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Joggers and bikers taking the picturesque McHenry County Prairie Path south of Ringwood unknowingly cut through a 25-year-old science experiment.
The mammoth factories of Rohm and Haas and Modine Manufacturing Co. are impossible to miss on the west side of the path. But hidden among the weeds, woods and crops for about a mile are tiny yellow monitoring wells installed since the 1980s to chart the progress of a plume of contaminated groundwater.
Numerous studies commissioned by both companies conclude that past disposal operations have leached volatile organic compounds into the environment. But did the chemicals, most notably carcinogenic vinyl chloride, reach McCullom Lake's wells to the south and sicken residents with brain cancer, as a Philadelphia attorney has alleged in numerous lawsuits?
You'll get different answers, of course, depending on whether you ask the companies or the plaintiffs attorney – or the legions of experts that both sides have retained. Both companies are vigorously fighting lawsuits tying the contamination from their closed disposal sites to 22 sick or deceased plaintiffs.
Rohm and Haas has volumes of studies to back up its argument since subsidiary Morton International first reported the pollution in 1983. Rohm and Haas acquired Morton in 1999 and assumed the Ringwood plant's operations in 2005.
And both sides' experts have been busy trying to prove their points while discrediting the other side's research. Reports commissioned by the companies conclude that contamination is moving southeast in a shallow aquifer away from McCullom Lake's private wells a mile and a half to the south.
Earlier reports further conclude that a thick layer of clay kept the chemicals out of a deeper aquifer that is linked to other aquifers that many McCullom Lake village residents rely upon for drinking water. Defendants also point to the fact that village well tests have shown no trace of the chemicals.
"Yes, there has been some contamination in the groundwater, it has been identified, it is contained, and it has posed no risk at any time to anyone in McCullom Lake village," Rohm and Haas attorney Ralph Wellington said.
But plaintiff attorney Aaron Freiwald says those studies are flawed. Freiwald's experts have concluded that vinyl chloride, mostly from the breakdown of pollutants trichloroethylene and vinylidene chloride, did in fact reach residents through the deep aquifer and through air emissions.
Freiwald, who sued in April 2006, said the companies myopically followed their original assumptions over 25 years without challenging them.
"It's certainly possible to ask the wrong questions. And if you ask the wrong questions 100 times, you're going to get the wrong answer 100 times," Freiwald said. "It doesn't matter how many times you ask it. It's still the wrong question."
A week after Freiwald filed the first lawsuits, former Rohm and Haas plant manager Herb Cox sent a letter to area politicians stating that not only was Rohm and Haas "open and transparent" about its operations, but also that the "off-site groundwater plume is clearly delineated."
But documents obtained during legal discovery and through the Freedom of Information Act, Freiwald says, call both statements into question:
• An internal Morton memo reveals that the company knew that its landfill was leaking at least 10 years before the company reported it to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.
• Consultants hired by Morton/Rohm and Haas to map the plume's boundaries have cast doubts in internal e-mails that the wells have given them an accurate picture.
• The deep aquifer that experts repeatedly stated was protected by a clay barrier has tested positive for some of the chemicals linked to the factories' disposal sites.
• Studies commissioned by the plaintiffs' attorney, monitoring reports by the defendants' cleanup consultants, and a state groundwater survey, indicate that unlike the shallow aquifer, the deep aquifer could flow south – toward the east side of McCullom Lake and its private wells.
Past Knowledge
Morton reported the contamination to the IEPA in 1983 and began looking for a firm to map its spread. But a confidential Morton memo obtained by Freiwald reveals that the company knew in 1973 that it had a problem.
The company had begun considering replacing the landfill with a wastewater treatment facility. In a Dec. 6, 1973, memo, former plant safety and environmental engineer Sidney Martin highlighted a new incentive for doing so: The landfill was leaking.
Water used to maintain the levels of the plant's fire ponds tested positive for contaminants such as ammonia, chlorides and sulfates, according to the memo to Robert Covalt, then Morton's corporate engineering manager and later company president.
Martin wrote that the landfill was "the only conceivable source" of the ammonia that triggered Morton's internal investigation.
Subsequent shallow test holes dug near the landfill found levels of ammonia 266 times that of 1973 groundwater standards, chlorides eight times, and dissolved solids nine times the standard. Martin wrote that although the shallow water table was not a drinking water source, "... infiltration into a lower water strata which is a supply source is a possibility."
Further investigation concluded that the landfill must be seeping because it was not overflowing, despite the fact that Morton pumped 6 feet of waste into it a year. Otherwise, Martin wrote, "the sludge pit should have been overflowing several years ago."
Martin's memo also predicted action to be taken by state and federal agencies "rather abruptly" if the contamination was brought to their attention.
"Assuming that the gross contamination which occurs from seepage from the sludge pit can result in contamination of a drinking water supply, we are in violation of several water quality standards at this time, and will continue to be in violation until use of the sludge pit is discontinued," Martin wrote.
Morton continued to dump wastes into the landfill for four more years, according to state records and reports from consultants. The company closed the landfill in 1977, in part to comply with Illinois Pollution Control Board sanctions stemming from neighbors' complaints about odors coming from the factory.
The IEPA did not receive any notice before 1983, spokeswoman Maggie Carson confirmed.
"They knew this in the early 1970s, and they did not tell the state authorities," Freiwald said. "They kept that from them."
The information in the memo does not indicate that Morton broke any laws at the time, Carson said. The "right-to-know" laws that industries abide by now were not created until the 1980s, and Carson said the memo did not state whether the contamination was detected beyond Morton's property.
Wellington, Rohm and Haas' attorney, said the contamination was not detected off Morton's property. Furthermore, Wellington added that the chemicals at the heart of Freiwald's lawsuits were not mentioned in the memo.
"The memo really talked about the fact that in a couple of the drinking wells at the plant itself, they found a couple of non-carcinogenic materials," Wellington said. "It wasn't off the property, it wasn't bad chemicals, and it wasn't something you had to report because it was on your property, and it wasn't a bad chemical."
Shallow Water
Geraghty & Miller, a subsequent firm hired by Morton, concluded in a 1987 action plan that contamination reached only the shallow aquifer, and that a thick clay layer, or aquitard, prevented it from seeping into deeper water sources.
But Morton's early consulting firms never sampled the deep aquifer, which starts about 200 feet underground. The original plume investigation by previous consulting firm IT Corp. was limited to 70 feet deep or less.
One of the three firms bidding in 1984 to investigate the plume, Dames & Moore, proposed digging several deeper monitoring wells, Martin wrote in a Nov. 1, 1984, memo. Martin acknowledged in the memo that the idea had merit because the deeper aquifer "may serve as a source of drinking water in the surrounding area."
However, he also worried that the idea "may go beyond the desired scope of the initial investigation."
Neighboring Modine Manufacturing became involved in 1990, after its studies concluded that its former disposal pit had leaked chemicals into groundwater. Seven years later, Morton environmental firm Geomatrix would conclude that Modine's plume had mixed with its client's larger one.
Consulting firms came and went for Morton over the years, and later for Rohm and Haas. And Freiwald alleges that all of them followed the original reports as a template and never checked the deep aquifer until URS Corp., the current firm hired by Rohm and Haas, drilled three bedrock wells a year ago.
Consultants' maps show that the monitoring wells drilled for Morton/Rohm and Haas since 1984 to track the plume's migration followed the shallow plume to the southeast. Those drilled for Modine since 1990 by its firm, STS Consultants, generally went east, where its studies concluded that the shallow groundwater was headed.
No wells were drilled into the deeper aquifers or between the factories and the village of McCullom Lake, a mile and a half south, during that time, Freiwald said.
Both Wellington and Rohm and Haas spokesman Syd Havely stand by the work done by the consulting firms to chart the plume. Many of the Morton/Rohm and Haas reports are on file at Johnsburg Public Library, as part of its voluntary cleanup program with the IEPA.
"We're doing everything within our power to show, as clearly and convincingly as we can with well tests, and groundwater monitoring, and everything else we can do, to present that evidence, either in a courtroom, as we're being forced to do, or in public forums," Havely said.
Modine Manufacturing, through both its corporate spokeswoman and legal counsel, declined to comment on the pending litigation.
Rohm and Haas' position is clear – contamination never reached the deep aquifer, and the plume in the shallow aquifer, moving away from any inhabited areas, is precisely mapped.
"The plume is well-identified," Wellington said. "It never was, never will be, anywhere near McCullom Lake village."
However, some of the experts retained by the companies have expressed concerns about the accuracy of their mapping of the shallow plume, according to e-mails obtained by Freiwald. URS senior consultant Marek Ostrowski wrote in a Sept. 21, 2005, e-mail to other URS consultants that the distribution of the monitoring wells was not favorable to an accurate map of the contamination.
"The old problem there – all wells are stretched in a line, as opposed to covering an area," Ostrowski wrote. "This makes the plume picture very arbitrary."
Steve Moeller, senior geologist with URS, wrote in a May 20, 2005, e-mail to Rohm and Haas site remediation manager Carl Coker that the map of the plume was limited by the distribution of the wells.
Moeller noted in the e-mail that the eastern and western boundaries of the plume "were really speculative." He further wrote that URS had interpreted the contamination's extent only just beyond wells with pollution above state standards "... to favor Rohm and Haas."
Freiwald said he is not insinuating that the shallow aquifer contaminated the village wells. But he said the e-mails cast doubt on the diligence of Rohm and Haas' assertions as to the location and extent of the contamination.
