Why cheaters are more creative than non-cheaters
Credit to Author: REY ELBO| Date: Mon, 07 Jan 2019 16:22:16 +0000
ANDY (not his real name) was asking if I heard of a young caucasian gentleman who belongs to our Kaizen fraternity in this part of the world. “Yes, I know him. He’s a friend.” Andy made it clear he was trying to compare my proposal with another consultant. He checks my friend’s website that brandishes about him being “a Kaizen expert and a best-selling author.” Andy asks: “Is it true?”
I felt I was being interviewed for the post of a chief clerk, this time faced with the same legendary question: “Tell me about your weaknesses as a person.” I know I was being tested so I answered, “I’m not the right person to talk about him. He’s the best person to ask to clear your doubts,” or words with the same effect.
My client knows he can do fact-checking with the help of independent sources, and yet I’m puzzled why he’s directing such question to me. Who cares, anyway? Of course, I care so much about friendly competition and the truth in advertising. I’ve been refining my waste elimination techniques since 1993 when I studied in Tokyo for one year under a grant by then Nippon International Cooperation Center.
Last year, I received my credential as a Toyota Production System professional issued by Toyota Engineering Corporation in Nagoya. And I’ve written four books that were instant hits for my family members, friends and supporters of my training programs.
But enough of this self-serving statement. There are already many fake stories hounding us and it’s always a good thing to be on the right side of history, which means we can always challenge everything in our small own way.
Andy digressed to talk about Systems Thinking as the ultimate tool to solve business problems. He learned much of it from the Asian Institute of Management, which adds pressure for him to come out with a durable solution to their current operational woes as demanded by his CEO.
Andy continued testing my determination to push for my own hammer of a solution – Kaizen Blitz, which I’m positioning as a simple, yet powerful tool to myriads of workplace issues. “Systems Thinking is for managers, while Kaizen Blitz is for ordinary workers,” I told him. “You can use ST for the major issues, while I recommend KB to solve hundreds of minor issues that if not corrected would contribute to major losses.”
Talk of many small leaks that can sink a great ship. The truth of the matter is there are many minor leaks hiding behind major problems. That’s why we should consider finding and eliminating those small leaks with the help of an army of problem-solvers, not few management geniuses prone to ignore them.
Going back to our main topic “Why cheaters are more creative than non-cheaters,” I should tell you about my hunch — cheaters know their victims who are best described in civil law as “man is basically good.” Victims are naïve. And the general thinking is as simple as this: Good people are several millions more than bad people.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau argued that “people were born good, instinctively concerned with the welfare of others.” Unfortunately, many of us are being remembered for the wrong reasons, due in part to the marriage between creativity and deceit, according to studies by Francesca Gino of Harvard University and Scott Wiltermuth of the University of Southern California.
Writing for Psychological Science, Gino and Wiltermuth suggest a correlation between cheating and creativity. “(C)heating actually increases creativity”, the theory of which is proven in many of their controlled scientific experiments. That’s why one may be creative to cheat, like exaggerating his CV, website and other media platforms to attract people.
Professor Gino, a behavioral scientist at Harvard Business School says in “Rebel Talent: Why it Pays to Break the Rules in Work and in Life” (2018) that “when we experience conflict, research finds, we generate more original solutions than when we are in a more cooperative mood. When there is tension, we also tend to scrutinize options and deeply explore alternatives, which leads to novel insights.”
Rebels and cheaters are in the same context. Both want to win at all costs, regardless of the situation, and much more in a stressful condition, no matter how long it takes like in the case of the
Communist Party of the Philippines, the country’s longest-running rebel group that has just celebrated its 50th year anniversary last December.
Another case of “cheaters” is our traditional politicians composed of old fogeys and forgettable movie personalities. They know they could win in any election because their supporters come from the marginalized sectors of our society who are more interested in supporting them than their middle class counterparts.
In conclusion, let me borrow one piece of advice from Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner: “If you’re not cheating, you’re not trying.” But don’t take it literally.
Rey Elbo is a business consultant in human resources and total quality management as a fused expertise. Send feedback to elbonomics@gmail.com or via https://reyelbo.consulting
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