Bureaucratic creativity...

“How can forward-thinking people stay creative and productive within highly bureaucratic organizations?”

Joe Noland is a retired International Leader of The Salvation Army. His blog slightly irregular is one that I like to pop in and out of.

He seems to be starting a series of posts where he hopes to tackle the question “What can be done to change the establishment?” with the sub-plot “How can forward-thinking people stay creative and productive within highly bureaucratic organizations?”

Here is the context through which he hopes to answer these questions...
As a young Divisional Secretary (Doris L.O.M. Secretary), we had had it up to here with the establishment, made an appointment with the Chief Secretary and requested a return to Corps work. We were even so brash as to ask for one community in particular, Santa Rosa, California, for several reasons: There was no band and songsters and population studies projected phenomenal growth for the future. We desperately wanted to be the Army’s avant-garde in that rapidly exploding community.

On appointment day eve, we received a telephone call from the CS, the then Colonel Will Pratt saying, “We can’t give you everything you asked for, but we can give you the best half of it… the Santa half. You are being appointed to Santa Ana, California” (Will Pratt is one of the premier TSA communicators, obviously).

Horror of all horrors, Santa Ana was a very large traditional corps, band, songsters, timbrels (100 strong) and a transplanted congregation of Salvationists, British, Canadian and American-born who had relocated from the city to the sprawling suburbs of Orange County. Our first thought was, “What can we do to change the establishment so firmly entrenched in Santa Ana?” Perish the thought!
He's caught my attention! I'm interested in that I worry that a creativity drain occurs when people can only express themselves by opting out.

Comments

Johnny said…
...hmmnnn....interesting.

I've started to read Joe Noland's blog quite often as well. He has a lot of stimulating things to say..

Hope you're well, Gordon.

J
8:22 AM
Gordon said…
I'm well thanks John!
9:00 AM
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