"I think it's significant because it allows you to challenge what's been done, and to question whether the investigations the company has done have been as thorough as they should have been," Freiwald said.
Until this year, for example, the western edge of the plume was defined solely by three samples taken from a one-time ground "punch" years ago, said hydrogeologist James Hill, one of Freiwald's experts. Earlier this year, URS Corp. drilled seven new monitoring wells to better define the plume's boundaries – elevated chloride levels were found in four of the wells and carcinogenic vinyl chloride in three.
Rohm and Haas counters that the memos are far from a smoking gun that discredits 25 years of research.
"Those memos were talking about, 'We're not entirely sure where the edge of the plume is.' That's really what that language is about, when you talk about 'arbitrary,' and so forth," Wellington said. "It's not talking about at all, 'Gee, we don't know where the plume is in relationship to McCullom Lake village or anyplace else.' "
But questions as to the plume's mapping have surfaced in at least one other report commissioned by the company – a 1997 study by former Morton firm Geomatrix concluded at the time that the extent of the shallow plume's migration had not, in fact, been defined.
Deep Contamination
It was not until November 2006, two decades after the original IT Corp. report, that Rohm and Haas had URS Corp. install wells to check the deep aquifer that study after study concluded would be free of contamination.
Test results revealed that it wasn't.
Consultants drilled three deep-bedrock wells, in response to accusations made during the litigation, in a line just south of the closed 8-acre landfill that was the source of much of the contamination. URS Corp. also tested four existing bedrock wells that Rohm and Haas had relied on for its water supply.
All three of the new monitoring wells tested positive for trace amounts of volatile organic compounds at various depths, with one, chloroform, exceeding government standards, according to the December 2006 report by URS. One of the existing deep wells tested positive for vinylidene chloride, one of the chemicals listed in the lawsuits because it breaks down into carcinogenic vinyl chloride.
All seven of the tested wells also tested positive for varying levels of chloride, the compound first linked to the landfill in the confidential 1973 memo and subsequent reports. Levels in two of the new monitoring wells exceeded standards.
Freiwald said he was not trying to conclude that chloride or the other chemicals detected caused brain cancer, but rather that the contents of the Morton and Modine disposal sites did indeed make it to the deep aquifer.
The appendix of the December 2006 study offers up a possible reason why, Freiwald said – the impenetrable clay barrier that experts since the 1980s said would shield the deep aquifer appears to be missing in at least one location.
Included in each well installation report are boring logs, a foot-by-foot report of the materials encountered while drilling the well. Borings from the first two bedrock wells show a clay barrier at the depth that earlier reports said it should be. The third well, southeast of the landfill and the deepest into the charted contamination plume, shows no clay barrier, but sand and gravel.
"I kind of say this tongue-in-cheek, but it's sort of like cheese," Freiwald said. "They assumed that it was a solid block of cheddar cheese, and as it turns out, it's really more like Swiss cheese. It's got holes in it."
Rohm and Haas disputes Freiwald's interpretation of the reports. Wellington and the company's experts stipulate that some of the chemicals found in the samples could have come from the drilling process or from chemicals in the testing laboratory.
They also state that the chloride in the samples comes from years of road salting, and not the landfill.
"They're not any indication of prior [vinyl chloride] contamination," Wellington said.
Hill, Freiwald's hydrologist, has testified that there are not enough roads in the rural, agrarian area to account for the amount or depth of chloride discovered in the deep aquifer.
Groundwater Flow
Contamination aside, the question remains whether the groundwater flow ever took it to McCullom Lake's wells.
The Illinois State Water Survey mapped McHenry County's aquifers and their flow in 1998. Both sides cite the state study to prove their arguments.
Rohm and Haas and Modine cite geologist Scott Meyer's 141-page report as proof that the deep aquifer, labeled as Aquifer 5, does not flow south from the Ringwood factories to McCullom Lake village.
Freiwald holds up the report as proof that deep aquifer contamination did reach village wells. Meyer, who still works for the agency, would not comment on the merits of the lawsuits.
But in comparing Meyer's interpretations of his report with theories from Freiwald's experts, there are some similarities. The deep aquifer underneath Ringwood starts flowing south-southwest – toward McCullom Lake – before bending southeast toward the Fox River like the shallow aquifer, Meyer said.
However, Meyer warned that his study is a countywide analysis, and local subsurface conditions could differ. The rural nature of the area meant that the state had only three wells from which to test groundwater flow and direction, Meyer said.
"If we had more data points, I'm relatively sure we would change those [groundwater flow lines], maybe a little, likely a lot," Meyer said.
That deep aquifer connects with the two shallower ones underneath McCullom Lake village, Meyer said. Also, his research shows that the deep aquifer migrates upward in the area, meaning that anything in the deep aquifer would mix with the shallower ones, which many residential wells tap for their water.
State data put McCullom Lake's wells anywhere between 10 and 300 feet deep. Also, several of the well-monitoring reports from consultants for Rohm and Haas and Modine Manufacturing indicate that the deep aquifer underneath the manufacturers starts flowing southward toward McCullom Lake.
STS Consultants, the firm retained by Modine to chart groundwater contamination, states in several of its monitoring reports that water in the deep aquifer flows south or south-southwest. Likewise, the December 2006 bedrock well report from URS Corp. states that the deep aquifer does not flow southeast like its shallow counterpart, but south-southeast.
Wellington said the reports do not lend credence to the conclusions of Freiwald's experts.
"The geology right near the plant is very complex, but the new idea that there was a [contamination] 'superhighway' or something down in Aquifer 5 is pure speculation," Wellington said.
Meyer estimated that, depending on the geology between Ringwood and McCullom Lake, the water in the deep aquifer could flow anywhere from a few hundredths of an inch per day, making it impossible for contamination to have made it to village wells, to a yard per day, making it possible.
A "Highway"?
Studies aside, both Rohm and Haas and Modine can point to one undeniable fact – to date, none of McCullom Lake's private wells have tested positive for any of the volatile organic compounds listed in the lawsuits.
"There has been no detection in any well tests in McCullom Lake village of any chemical of concern. Period," Wellington said.
But residential wells in McCullom Lake do contain varying levels of chloride, a non-hazardous compound known to come from the Rohm and Haas landfill, according to well tests and Freiwald's experts. The question, Freiwald continued, is not where the vinyl chloride is now, but rather where it was over the 40 years since the first landfill started operating.
"We don't expect vinyl chloride to still be in the village at this time, in 2007, almost 2008. We're talking 30 years since the faucet was turned off," Freiwald said. "What we have looked for, and what I think we have developed very solid evidence to show, is a pathway. A highway."
Freiwald and his experts' computer modeling conclude that the chloride is the key – besides being linked to the landfills, both vinylidene chloride and trichloroethylene release chloride ions as they degrade. Freiwald alleges that vinyl chloride traveled down the deep aquifer to village wells, and evaporated while leaving the chloride behind as a marker.
Defendants and their experts scoff at the idea.
"It is scientifically impossible that a plume of [volatile organic compounds], chloride and ammonia from Morton could cause a chloride and ammonia impact in McCullom Lake Village without also causing a [volatile organic compound] impact," Rohm and Haas consultant Frank Rovers concluded.
While the defendants point to a lack of vinyl chloride in residential well tests, Freiwald points to the documents and data he has obtained during the discovery process. He said that his evidence so far contradicts the dual assertions of transparency and accuracy stressed by Rohm and Haas in the days after the first lawsuits.
Ultimately, the decision as to who is right and who is wrong will be made not by hydrogeologists, epidemiologists or toxicologists, but by the U.S. District Court judge who will rule on the class-action lawsuit, and from juries convened for the individual cases. And both sides have stood their ground for almost two years.
"If there's a nearby chemical company, it seems like an easy thing to blame, but so far the facts don't seem to bear that out, and we will continue to defend the company," Wellington said. Freiwald said that he had discredited the facts that Rohm and Haas and Modine have relied upon.
"They asked some of the right questions over those 25 years, and I believe they knowingly avoided other questions during that same period of time," Freiwald said.
RELATED LINKS: >> Click for videos, more coverage
PART 6: WHAT'S NEXT >> Uncertain futures
PART 5: SPRING HOUSE >> A familiar story
PART 4: THE VILLAGE >> 'A state of limbo'
PART 3: THE COUNTY >> County study questioned >> Opposing views of study
PART 2: THE PLUME >> Was well water tainted? >> A history of events >> The chemicals in question
PART 1: THE PLAINTIFFS >> Fight of their lives >> Did chemical exposure cause cancers? >> Krug: McCullom Lake series necessary journalism >> The cancers >> Plaintiffs' timeline >> Photo gallery >> Submitted photo gallery


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October 14, 2013, 5:50 pm
Food historian Francine Segan talks Downton Abbey and Italian pasta in Denver
Food historian Francine Segan comes to the Town Hall of Denver Oct. 21 to talk about the food of Downton Abbey, the popular PBS series. The author's books trace the arc of Western history: "Shakespeare's Kitchen," "The Philosopher's Kitchen," "Opera Lover's Cookbook," "Dolci: Italy's Sweets" and her latest, "Pasta Modern."
The former child psychologist got into culinary history through elaborate themed dinner parties she hosted for her husband's theater group. That led to writing and speaking about food across the country. When she comes to Denver, her talk will focus on the Downtown Abbey era, but her new book is a tour of contemporary Italy.

