In the name of efficiency we are slowly driving fuzzy time out of our day. Fuzzy time is difficult to value because it is hard to attach creative end-product to such ‘unproductive’ time. As corporate managers have become better at measuring the time it takes to do a job, the more fuzzy time gets diverted to the employee’s supposedly personal time.
So you want to kill creativity? Maximize measured productivity.
How can we protect fuzzy time? How can we make sure it doesn’t get swallowed up by other chores pulling at employees?
Through a combination of rewarding creativity and allowing more individualized control over scheduling you can actually empower an employee to lighten up and think more about what they are doing.
Of course, CFE #6 automatically puts you on the teeter totter with CFE #7,Waisting Time. (Ahh… encouraging creativity. It’s not easy, but at least it’s fun!)