Why the caged bird sings...

I can't tell my secrets. I have no key to that door. Something keeps me joyful, but I cannot say what. -- Rumi

Sometimes it seems like creativity and corporate jobs are totally incompatible. Like you can't have one within the other.

Ahh, but anyone who's worked in a creative job knows that even in the most structured and bureaucratic situation, and under hair-pulling deadlines and nail-biting stress levels, you can still be creative. The only question then is not "if" you can be creative in overly-structured environments, but how?

It¹s really a simple choice. You or I can be creative anywhere. "Where" is not the source of our creativity. You carry it in you. Within you, and without you (that sounds like a lyric from a Beatles song doesn¹t it?).

Creativity is everywhere and anywhere that you are. It flows through you into the world. I¹ve covered this concept before? As much as our egos would like us to believe that creativity is somehow our own special little product or possession, it's not.

To be creative, we simply open to the creativity that is in each of us. My friend Dean Sluyter would call it "resting in openness." We rest into the creativity that is already naturally there.

Here¹s the rub though. Creativity doesn¹t particularly like structure. That¹s really why we bitch about the incompatibility of working at creative jobs in structured settings. Creativity is easily bored. Ten minutes into the production schedule meeting, it wants to try something new and different. Stand on its head. Take a ride in a convertible. That¹s the nature of creative energy?to change, innovate, explore, diversify, discover, invent, devise, and on through the thesaurus.

But, corporate jobs offer plenty of other trade-offs that balance their inherent structure. Regular pay-checks, benefit packages, teams of other talented people to work with, sick days, paid holidays, and on and on. They are set up to compensate us for being creative within their structure. It¹s the thorn on the rose. The cage keeps the bird in, but also protects it from the cat.

So, being creative in a structured setting is more of a challenge. Let¹s admit that. It requires a shift in focus, a conscious resistance to the push and pull of our environment. But it's not impossible. And challenge never stopped creativity from expressing. Structure is just part of business. A necessary part, actually. The way to sing within the cage? Don¹t focus on the bars or the limitations of your environment. Focus on the wide landscape outside?and inside. Structure can't touch that.

And when you sing despite your structured surroundings, your song is all the more beautiful because of the contrast.

One more thing. You don¹t have to sing alone. As a past manager of creative people, this often has been my toughest challenge?to inspire others to sing. The formula I use is simple ­ Appreciation.

Appreciate creativity whenever and wherever it grows. Appreciate the times when someone expresses their inner creative beauty, in whatever form it takes. Tell others about it so they can notice too. Point out the good first and last when commenting on another¹s work. Then, end the conversation with a reinforcing comment about how good the work was and how creative this or that was.

This has two valuable effects: One, it cultures in you the ability to focus on the positive in others before you start judging the many ways their work may not meet your expectations. Two, people always remember the first and last things said more than the middle. So, the person whose work you¹re critiquing will also remember the positive more than any criticism you offer. We grow more by focusing on our accomplishments than our mistakes.

Like the caged bird, creativity needs to be fed, watered, nurtured, encouraged and affirmed. Appreciate it and it will gift you with the most beautiful of songs.