subset: commoncrawl


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Dyani Necklace - Pink Gold
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Leaders From Creativeness And Innovation essay example
Creativity CAN Be Stimulated by Leaders There are many who would challenge the implicit assumption that leaders can do anything to foster creativity. They would argue that creative people, like baseball hitters, are born, not made. Indeed, much of the anecdotal literature about creativity would suggest that creativity is some mystical power that only a chosen few possess. But, then, why are all children creative? Common Anecdotes about Creativity Are Wrong People who have looked carefully at the creative process have learned that everyone of ordinary intelligence has latent creative abilities that can be enhanced by training and by a favorable environment.
One recent book that is dedicated to defending this proposition is by D.N. Perkins, The Mind's Best Work. [1] He finds that after-the-fact anecdotes about well-known examples of great leaps of creative thought have generally received little or no close scrutiny of the mental processes that led to them. There are too many opportunities for the real mental correlates of creativity to be lost through excitement and distraction (as part of the "eureka" phenomenon), lack of need or desire to reconstruct the thought processes, and faulty skill and memory in reconstructing the process. Experiments where people have been asked to think aloud or report their thoughts during an episode of invention led Perkins to conclude that creativity arises naturally and comprehensibly from certain everyday abilities of perception, understanding, logic, memory, and thinking style. The Unconscious Is Not Magic Some people believe that creativity emerges from unconscious thinking. Even if that were true, it would not necessarily impart any special mystery to creativity, compared to other aspects of thought and behavior.
Unconscious thought appears to contribute to creativity no more or no less than to mundane activities. Most all thinking operates in the unconscious, including everything we do from taking out the garbage, to tying our shoestrings, to driving our car, to hundreds of other covert mental processes. Why Leaders Hesitate to Foster Creativity Listen to a typical commander as he thinks through the problems: I Need My People To Be More Creative. I wish our people would come up with ideas to cut our costs, ideas to make us more effective.
What would really be great is to get some ideas for hot new plans, products, and services! Then if we got creative ideas, I wish we had a management structure in place that could get these new ideas out into the field. But My Boss Might Say: We Can't Afford Any More Creativity! "What would I do with new ideas", he could say. "I don't have the time or resources to complete work on the old ideas."Good point", I'll reply; but I will also remind him about the innovations of our competitors in the bureaucracy-not to mention those of the enemy! I'll remind him that the cheapest place we are going to get better ideas is to stimulate the creativity and innovation processes right here in our own organization.
Why Leaders Should Stimulate Creativity Leaders should stimulate creativity for two very important reasons: to prevent obsolescence and to increase productivity. Let's consider both in turn. In-House Obsolescence If the organization is not getting a steady stream of new ideas, a focus on the old ideas runs the risk of current work being obsolete before it is even finished. Moreover, just how sure can you be that the old ideas are the best ideas? You say you can't afford to do new things.
Maybe you can't afford NOT to do new things. Managing programs should be done with an "eye open" to incorporating changes that will make the work of higher quality, lower cost, or faster completion. Worker Output Can Always Be Increased Professionals tend to have the same capabilities in all organizations, and there is certainly room for improved productivity. The survey of 1,300 R&D scientists and engineers by Pelz and Andrews, [2] for example, revealed that half of the research and development (R&D) engineers surveyed had no patents in the last five years; two of five junior scientists had not published anything, not even a report, in the previous three years. The noted science historian, Derek de Soll a Price, has shown that scientific research papers come from a small elite, whose number is calculated to be about the square root of the total population of scientists; in a population of 10,000 scientists, for example, over 50 percent of the papers are written by only 100 people.
The payroll is going to be about the same, whether workers become more innovative or not. Wouldn't it be nice to get more for your money'? What Do We Know about the Creative Process? The literature on the creative process is vast, [3] and we can only summarize it here. Have you seen the add from IBM Corporation, in which there was a long alphabetized list of "old English" words? The ad's caption read, "Anyone could have used these 4,178 words.
In the hands of William Shakespeare, they became King Lear". King Lear epitomizes the essence of creativity: to take commonly used and understood ideas and recombine them in elegant new ways; clearly the combinations have to have value. [4] The basic condition for a creative act is to combine known elements into new combinations or perspectives that have never before been considered. [5] Perkins writes of the utility of deliberately searching for many alternatives so that many combinations and perspectives can be considered. He stresses that superior creative effort involves deliberately searching for many alternatives. Creativity is much more likely to emerge when a person considers many options and invests the time and effort to keep searching rather than settling for mediocre solutions.
Scratch-Pad of the Mind The first and fundamental step in the creative process is to have a clear notion of what the problem is and to be able to state it clearly. The effective thinker begins by first focusing on the structure of the problem, rather than its technical detail. I symbolize putting the problem statement onto a scratch pad, because the next series of mental operations occurs in the "scratch pad" of the mind, the so-called working memory (which is like the memory involved while you are remembering the phone number you are dialing). Also brought into working memory from creative operations are the potential solutions.
These come from each person's permanent memory store, his or her lifetime database of knowledge and experience. Other potential alternatives are brought in from such external sources of input as reading, ideas from colleagues, data bases, and other sources. Next, these alternatives can be processed logically (by associating, sorting, and aligning into new or unusual categories and contexts) or more "illogically" by the use of images, abstractions, models, metaphors, and analogies. The next stages involve noticing clues and potential leads, realizing permutations of alternatives that are significant, and finally selecting those thoughts that lead to a new idea. The process of considering and choosing among alternative approaches involves a progressive narrowing of options in the early stages of creation and a readiness to revise and reconsider earlier decisions in the later stages.
This narrowing process requires the creator to break down and reformulate the categories and relationships of thoughts and facts that are commonly applied to the problems and its usual solutions. The creative thinker examines all reasonable alternatives, including many which may not seem "reasonable". Each alternative needs to be examined, not only in isolation, but in relation to other alternatives-and in relation to the initial problem expressed in different ways. The practical problem then becomes one of reducing the size of the problem and alternative solution space to workable dimensions. That may well be why one has to be immersed in the problem for long periods, with subconscious "incubation" operating to help sort through various alternatives and combinations thereof. Note that all of these operations must occur in the working memory, which unfortunately has very limited capacity.
That is probably the reason why insight and creativity is so hard to come by. Researchers of the subject of creativity would do well to look for ways to create more capacity for our working memory and to make it more efficient. The most manipulable factor would seem to be the mechanics of supplying information input from external sources. One example of a way that we already use to increase the efficiency of external source input is the use of brainstorming. The final stages of creativity are more straightforward. They involve critical, logical analysis, which typically forces a refinement of the emerging ideas.
Analysis should force the rejection of premature ideas and re initiation of the search and selection processes. Sometimes, analysis will force the realization that the wrong problem is being worked or that it needs to be reformulated. Eventually, out of these iterative processes will emerge the bright idea. Creativity Can't Be Planned-Directly We know that discovery and creative thought cannot be planned by a leader; such thought just happens, emerging often during the course of ongoing activity that may have nothing to do with the new ideas. In reviewing the literature on the creative process, Arieti [6] concluded that there are three stages in creative work: (1) an initial analysis that terminates when a "dead-end" is reached, (2) a period of rest, recovery, and relative inattention to the problem, and (3) a sudden and unexpected burst of insight and solution. Perkins would argue that this last stage only seems to be sudden; the actual processes described earlier on our mental scratch pad have probably been going on consciously and unconsciously for quite some time.
The Way We Classify Things Creates a Logjam to New Ideas Something in Newton's sensory or cognitive world caused him to see the similarity between an apple and the moon in a new way; of course they were both round, solid bodies. But it is not clear what caused him to perceive what is now obvious, namely that both are subject to the effect of gravity. Even seeing the apple fall from a tree would not be a meaningful mental stimulus to most people, because they are not used to thinking of the moon as "falling". Creative thought is affected by the ways in which we classify things.
We put apples and moons into categories; but by insisting on describing and naming them, we restrict the categories to which they belong. Apples are supposed to be round, red, and sweet, while moons are large, yellow, rocky, and far away. The names themselves get in the way of thinking of either as a classless object that is subject to gravity. A lesser order of creativity is commonly seen in the simple realization of the significance of obvious associations.
The associations may even be negative (i. e., if penicillin is present on a bacteriological plate, the organisms will NOT grow). Imagery Is More Likely to Stimulate New Thought Than Language Great discoveries may emerge from primitive imagery. Words and language, according to Einstein, had no role in his creative thought. Some famous scientists claim that their best thinking occurs in the form of visual images, even at the level of fantasy. Einstein, for example, in one of his fantasies visualized himself riding on a beam of light, holding a mirror in front of him. Since the light and the mirror were traveling at the same speed in the same direction, and since the mirror was a little ahead of the light's front, the light could never catch up to the mirror to reflect an image.
Thus Einstein could not see himself. Although fantasy, such thinking is not the product of an hallucinating mind; there is clear logic and order imbedded in the fantasy. Neuroscientist's know that humans have a "split brain" wherein the left half controls analytical thought involved in speech and mathematics, while the right brain deals more holistically with imagery, music, art, and assorted nonverbal thought. The creative process seems to depend on freeing our right brain from the domineering control of our left brain. Managers tend to reward people for left-brain thinking, which is rigorous and precise. Are we thereby stifling creativity?
What Do We Know about Creative Leaders? We do know some facts about creative leaders. They can be summed up as follows: Creative Leaders Have Modest Intelligence In summarizing the personal characteristics of creative thinkers, Arieti [7] concluded that they must be intelligent. The paradox is that they generally are not TOO intelligent. Excessive intelligence cripples creativity by imposing an examination of self and ideas that is too strict, too "logical".
