No Time for Creativity - Society's Loss

During the last three months I have had more time to myself as I am on leave from my employer for one year.  This has given me more time and resulting ideas and thoughts.  The main difference is that I am a lot less scheduled and consequently am feeling freer to do what I want on my terms.  

Work was extremely scheduled.  Up at 6:45.  Off to work at 7:20.  First meeting at 8:30.  Meetings scheduled through the day, sometimes double or triple booked.  A lot of context switching (from human resources, to finances, to customer management, to interviewing, etc.).  Home by 19:00.  Play with the kids, eat.  Catchup on 100+ work emails (since I had no time to deal with them due to the meetings).  Bed at 23:00.  Sleep.  Repeat.

Of course I am still somewhat scheduled, especially when the kids are in school.  But most of my day is free.  The result is that there is a side of me that is coming out that I have not felt or seen in decades.  A creative side, a more emotional side.  I am slowly coming to terms with this and hoping to channel it into a living.  Whether it be in the world of art or in the world of business.  I am less pressured, more honest with my self and think things through more thoroughly.

As the weeks have passed I have become more and more cynical about the traditional corporate world of which I was a part.  The measurements, the internal bickering and distractions.  The situations that people are constantly put in to "grow their career" (ie. be uncomfortable).  The need to follow directives, to travel when one does not want to, to work late.  The lack of freedom.  The lack of trust.  The lack of support for new (creative) ideas.  The adversity to risk.

Human nature is not to listen, follow, go against our "gut feelings" or to be a messenger of someone else's thoughts (unless of course we agree with them).  Our nature is to help, to create, to learn, to play, to interact socially.  Look at your children or remember your childhood.  That is likely what you did or wished to do.

Corporations had better start realizing this.  They need to change their measurement systems to encourage creativity, to give people greater freedom to lead in their own unique ways.  To see their employees as their biggest assets.  To see their company as nothing but a lucky amalgamation of people, of individuals.  I have a large amount of colleagues from work who think along these lines and I have also seen many people leave this particular corporation for these reasons.  Now I have to admit that the corporation I have worked for is starting to speak along those lines via memos, communications, all-employee meetings.  But I have doubts that it is thinking and acting along those lines via its measurement systems and via those people in leadership positions.  Not enough people have matured to see the importance of this and most are still followers, not thinking about the bigger picture.

I wonder what human beings would do if they were not constantly being directed, boxed, guided.  Constantly being bombarded with information about products, events.  Bombarded with sounds.  Being asked to do this or that.  How many ideas would surface?  What new products?  Services?  What new literature or music?  Unfortunately for our world most of us simply do not have the time to even start thinking about these things due to our busy lives.

Our collective loss.