For a long time, I felt strongly about the importance of professionalism among creatives, especially those that work for me. And because of this, it was mandatory for all of our creative professionals to wear ties to work. Over the years I’ve received some criticism and some praise on the issue. Some have accused me of stifling the creative process, while others have praised me for raising the bar of professionalism in a world where the work environment becomes more and more casual every day. However, recently I decided to make ties optional. In fact, we held a tie cutting ceremony to celebrate.

Why the change of heart? Because, maintaining innovation in a competitive industry means keeping talented people creative. And that’s just one point of the four most important factors in managing innovation.

The Right People

The first thing you need is the right people. This is important whether you’re in the business of innovation and invention or simply manufacturing, shipping or sales. And this is more than just talent. This means having the right people you can work with. It’s great to have intelligent people with dissenting opinions, but you don’t want a constant “nay sayer.” This sort of attitude can cripple an organization. As well, their day-to-day attitude is critical.

Keep Positive Energy

As I mentioned, attitude is critical, and this is especially important when dealing with creative types. Yelling and screaming at a creative staff is no way to get the high-quality work that this industry of invention demands. Sure, the work will be done, but at what cost to the quality?

Maintaining positive energy means providing all the necessary resources to maintain creativity. Stopping your work flow to run out and buy materials or to find another company to outsource a part of the project can bring a project to its knees and utterly kill the positive energy. Frustrated people can’t work without the right resources at arms length.

Protect These People from Internal and External Negative Influences

Negative influences can come from anywhere. I’ve experienced the wrath that it can play against my employees. This can mean anything from a person cutting an employee off on the freeway while trying to get to work and then that employee holding this pent up negative energy all day, resulting in little to sometimes even no work being done. So, how do you control this? It’s not easy. But you can start by restricting negative influences in the office. Watch your employee’s body language. If they tense up when you’re around, perhaps you need to ask yourself what you’re doing wrong and either change it or restrict your direct involvement in that project.

Watch how your employees interact with each other. One negative employee can bring down an entire department. These people may be making fun of someone or harassing a coworker, but their words sink in and restrict someone’s willingness to be creative. Creatives are at their best when they feel comfortable that they can freely express their ideas without fear of heavy analysis.

As for dealing with those pesky outside negative influences, build atmosphere where the outside world disappears. Create an environment where people are excited to get to work and be creative. This may be like what we did at Davison with Inventionland, or what Google does with their offices.

Establish a You-Can-Do-Anything Attitude

We’ve all heard of the little train that could, right? Well, if we don’t apply that children’s story to our work life and pass it on to our employees, how can we expect them to create the next big thing, which is why we’re in the business of innovation and invention.

Part of this comes from giving your employees the resources they need to get the work done. When they know they don’t have restrictions they stop imagining limitations. Employees create invisible fences when they hear “no” too often. Keep up this negative behavior and you’re bound to create employees unaware of their potential. Let them know often that they can try anything to get the job done right.

I’ve always considered these important lessons that I learned when building my creative staff. And this whole time I believed that ties would never restrict creativity, but instead add a sense of pride to the work environment. Although I still feel the same way about professionalism and taking pride in your work, I also recognize that some creatives can’t be creative with a tie around their neck.