Creative Leaders Are Well-Informed A profound knowledge of a problem area is needed in order to understand the limits of current dogma and to identify those areas where creative thought will be most fruitful. However, too much knowledge impedes the creative process, producing that thinking process disease known as "hardening of the categories". This becomes a special problem when the knowledge is focused in a small specialty area, because the breadth of alternative information that could be used in creative synthesis is missing. Creative Leaders Are Original Thinkers Original thinking is not the same as creativity but is obviously prerequisite for creative thought. Originality requires an active search for the different. This may involve deliberate attempts to conjure contrasts, opposites, bizarre associations, symbolic thinking.
Original thinking is sometimes no more than mere recognition that what is accepted by everybody else has flaws, is not adequate, or needs to be done differently. To complete the creative process, however, requires more than originality. Original thoughts that are not examined critically cannot be refined into useful and correct concepts; less creative people tend to be too quick to judge or reject ideas. Creative people think out carefully what they are looking for, and they clarify the reasons for their reactions to emerging ideas. They tend to search longer for original thoughts that can improve upon or even replace the emerging ideas. Creative Leaders Ask (the Right) Questions A question calls forth an answer; a problem, its solution.
The trick is not only to ask questions, but to ask questions or pose problems in the most effective ways. A question can easily limit creative thinking if it restricts the space of potential answers. It therefore is important to pose questions in open-ended ways and ways that do not make too many assumptions about an acceptable answer. A major part of the creativity task is proper formulation of the problem itself.
Creative Leaders Are Prepared To Be Creative What this means is that creative people have a mind-set that enables creativity to happen, as if by chance. We have all heard the famous axiom: Chance favors the prepared mind. -- Pasteur But the more complete explanation is: Accident arises out of purpose... The essence of invention isn't process, but purpose. -- Perkins In other words, creative people: 1. desire to be creative, 2. believe that there is a creative solution, and 3. expect that they will be the ones to find it.
Some Characteristics of the Creative Person Are Innate We know that creative people are self-directed, self-starting. Creativeness of scientists and engineers, as explicitly examined in the study by Pelz and Andrews, was found in those workers who maintained distinctive work styles and strategies. To some extent, the attributes that foster creativity are innate, and cannot be "trained". For example, one evaluation of several studies of highly creative physical scientists revealed the following common denominators indicating that creative scientists were most likely to be [8] 1. men, 2. intensely masculine in interests and outlook, 3. from a background of radical Protestantism, 4. not very religious themselves, 5. reticent about interpersonal contact, 6. disturbed by complex human emotions, especially aggression, 7. hardworking, to the point of obsession, 8. music lovers, while disliking art and poetry, and 9. interested in analysis and structure of things.
Can We Expect Leaders To Make a Difference The creative ability of any given individual ranges from little to great. All professionals have some creative ability, but creative acts cannot occur in a vacuum. Creators must identify a problem, must be motivated to solve it, and must know at least some "facts" (but not too many) about the problem. They must criticize and refine their ideas to make them amenable to developing an innovative concept, process, or product. In one study of the creative, innovative process, 115 senior scientists were evaluated for their native creative ability by a special psychological test for creativeness (the "RAT" test). [9] Some personal characteristics, such as innate creative capability and verbal intelligence quotients (IQs), were clearly NOT related to innovative ness.
The analyst thus concluded that what really counted was the environment in which innovation is supposed to occur. Taking the Plunge- - How Do We Get Started? "O.K". the Boss says, "I am convinced we need to change our leadership style to foster creativity, but where do we start?" For starters, look around to see how other organizations have been successful in generating new ideas. Scientists in Organizations [10] Pelz and Andrews summarize their findings on the effect of management practices on the productivity of over 1,300 scientists and engineers in 11 government and industrial laboratories. A composite productivity score for each scientist and engineer was determined by taking into account the number of publications and patents and the ratings assigned by a panel of colleagues on their contribution to the organization, as well as their more general contribution to science and technology. These scores were then used to compute correlation coefficients for the relationship of productivity score to various managerial practices. The analysis allowed them to identify many management practices that foster creativity and innovation, as well as interfering practices.
In Search of Excellence [11] This best-seller was published in 1982 by T.J. Peters and R.H. Waterman, Jr. This book was based on the authors' analysis of management in dozens of high-tech, Fortune 500 companies that were especially well known for their ability to develop many new and widely accepted products. Such companies included IBM, 3 M, GE, Boeing, and Hewlett-Packard. Peters and Waterman started with the premise that these companies "must be doing something right", and they wanted to find out what it was. They found some common denominators that these companies use to foster creativity and innovation.
All these companies have built-in management mechanisms to stimulate individual entrepreneurs to take the lead in generating new ideas and pursuing them to the new product or service stage. The entrepreneurs "champion" their own cause and recruit fellow enthusiasts to a development team. Often the team is assigned an expediter whose function it is to cut red tape and provide needed logistical and other support. Typically there is an "executive champion" of the development team who has enough clout in the hierarchy to shield the team from administrative harassment or disruption. Both of the above-mentioned studies make it clear that creativity and innovation are not beyond the control of enlightened leaders. Although leaders cannot create genius where it does not exist, there are many practices that influence creativity and innovation, for better or for worse.
Greasing the Wheels of This Creative Machinery The self is a growing thing, battered into shape by all sorts of forces. -- R.B. MacLeod The creative self is also a growing thing, amenable to influence of the environment and self-education. [12] Leaders have more control over the creative process than they think. First, if they know what kinds of people are more creative, they can make it a point to hire such people. With people already on board, leaders can educate them as to what creativity entails and show them that some degree of creativity is within the grasp of everybody. Finally, there is a host of management practices that create the work environment that enables creativity.
Create the Right Environment - Creativity Is Contagious Although we may not fully understand the processes of creativity, we know that they are "contagious". Certain environments contain something that enhances the creativity process. Hans Krebs, [13] the Nobel prize-winning biochemist, has worked out the "scientific genealogies" of certain famous scientists. Krebs himself had a Nobel Laureate teacher, Otto Warburg, who in turn was taught by Emil Fischer, who won a Nobel for his work on the chemistry of sugars. Fischer in turn was a pupil of another Laureate, Adolph von Baeyer, who won the prize for work on chemistry of dyes. Adolph von Baeyer's mentor was Reinhard Kekule van Stradonitz, famous for studies on organic compounds with ring structures.
Kekule was a pupil of Justus von Liebig, who is the acknowledged "father" of organic chemistry. Liebig's teacher was a giant in the field of inorganic chemistry, Joseph-Louis Gay-Lussac, who discovered many of the gas laws. Gay-Lussac was a pupil of Claude Louis Berthollet, who helped to introduce the concept of combustion and elucidated the chemistry of such compounds as chlorine, ammonia, and cyanide. Berthollet's mentor was the famous Antoine Laurent Lavoisier. Thus, this family tree of teacher and pupil extended in an unbroken chain over 200 years. The contagion of creative fever can also be seen in industrial laboratories; the famous Bell Labs are a good example.
Bell has had seven of its scientists to receive the Nobel Prize. There are not many single work environments that have spawned such fundamental innovations as the transistor, the laser, and fiber-optics. But the creative atmosphere at Bell is not limited to spectacular innovation. The staff at Bell has acquired over 31,800 patents since the lab was formed in 1925, and the current rate is about one patent every day! [14] Expect Creativity Innovation correlates strongly with a person's perception of whether or not he is expected to be innovative. [15] When leaders shoulder the burden of responsibility for innovation, the workers shirk it.
In part this may be because such environments may actually discourage or penalize workers for innovation. Challenge People Without challenge, there is not enough stimulus to elicit creative responses. But too much challenge burdens and overwhelms the emotions and the mind, shutting off the capacity for creative thought. Ever notice how some of your best ideas occur when you are NOT working, even when you are on vacation? Most creativity theorists believe that it is important, even essential, to have an intense and sustained grappling with a problem if creative solutions are to emerge, but often the flash of insight will only occur when you stop thinking about the problem. In terms of leadership practices, Pelz and Andrews concluded from their study that a certain amount of "creative tension" had to exist between the conflicting states of worker security and challenge.
They noted particularly that scientists' and engineers' productivity increased when the laboratory changed established patterns or when technical disputes arose. Productivity also increased when the scientists and engineers were given positive reinforcement and were encouraged to participate in policy-making. Peters and Waterman found that the best high-tech companies instituted management practices that were deliberately designed to stimulate competition, sometimes even to the extent of assigning the same problem to two different teams and creating a contest atmosphere to see who would come up with the best solution. Get Some Kind of Peer Review The ultimate goal of the true professional is to be respected by his peers. If there is no way for professionals to know how they stand in the opinion of their peers, an important incentive for doing their best work is also absent. Where peer review programs do exist, they often are administered in very negative ways, where the emphasis is judgmental and punitive.
The real purposes should be to specify what is considered high achievement and who is doing it, to reassure workers that they will be judged on merit and technical productivity rather than on ancillary or political grounds, and to stimulate all workers to "keep up the pace". Get a System of Rewards for Creativity When workers know that management rewards new ideas, they will try to generate them. The best way that management can make its wants known, and believable, is to provide tangible rewards for new ideas. Rewards can take the usual forms, ranging from more money (bonuses or salary increments) to a wide variety of "perks". More subtle, and less expensive, devices include arranging for professionals to present their ideas in semiformal gatherings of peers and superiors. It is particularly important to give direct access to policymakers, not only for the ego-gratifying effect on the workers, but also because this is the one way to ensure that policymakers keep informed and stimulated.
