Three climates for creativity

OVERVIEW: Putting into place in a large company the kind of climate that is conducive to creativity requires prolonged effort. Moreover, the tactics will likely differ from company to company. At Hallmark, the leader of the Specialty Creative Division walled it off from the rest of the corporate culture, promoted artists from within to be midlevel managers and "key enablers, " and allocated 30 percent of the division's time and resources to recharging its people's artistic talent. At Hewlett-Packard, the new leader of a creative software venture based his group's climate on three fundamental principles: collaboration, open feedback and flexibility. And the founders of the e-commerce company NetGenesis hired explicitly for creativity, which they then reinforced with a "heroes program " that publicly recognized and rewarded risk takers.