Tip Tuesday – Control vs. Creative Chaos

“I believe that people do their best work when there’s a strong system that also allows for freedom within that system…in creative enterprises, everyone is either in survival mode or creative mode. And if you’re in survival mode…no one can be creative. And your job as like a manager of any kind is to flip that switching people back in a creative mode where they feel comfortable and warm and happy and safe” –Mike Schur

Good Hang, Amy Poehler’s podcast and my source for morning joy, featured Mike Schur, the creative mind behind TV shows like The Office and Parks and Recreation. As host and guest spoke about the space they shared on Parks and Rec, he revealed the secret sauce to any working environment. Give people boundaries but give them creative, risk taking space within that boundary. In their experience, hilarious people came together and felt safe to share their wackiest ideas; they could fail, sure, but what if they didn’t? The result was some of America’s most beloved TV.

Mike Schur mentioned that this mentality can be applied to any space, and despite the difference between a Hollywood set and a 7th grade classroom, I couldn’t agree more. My most successful days with students are the ones that start with the structure I strategically set at the beginning of the year but evolve into group collaboration with the students in the lead. It’s boisterous, it’s messy, it can appear chaotic. That said, the classroom is meant to be the safest space for kids to explore their wildest ideas, to capitalize on their creativity before the world tells them it isn’t special enough. So thank you, Mike Schur, for the reminder that control is hardly ever creative, but chaos so often is.