Professionals may need frequent prodding to produce reports or papers that bear their name. Nonetheless, such efforts produce a positive feedback that will stimulate the worker to future creative activity. Pelz and Andrews found that scientist and engineer productivity was stimulated when the workers knew that their ideas and work were evaluated by people other than their immediate supervisor, particularly people outside the hierarchy or high in it. Evaluations by peers and end users had great impact on motivating scientists and engineers when they knew that higher management sought and listened to such evaluations. Get People Involved, Immersed, In Problems Numerous anecdotes concerning great creative achievements have in common the feature that the discoverer was deeply immersed in the problem area.
[16] Even Einstein had grappled for several years trying to clarify the relation of movement to electromagnetism. Not surprisingly, the best ideas have usually come in the fields that the discoverer knew a great deal about. There is a paradox here; knowledge often gets in the way of creativity. Professionals who are overly specialized as a group are less productive than are their more broadly based colleagues.
[17] I suspect that the paradox exists because the creative person takes a different, more detached and uncommitted attitude toward his or her knowledge, whereas the non creative person is more inclined to believe what he or she "knows". Without direction and specific goals, research programs tend to flail and flounder. In the recent critique of American industry's research and development (R&D) efforts, [18] Deborah Shapley and Rustum Roy levy the charge that R&D managers have largely failed to provide direction to their workers. They charge that we devote too much time, effort, and money to basic research which does not go anywhere. What we need, they argue, is more "purposive" basic research, where workers are given purpose and guidance, even for their basic research. Some practical objective should always be kept in mind, even for the most basic of research.
This need not diminish the pure science value of the basic research; the work of Louis Pasteur should serve as ample proof. Get Rid of the Disincentives The most common disincentives for creativity and innovation arise in an atmosphere of fear, fear of being penalized for failure, fear of not getting adequate administrative support, or fear of not having enough time. That is one reason the new venture team programs in the Fortune 500 companies surveyed by Peters and Waterman are usually specifically designed to relieve team members from all other duties during the project. The team is protected by the "executive champion" from external forces and disruptions and punitive actions for failure. The team is protected from the red tape of their company's bureaucracy by the ombudsman / expediter. The "champion" programs in the Fortune 500 companies that were evaluated by Peters and Waterman exemplify just the opposite of micromanagement-at least once a champion and his or her development team are established.
There is a good bit of management imposed during the initial stages of project approval, setting of goals, allocation of resources, and establishing the ground rules for the team. But once the team is formed and under way, successful management seems to require that they be left alone. The team does its own managing, at least to the extent they are able. Avoidance of micromanagement is equivalent to providing more autonomy for professionals and their teams. But excessive autonomy is probably not desirable. Pelz and Andrews found that the most autonomous of their scientists and engineers did poorly, presumably because they were isolated from stimulation; some central coordination and direction is necessary for best productivity.
The self-reliant and autonomous individuals should be able to produce more; in fact, if their superiors do not provide direction, they must be self-reliant in order to achieve. In a climate of complete freedom, autonomous individuals must have exceptional drive and motivation in order to keep achieving. On the other hand, under tight, micromanaged situations, the productivity of self-reliant individuals is not enhanced. Give Your People Some Slack, Freedom and Time for Meditation Here we refer to mental freedom, as well as freedom from external constraints, to let emerging ideas take one where they will, even if they violate common wisdom or the constraints of time, money, and facilities.
Arieti also makes the point that the creative person must have time where he or she does nothing, as viewed in conventional terms by superiors in an organization, for example. If the workers must always be "doing" something (running an experiment, shuffling paperwork), they do not have the opportunity for uninterrupted reflection on their work. A case can be made for being too productive in the usual sense. One junior scientist I know was given some wise advice by his more experienced mentor: "Young man, you would do well to publish less so that you can publish better". Arieti asserts that creative thought usually involves a period of meditation and aloneness. Aloneness is akin to sensory deprivation, a state in which the subject is less distracted by conventional stimuli, cliches, modes of thinking, and is free to tap his or her inner basic resources.
The common emphasis on teamwork is justified, as seen in the Pelz and Andrews study. Yet each team member must have time alone, free of distractions and interruptions, to reflect creatively on the team's problems. Continued pursuit of a problem is often required before the creative solution emerges. [19] Leaders should give people time to pursue unresolved problems and not punish them as long as they are earnestly trying. Jung is quoted as saying that to get creative thought to emerge from its incubation stage, one must have a "special training for switching off consciousness, at least to a relative extent, thus giving the unconscious contents a chance to develop". Be Quick to Recognize - and Use - Error A rat uses its errors to help find the way through a maze, and in a similar but more sophisticated way creative thinkers must be assisted by their leaders and colleagues to recognize and use their thinking errors as they grope with the creative solution to a problem.
In scientific and technical arenas of thought, mistakes can be quite useful in posing issues in a new way and in inviting unique approaches to a problem. Be Quick to Recognize - and Use - Good Ideas Although leaders can't force creative thought, they certainly can be receptive to it and recognize and value it when it happens. The best way to express value for an idea is to implement it. Make Your People Secure, Not Threatened The companies surveyed by Pelz and Andrews have found that it is important to provide opportunities for scientists and engineers to have their names associated with a product, a report, or a process. The companies also favored practices that promoted the status of individuals, such as 1. letting professionals present their own work (briefings, reports, and so on), 2. giving them some autonomy, 3. minimizing the management from above, and 4. letting them help set goals and priorities.
The Pelz and Andrews study showed a clear increase in productivity in those workers whose managers let them set their own goals and priorities and to influence policy-making. This principle is explicitly embodied in the "champion" programs of the Fortune 500 high-tech companies that Peters and Waterman studied. Change Attitudes about Yes-Men and Conformity Conformity is the enemy of creative thought. As might be expected, people differ greatly in their conformist tendencies. Some conformity is probably imposed by cultural and educational conditions.
For example, in one formal test which quantified conformist tendencies in terms of percentage of responses to questions that were influenced by group pressure, military officers had the highest conformity score of 33 percent; by comparison, college sophomores had a conformity score of 26 percent, while scientists in industry had a score of only 14 percent. [20] Notably, the range of individual scores in each group was from 0 to 100 percent, which means that each group does contain potentially creative people, even though in some groups conformity may be very conspicuous. In examining common practices that get in the way of creativity and innovation, Hickman and Silva [21] have developed a list of six common blinders that keep leaders from creativeness and innovation. They are resistance to change, reliance on rules and conformance, fear and self-doubt, overreliance on logic and precision, black and white thinking, and overreliance on practicality and efficiency.
As practical remedies to such blinder problems, Hickman and Silva suggest several exercises that will help both leaders and workers: (1) set a personal quota of one new idea a day, (2) pick an organizational rule that gets in the way and break it (in a benign way that won't harm you or the organization), (3) read literature on creativity, (4) indulge in fantasy and wild thinking, particularly when you are swamped with technical detail, (5) for any problem, force yourself to consider many solutions, and (6) defer evaluation of an idea (toy with it, explore its ramifications). Show the Mavericks You Tolerate - Even Value - Them By definition, creative people are more likely to be nonconformist, not only in their thinking but sometimes in their attitudes and behavior. If such people are valued in an organization for what their ideas can do for the group, then a certain amount of tolerance for unconventional behavior is the price that has to be paid. Sometimes creative, innovative people are uncomfortably aggressive. They may be driven by ambition and are not very tolerant of obstacles, be they material or managerial. "Best workers gripe the most", was the conclusion drawn by one analyst of a survey of industrial productivity.
Clearly, malcontents and chronic complainers are not much of an asset to an organization. But it is axiomatic that the best producers and self-starters are assertive, sometimes "pushy", and even obnoxious. In the Pelz and Andrews survey, there was a striking correlation between productivity and the fact that the scientists and engineers did NOT fully share the goals and interests of higher management. However, they were responsive to input and direction, both from management and from colleagues. Provide Formal Means for Idea Generation Among the various tactics that can be used are frequent use of seminars and symposia, where the "in-house" people are expected to make presentations.
Debate should be encouraged, but it needs to be conducted in a positive, nonthreatening way. Brainstorming sessions can be especially useful, provided they are well structured and controlled. The proper environment for effective brainstorming has been described by Osborn. [22] The basic premise is that creativity requires free and uninhibited thought, coupled with critical analysis and synthesis. However, the typical human cannot think imaginatively and critically at the same time. Thus, Osborn advocates a brainstorming session in which (1) criticism is ruled out, (2) free-wheeling is welcomed (the wilder the idea, the better), (3) many ideas are better than a few, and (4) combination of ideas into new ways is encouraged.
To make sure that "imagine ering" is fully stimulated, an atmosphere of excitement and enthusiasm is needed, along with a tolerant, noncritical attitude toward "off the wall" ideas. But, if a brainstorming session ends at this point, then all one has is a collection of imaginative ideas, none of which may have real value. Subsequent critical analysis is required to winnow out those ideas that can be criticized, reformulated, and recombined into useful concepts that can lead to true innovation. How about computerized Delphi conferences? I don't think anybody does that, but the technology is available. One popular technique to make such problem-solving communication more systematic could employ a modification of the so-called Delphi method.
