations, pillars of life and what is important to us, will be different. We may not have the inclination, nor the time, to invest in all of this. We may be enjoying what we're doing. We may be very happy. We may be worried about the change needed to move through the model. You may disagree entirely with it. It may not be what you want in your life.

The more I play with this idea and noodle this model, the more I can see it playing out all over the place. Those prepared to come up with creative new ideas, bring them to life and communicate them, seem to be those we aspire to be like, those who make big impact, and those we tend to learn from.

But there is nothing stopping us from doing something similar, with our own unique strengths and with our own unique flavour.

I think one of the reasons that companies are looking for people with good communication skills and behaviours, is because they are stuck with problems that are related to communication - those 99% of problems in work.

One of the best ways, in my opinion, to overcome these problems (and not cause them in the first place), is to develop our own super power in the world of work; effective communication skills.

In doing so we may also see our own careers move in a different direction, allowing us to make more impact and do more good. We may get the chance to build a business that enriches the lives of all who work in it. We may get the chance to pull big levers of change. We may also get a chance to bring our ideas to life. And in return, we may also get rewarded. But remember, all reward comes with risk.

I guess it pays to contemplate whether the risk is worth the reward. There are risks at all levels in this model. Only you will know what's important to you right now.

Let me know what you think about this model. If you received this newsletter as an email, just hit reply and send me your thoughts.

Rob..

From the Editorial Desk of Cultivated Management

Five areas to focus your energy and attention on - an article about high value areas to focus on in a business.
If you're doing any kind of portfolio management in your business, then this article, straight from my consulting work, may be helpful.
All theories must have utility - they must be helpful in solving problems.
You cannot have good customer experience without a good employee experience.
Loudness doesn't equal confidence
There are three sides to every story

A link worthy of your energy and attention

This week's link is actually a video. I'm a big fan of Van Neistat. If you've ever listened to one of my Stationery Freaks podcasts, you'll know he's responsible for me buying a type-writer, writing todo lists by hand and buying pencils.

His latest video though is about mistakes and failure. It's a self reflection piece, in his unique style, and gets to the heart of failures - in that, we're always part of it, even if we think it's someone else's fault. He covers mistakes and regrets too.

It's a good video. His channel is worth a follow if you like this sort of thing.

If you enjoyed this newsletter then please consider:

Sharing this content with others you feel would get value from it.
Downloading the free ebook 10 Behaviours of effective employees.
Buying the “Take A Day Off” zine for an insightful read and cool artwork
Sitting the online communication workshop to develop your super power in work.

It means a lot. Thank you.

Until next time