[23] This is a structured communication approach to problem-solving, planning, forecasting, and decision-making that involves individual contributions of information and insight, followed by some critique of all the individual contributions, followed by responses of the individuals and revisions of their original ideas. To modify the approach for brainstorming functions, it would be ideal to have a computerized conference approach, wherein a computer tallies all the input and makes it available in real time. Create a Climate for Discussion and Disagreement In their analysis of successful executives, Hickman and Silva concluded that they never ceased their curious probing. "They are imaginative and innovative developers who can transcend old habits...
They make an abiding commitment to creativity, always setting aside the time and resources to nurture it". [24] Such a climate stimulates workers to come forth with their ideas, giving management a chance to use those inputs to generate even better, more workable ideas. Creativity feeds upon itself, producing more and more creative ideas. The creativeness of professionals is directly proportional to the extent to which they can communicate with both supervisors and with peers. Leaders should openly solicit the ideas of workers-and then LISTEN to what they say. This serves not only the positive motivational purpose of making workers feel like they are important, but it also gives the leadership access to information and ideas they might otherwise not obtain.
This principle lies at the heart of Deming's quality control philosophy, which has been so successfully employed by Japanese industry. Workers need good, clear channels of communications with superiors, particularly the leaders who operate at the policy-making levels. Among the reasons this is important is that in this climate workers have some hope that they have access to policymakers when they get a good idea. They need not fear that somebody else will "steal their thunder" and get the credit for their idea. The leadership, in turn, encourages the surfacing of new ideas only if they openly value it and provides positive reinforcement to those who advance new ideas, even ideas that are not feasible. In the case of peer communication, Pelz and Andrews found that increased productivity was directly correlated with the number of peers whom a given worker contacted as well as the total number of contacts.
Give Your People Influence on Policy-making Another factor that correlates positively with innovation is the degree to which the workers exert influence upon decision-making. [25] Not surprisingly, if the worker knows he has no clout with the leaders, he has little confidence that his ideas can get accepted and implemented. So why risk exposing one's ideas to possible criticism? Thus, it is in the best interests of leaders and their organizations to make each worker feel important and to solicit their ideas in nonthreatening ways.
In any hierarchy, one of the hurdles that a new idea must overcome is the worker's immediate administrative superior. He sets the psychological tone of his unit, and that tone may encourage creativity or may actively discourage it. Junior level professionals are easily intimidated or disheartened in attempts to sell their ideas. The senior scientists studied by Pelz and Andrews who were the most effective in implementing ideas were those whose superiors "stayed out of the way", with respect to the actual conduct of the research. For this level of employee, the proper role of leaders would seem to be limited to encouragement, friendly criticism, and of making resources available. It is one thing for workers to have a good idea.
It is another to get them to "surface it". Some work environments discourage innovation, if not actively, at least unwittingly. The 3 M company, noted for the large number of diverse product innovations, has a slogan: "Thou Shalt Not Kill a New Product Idea". [26] Of course they do not implement all of the employees' ideas, but they make it company policy to encourage all the ideas they can get. They don't intimidate their employees with criticism, but rather encourage and help them to develop their ideas into marketable products. To sell an idea, it must be communicated comprehensibly.
Although the illusion of success can be obtained by "snowing" superiors with complex ideas they do not really understand, their sustained support will ultimately require that they do in fact understand what they are supporting. In most cases, support is not given in the first place if the idea is not clear and understandable. The advocate of ideas must also have sufficient status and credibility for the ideas to be taken seriously. Optimize Interpersonal Interactions Progressive leaders actively seek ways to increase communication and break down interdepartmental barriers among its workers. Specific actions range from the physical design of work and recreation space to open forums where workers make presentations in front of their peers and superiors. Such devices not only improve technical communication per se, but they also make workers more aware of the skills and achievements of their peer competitors.
This environment instills a desire to run faster just to keep up. Get the Right People Together The principle of critical mass in personnel management is well known. Bright people stimulate each other, particularly if each person has a different background and set of technical skills that he brings to a common problem. This team concept is explicitly fostered in many R&D companies. In many organizations, it is not feasible to create critical mass; there just is not enough money to hire necessary new talent.
Sometimes, however, the problem can be overcome by tearing down the barriers that separate the boxes on an organization chart and building dashed-line connections between the boxes so that close interaction can occur among the people with common interests but who are assigned to different organizations. Administrators who are real leaders rise to the top and impose massive reorganization where necessary to reassign people to create critical mass and optimize effectiveness. There must be clear lines of authority and responsibility, however. Cavalier use of dashed lines on an organizational chart leads to situations where nobody is responsible to anybody for anything. Create Study Teams, Evaluation Groups Many traditionally managed R&D operations have historically seen the value of creating interdisciplinary teams to solve problems. A recent workshop review of this management practice by NASA has confirmed its utility.
[27] Where management often falls short is in implementing the good ideas that emerge from such study and evaluation groups. Periodically Regroup the Organizational Teams Research teams grow stale with age, and their productivity generally falls off after four or five years, as the Pelz and Andrews study clearly showed. They also learned, however, that shuffling people around to new research teams was not effective if it was done against their will. Give the Teams Autonomy The success of new-venture teams derives not only from the positive motivation that comes from championing a cause but also from the fact that the team is autonomous. Each member knows that he or she is responsible to the team and that the team is responsible for its own success or failure. If teams are allowed to operate in an environment where nobody can get the credit and nobody can take the blame for foul-ups, there is little incentive to do one's best.
Keep People from Getting Too Specialized Overspecialization gets in the way of creative thought. A research team with people of diverse backgrounds creates a stimulating intellectual environment that can promote the evaluation of problems from a broader perspective and lead to new ways of seeing problems and solutions. Moreover, many projects require a diversity of technical skills, which is obviously provided in a diversely structured team. Many of us have habitually considered technical expertise as a critical component for productivity. Thus, workers who specialize are considered experts.
But Pelz and Andrews found that the most productive workers were those who specialized in more than one technical area. Presumably, this served as a stimulus for creativeness. A related observation was that research teams that have worked a long time in a certain area, and acquired status as the in-house experts, gradually declined in their productivity. Better results are sometimes achieved when management deliberately assigns a project to a team other than the one with the most expertise. Pelz and Andrews also found, to their surprise, that productivity was greater in those scientists and engineers who worked at several levels, including both basic and applied research. Those who focused on either basic research or applied research only were usually much less productive.
This may indicate that the more productive scientists and engineers are more productive because they are capable enough to work at several different levels. However, it is also possible that efforts to make them work at different levels actually can stimulate their creativity and productivity. Unexpectedly, it was the younger workers whose productivity was most impaired by being required to focus in depth on a subject. Leaders are advised not to assign young workers to a narrow piece of the problem, but rather to see that they read and talk about it from many angles. Recognize and Exploit the Age Effects Conventional wisdom holds that young people are the most creative. In physics, for example, it is commonly believed that great discoveries must be made before the age of 35, or they will not happen at all.
When this issue was examined by Pelz and Andrews, they found a biphasic curve, with a peak in the 30's, followed by a decline, especially in the late 40's. However, there was another spurt of creative productivity after 50. The late 40's decline was quite distinct, and was most marked with government workers, compared with those in industry or the universities. At all ages, and in all work environments, productivity was greatest in those scientists who were motivated by their own ideas rather than the ideas of management. Newly formed research groups are the most creative and productive. For example, when research directors of 21 industrial labs were asked to rank their teams or sections on such criteria as "creativity", they found that the most creative groups were less than 16 months old.
According to the survey by Pelz and Andrews, the height of a group's creative powers lasts about five years, after which they generally decline. They explain this phenomenon on the basis of their idea that a certain amount of creative tension is needed; in this case, the tension and stimulation are achieved by placing staff on a new team in which the insecurity of proving oneself to new peers brings out the best in each worker. The typical decline with age of the group can be partially offset if the group becomes especially cohesive, while at the same time becoming intellectually competitive. The cohesiveness is illustrated by the frequency of communication among team members, which under normal circumstances is quite high during the first year, but falls off drastically as the group ages.
Competitiveness included competition among individuals in the team as well as competition between a given team and other teams. Stagnation also sets in because an older group tends to get specialized, and the members' approaches to problems become more stable and stereotyped. The loss of a broader perspective, and the creativity that goes with it, is best offset when management challenges an older group with problems outside its expertise. Leaders are advised to avoid letting a group come to believe that they are the in-house experts in a special area; in fact, some leaders will deliberately assign a problem within an older group's specialty to another group which has no such expertise. Reorganize The more productive professionals in the Pelz and Andrews study were those in organizations that had a relatively "flat" organization tree, with few levels at which veto or interference can occur. Pelz and Andrews also found that conventional management schemes that were designed to make workers dependent on their supervisors were counterproductive.
Specifically, real productivity declined when the primary source of evaluation was the immediate supervisor. As Pelz and Andrews put it: "If you deliberately wanted to stamp out independent thought in the subordinates, could you design a better system?" Transitioning Creativity to Innovation To get a creative idea is one thing, but to get it transitioned into the innovation of a new product or service requires other personal characteristics. Innovative people need the kind of mind-set that can produce the succession of processes that lead to successful innovation, such as 1. generating the idea, 2. informing "significant others", 3". selling" the idea effectively, 4. planning the development process, and 5. overcoming constraints (time, money, relevance). Even though an organization may have plenty of such people, management practices will determine the extent to which these personal characteristics can be expressed. Technology transition is the theme of a growing body of business literature, which we need not dwell on here. The Bottom Line Creativity and innovation are not mysterious forces over which leaders have no control.
Progressive leadership can and does create a climate that encourages creativity and innovation. As we have reviewed here, there are many specific leadership initiatives, validated by the success of certain high-tech companies, that enlightened leaders can take to stimulate creativity and innovation in any work setting. Notes 1. D.N. Perkins. The Mind's Best Work (Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 1981).
2. Donald C. Pelz and F.M. Andrews. Scientists in Organizations: Productive Climates for Research and Development (Ann Arbor, Mich. : University of Michigan, 1976).
3. Recommended references include: 1. A. Taylor and J.W. Getzels, eds., Perspectives in Creativity (Chicago: Aldine Publishing Co., 1975); H. Selle. From Dream to Discovery: On Being a Scientist (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1964); G. Nierenberg, The Art of Creative Thinking (New York: Simon and Schuster. 1982); and C. R Hickman and M A. Silva, Creating Excellence (New York: New American Library, 1984). 4. I.S. Bruner in Contemporary Approaches to Creative Thinking, ed. H.E. Gruber, G. Terrell, and M. Wertheimer (New York: Atherton Press, 1964), 1-30.5. Pelz and Andrews, Scientists in Organizations. 6. S. Arieti, Creativity: The Magic Synthesis (New York: Basic Books, 1976). 7.
Ibid. 8. D.G. McClelland in Contemporary Approaches to Creative Thinking, ed. H.E. Gruber, G. Terrell. and M. Wertheimer (New York: Atherton Press. 1964), 141-74.9. F.M. Andrews "Social and Psychological Factors Which Influence the Creative Process" in Perspectives in Creativity, ed. l. A. Taylor and 1. W. Getzels (Chicago: Aldine Publishing Co., 1975). 10. Pelz and Andrews, Scientists in Organizations. 11. T.J. Peters and R.H. Waterman, Jr., In Search of Excellence (New York: Harper and Row, 1982). 12.
Many authors have written books with the aim of helping people to develop their own creative powers. Some of them are Eugene Raudsepp, How Creative Are You (New York: Putnam's Sons, 1981); Roger von Tech, A Whack on the Side of the Head (New York: Warner Books, 1983); Gerald Nierenberg, The Art of Creative Thinking (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1982); A. Koestler, The Act of Creation (New York: Dell, 1964); A.S. Parkes, "The Art of Scientific Discovery", Perspectives in Biological Medicine I (1959): 366-78.13. H. Krebs, "The Making of a Scientist", Nature 215 (1967): 1441-45.14. "Bell Labs on the Brink", Science 221 (1983): 1267.15. 16. Arieti, Creativity.
17.18. D. Shapley and Rustum Roy, Lost at the Frontier: U.S. Science Policy Adrift (Philadelphia: ISI Press, 1985). 19. Arieti, Creativity. 20. R.S. Crutchfield in Contemporary Approaches to Creative Thinking, ed. H.E. Gruber, G. Terrell, and M. Wertheimer (New York: Atherton Press, 1964), 120-40.21. C.R. Hickman and M.A. Silva, Creating Excellence (New York: New American Library, 1984). 22. A.F. Osborn, Applied Imagination (New York: Scribner's, 1953). 23. H.A. L instone and M. Tur off, The Delphi Method (Reading, Mass.
: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., 1975). 24. Hickman and Silva, Creating Excellence. 25.26. Peters and Waterman, In Search of Excellence. 27.
White-Collar Productivity and Quality Issues (Washington, D.C. : American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1985), 143-50.


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1.20ct Certified Emerald and Baguette Cut Multi-Stone Ring MD039
€7,850 €6,250
Set in eighteen karat white gold this multi-stone emerald and baguette cut diamond engagement ring has a total carat weight of 1.20 carats. The plain band holds a 0.90 carat emerald cut centre diamond which is flanked by small baguette cut diamond on each side. The diamond itself is F in colour, SI1 in clarity and is certified by the very reputable GIA. This high quality spec is reflected in the diamond's shimmer and sparkle. The centre diamond is held in place by the classic four prong style which helps maximise the overall diamond's shimmer.
Ref: MD039
Centre Diamond: 0.96 carats
Colour: F
Clarity: SI1
Certified Body: GIA
Total Carat Weight: 1.20 carats
This ring is available in several different metal types including white gold, yellow gold and platinum.
We can also set this ring with different size diamonds both smaller and larger to suit your budget.
Our diamond dealers have access to over 500,000 certified diamonds so we have a diamond for every budget.
All our engagement rings come with a valuation report and free cleaning for life.
No appointment necessary to view our diamond rings – drop in at a time convenient for you – we are open 7 days a week.
Visit Commins & Co Jewellers in the Powerscourt Shopping Centre to view our extensive range of rings and other jewellery in stock or call us on 01-4422472
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Amend Your Ring
- 'At Commins & Co Jewellers we have over 600 rings set with certified diamonds.
- All of our rings are available in all precious metals
- We can change all centre diamonds in terms of size and quality to suit your budget
- All diamonds can be amended to any gemstone
- All rings can be made for your finger size
- We can redesign your ring with our CAD system and in house designer
Free Sonic Cleaning
- All our rings come with free sonic cleaning
- Cleaning takes 2 minutes
Free Independent Valuation
- All our engagement rings come with a free independent valuation valued at over €100
- It is provided by one of Irelands leading gemmologists
- Ideal for insurance purposes.
- We also provide a Commins & Co Jewellers internal valuation for insurance purposes which we can update annually at no charge


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The Rural Life... Another Trip Down Memory Lane... More About Birds and Animals...
About three years ago, Isaac and I went to a little house at Kelly, KY, and chose a kitten from a litter of five who were living in a big box in someone's living room.
We wanted a female so Happy, our old tom, wouldn't feel a need to fight it. There were only two female kittens in the litter; one trembled in fear when touched, and the other reached out a paw to Isaac and then bit him. We chose the biter and named her Skittles.
She's spayed now, but she had two litters of kittens when she was a mere adolescent. I forget whether the rabbit incidents happened during her first or second kitten episode.
At any rate, it happened this way. The kittens had grown too large for their box in the house, and the weather was warm, so I moved them to a large old wooden box on the carport.
I glanced into the box one afternoon and I was shocked to see a fuzzy little alien in there. The kittens were nursing and a baby rabbit was huddled against them. Obviously, Skittles had acquired the rabbit and she didn't seem interested in eating it, so I left it there. I didn't know if it would survive if I released it, and I hoped that maybe it would accept Skittles as its mother.
The next day I looked in the box and I was shocked to see that now there were two little rabbits. I can only surmise that in her condition of activated maternal hormones, Skittles thought the little wild rabbits were actually kittens who needed a home. Never mind that their ears were a bit long; obviously they needed her care.
I still wasn't sure what to do with the rabbits. They were so young that I was afraid they'd die if I turned them loose. Still, I wondered about leaving them with Skittles. She groomed them enthusiastically, just as she did her feline children but I didn't ever see the rabbits nursing. She wouldn't have minded, but they didn't seem interested.
After much pondering of the situation, I sought out a recipe for homemade milk-replacer for rabbits on the internet and bought some pet bottles so we could feed the little rabbits by hand. They were flighty, slippery little creatures, but they were hungry. Keely named them Abbot and Costello, and developed a method of wrapping them gently in a towel for feeding. That way, they could shrink into the towel rather than darting forward if they were startled.
Unfortunately, Abbot died, and then we had just Costello to nurse along. I read that rabbits have fragile bones and I became concerned about the kittens hurting him because they were much larger and they played roughly. We decided to move Costello to a nest of dry grass clippings in the bottom of a large round garbage can in the house.
Costello was terribly nervous whenever we handled him. He couldn't help it; that's the way rabbits are, especially wild ones. I guess he became about as tame as a little wild rabbit can be. Sometimes as he drank his bottle, he closed his little eyes and seemed to enjoy it and maybe even dozed a little as I sat very still and held him, bundled in his little feeding towel.
He developed sharp teeth that could sever a pet bottle nipple with a single chomp. I started giving his milk to him in a drinking bottle designed for hamster and rat cages. It had a long metal tube with a metal marble in the end of it. Costello quickly learned to push the marble up just enough that a trickle of milk flowed out of the tube into his mouth.
He grew rapidly. When he developed a hearty appetite for clover we picked from the lawn for him, I knew that he could probably survive on his own. One sunny day, I took him out to the hedgerow along the back fence where there's a thick cover of unmowed vegetation, and I said goodby to the little guy. After I released him, he sat still for a moment and then crept away into the tall grass. I couldn't help worrying about him!
Meanwhile, the kittens had grown too large for the wooden box, so we had moved them to a 6-foot round cattle tank that the kids had used as a pool when they were little. One day, I saw Skittles jump into the tank with a baby squirrel struggling in her mouth. Apparently she had an idea of adopting it like she had done with the rabbits.
The little squirrel was trying so hard to escape that Skittles was excited by it. She seemed a bit uncertain -- was it a baby or was it a game animal after all? I snatched the wild little thing away from her. It leaped from my hands in a flash, ran into the shrubbery and was never seen again. Skittles was momentarily puzzled where the strange baby had gone -- and then she nursed the kittens.
Last summer, when Costello would have been one year old, an unusually tame rabbit lived in our yard. He didn't come close to us, but he never ran away or froze in position like rabbits do when frightened. He was quite comfortable even at a 15-foot distance. The lawn mower didn't disturb him much; he just moved out of its way and enjoyed the freshly mowed greens. We saw him all summer long, placidly grazing on the clover in one spot or another. Of course we think it was Costello.


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Official site of the design, build, test and launch of JWST.
Many organizations play a role in the JWST design, construction and in the future collection and distribution of JWST science data.
(Overview of the spacecraft, mission and science)
(Future home of science data and images)
(Overview of the spacecraft, mission and science)
(European Space Agency)
(European Space Agency JWST site for scientists)
(Canadian Space Agency)
(NASA centers, academic and industry partners)
More on NASA.GOV:
NASA Images, videos, TV & more.
Official NASA HQ Social Media


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Dear Comedy Central,
I used The Pirate Bay to download the new epsiodes of Futurama (which were great, by the way). It took me 15 minutes and I watched them commercial-free. I would have watched them with full commercials on your site if you had made that option available. That is all.


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WafflehausMedia.com necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 29 diseños de 8 diseñadores freelance.
CareGivers America
Seeking creative logo design for a Healthcare/Homecare Provider.
About CareGivers America:
"CareGivers America is a locally owned and operated home care company offering a full range of in-home services for seniors, pediatric patients, and those with disabilities. CareGivers America has 8 offices in Pennsylvania and one office in New York state which operates under the affiliate name of "Care America".
► Non-Medical In-Home Services
► Home Health Services
► Medical Supply
► Medical Staffing
► Handyman Services
► Medical Alert Response Systems
From seniors needing minimum assistance with daily routines to people with disabilities and/or chronic illnesses, CareGivers America gets you the right kind of help when you need it.
We are committed to our employees, our clients, and the health care industry. We consider it our main responsibility to assist our clients in navigating through the many options available through community resources and organizations such as ours. We seek to improve the quality of our clients lives through dependable, caring service which protects their dignity and sense of worth. We further commit ourselves to assist the families of seniors who struggle with the complex responsibilities of caring for their loved ones."
Logo should target:
- Sons and Daughters of Senior Citizens, Disabled, and Pediatric Patient.
- Mainly Babyboomers between the ages of 35-65
Enrolling with homecare services for loved ones with CareGivers America can be a difficult decision for people.
The logo should help ease the decision maker and convey the following brand characteristics:
- friendly service
- comfortable services
- in-home support
- gentle and caring staff
Designers have complete creative control over the logo, so long as it reflects the above characteristics.
We do not want stock pictures or photos of any sort.
Requested Deliverables:
1.) Logo for CareGivers America
2.) Logo for Care America (affiliate business)
Deliverables Format:
1.) Layered Photoshop (PSD)
2.) Adobe Illustrator (ai)
This project is sponsored by WafflehausMedia, providing deliciously simple and affordable internet solutions for small business. Visit us at: http://www.wafflehausmedia.com **We are always interested in working with experienced designers. You will have extensive opportunities for future work.
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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82 Results Found
After several decades on the market, the Project Management Professional® certification continues to be one of the most in-demand certifications worldwide. Learn how you can increase your salary, project success, and organizational value with this recorded webinar.
For organizations with the willingness to get in shape and regain their corporate vitality, combining and aligning best practice frameworks is a sure way to achieve that goal. Admittedly, it takes work. Combining ITIL® 4 and project management should be high on your list.
While IT professionals are most likely to hold certifications in CompTIA and Microsoft, a greater percentage are pursuing credentials in AWS and Cisco in 2019. Here is a list of the five most sought-after IT certifications this year.
Project Scope Management sets the foundation for the creation, development and successful delivery of a project. Learn about the project management process here.
The value of IT certifications has grown considerably over the last decade. Examine the evolution of certification trends, see the top-paying certifications and learn how decision-makers are struggling to hire certified employees.
With skills gaps plaguing the industry, these 10 skills are must-haves for all IT departments. It's no coincidence that these skills make up a large percentage of the IT skills gap across the industry. Decision-makers are struggling to fill these job roles. The positions also pay well because of a lack of qualified professionals. If you're looking to make an IT skills investment or start a new career path this year, these are the areas to consider.
In 2020 we will see the complete ITIL4 education portfolio released and in all likelihood the start of the retirement of the ITIL v3 qualifications. Our ITIL guru, Barry Corless lead author for ITIL4 incident and problem management practices, will talk about the course content, the practical skills you'll learn, and who will benefit from attending each courses. If you plan to continue your ITIL education then you cannot afford to miss this webinar.
The PMP certification exam is changing but the PMBOK is not. Everyone planning to pursue their PMP certification in 2020 needs to know what is changing and how it will affect the way they prepare for the exam. In this session we will identify and explore the changes that PMI has announced to the PMP Certification Exam Blueprint, when and how the exam will be affected, and will look at a few examples of potential new questions. View the slide deck>
Based on survey responses from the Global Knowledge 2020 IT Skills and Salary Report, this year's highest-paying certifications reveal a strong emphasis on particular topics, such as cloud computing and cybersecurity. In fact, cloud and IT security make up the four top-paying credentials on this list.
According to the Global Knowledge IT Skills and Salary Report, women make up 16% of the tech workforce, and an even smaller percentage (8%) are at the senior or executive level. Here's an overview of the most popular and most pursued certifications by women in tech.


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This map does not yet have any images. If you're new to MapKnitter, try watching the tutorial video on the front page for a crash course in how to make a map.
To begin, simply drag images onto the map or click the
Upload button in the right sidebar.
Where can you find aerial images? Take them yourself with a camera on a balloon or kite, or out the window of an airplane.


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Friday, September 30, 2011
So this is how it ends Jose?
7 comments:
Thanks for your sketches all year, Joe! I hope you plan on continuing next year. Also, have you considered publishing this as a comprehensive book?ReplyDelete
- AnonymousSeptember 30, 2011 at 10:27 AM
Reposted from the NY Mets Metsfanforum (For all the Jose haters):ReplyDelete
"Dear God this is embarrassing.....PLEASE DO RESEARCH ON BASEBALL HISTORY. Tony Gwynn, Bernie Williams, Tim Raines, George Brett, Wade Boggs, Bill Madlock, Willie Wilson, Bill Mueller, Terry Pendleton, Ken Griffey Sr, etc, etc, ALL DID THE EXACT SAME THING THAT REYES DID YESTERDAY. So if you idiots wanna kill Jose and say he has no "heart" and is a "me" player.....then say the SAME thing about all of those guys. Facts people....FACTS."
First off....I DON"T HATE JOSE!!!!ReplyDelete
It isn't so much about the batting title. If this was Jose's last game as a Met he owed it to the fans to play it to the end!
The players above all didn't do the "same thing".
George Brett was winning a batting title hitting about.390 in 1980 with no one within 40 points of him. If he simply rested on the last day before the playoffs.And Tony Gwynn did the same thing. He was always 10 to 15 points ahead of everyone else.
I guess I just grew up in a time when people really played for the love of the game.
Ted Williams, in his chase for .400, was hitting .3996 on the last day of the season. His manager wanted to sit him out so he would be rounded up to .400. Williams refused, went out that day and had a three hit game to up his average to .406.ReplyDelete
Just some perspective.
- AnonymousSeptember 30, 2011 at 1:19 PM
That's TED WILLIAMS. THE GREATEST HITTER OF ALL TIME. Since when did we start comparing modern day player to TED WILLIAMS. That is schlock!ReplyDelete
Jose was trying to give the franchise it's FIRST EVER BATTING TITLE and what happens? His fanbase SHITS ON HIM. I wouldn't be surprised if he signs elsewhere.
I hate the NY media and I hate the NY Mets fanbase. This is absolute garbage.
I don't think you are getting what I'm saying!ReplyDelete
I'm proud of Jose. I just think he should have played the game.Especially if it was going to be his last as a Met.
And maybe modern day players should compare themselves to players like Williams. That is when it was a game.
Ted actually went 6-8 in a doubleheader on the last day. As for Jose, I'm not sure about some of the players above, but Bernie Williams basically did what Jose did in 1998. He got two hits, felt comfortable with his lead over Mo Vaughn, and sat down. And of course we hear Yankee fans demeaning Reyes but not uttering a peep about their sainted Bernie Baseball. Nothing against Bernie, he was/is a class act, but people forget what they want to forget.ReplyDelete
As for sitting out a game to preserve a title, Willie Wilson definitely did it in 1982. And Ty Cobb definitely did it in 1910 when he sat out the last two games. That story is very interesting if you care to look it up.
I think Ted's story is apples and oranges because he wasn't going for a batting title. He wanted .400, not .3996. And he achieved that in Game 1 of the doubleheader, going 4-5 and putting himself at .404. And to his credit, he played the second game and went 2-3, giving him .406. He was a legendary ballplayer for a reason. And who knows what he would have done had he not fought in WWII.
Still, that was a different era when hitting .400 hadn't yet become the legend it has. Cobb and Hornsby had done it three times each. The last time Cobb did it was 1922 and Hornsby 1925. And Bill Terry of the Giants had hit .401 in 1930. So in the public mindset back then, it wasn't such a holy grail (to his credit again, Ted made it one).
But we also can't forget that every .400 hitter played in a segregated era.
Anyway, you could debate this stuff until Mettle the Mule comes home, but my final thought is that I'm not that upset about what Jose did. But it could have done it in a far classier way. Run the bases at least.
Must say it was great discovering this little corner of the internet, Joe. Thanks for all your efforts. And I look forward to seeing more artwork featuring the 2011 National League Batting champion! (wearing a Mets uniform, I hope)