At a time when many are feeling glum about the future of work, Eugene Hughes is positively ebullient. For the Hackney-based organisational psychologist, the secret to beating AI is harnessing the power of human creativity to go where no bot can. In his many years advising firms, Hughes has gained hands-on experience of the positive role that the human imagination can play in energising employees and increasing revenue.
Hughes's insights come from his work at Artgym, a consultancy firm he founded and has run for over 20 years. In that time he has researched and invented approaches that link organisational development, creativity and wellbeing to traditional business practices. Now he has distilled the lessons he has learned on this journey into a new book, The Creative Enterprise.
His main pitch is that “We stand at the edge of two worlds: one driven by machines, the other by human creativity. The future of work will be shaped by those who create it.” The volume that follows from this bold starting point details how enterprises and individuals can go about harnessing their creative powers to make their jobs more fulfilling and productive.
Drawing on fascinating vignettes of firms that either succeeded or failed in getting their staff to experiment, sample diverse perspectives and innovate, he builds up a picture of what success looks like. It may not be what you would have expected, because one of the themes of the book is that we are all creative, regardless of how well-placed we may think we are to paint pictures or write poetry. Within us all lies the curiosity to try new things, to tinker and dabble, if only the managerial structures within which so many of us toil would allow us to use those skills in the workplace. When the bosses start seeing the benefit of unleashing the inner innovative potential of employees, that is when their enterprises begin to flourish.
Some of the examples are heartwarming – Lebara's efforts to get its staff to understand the immigrant experience. Others are somewhat ominous – Palantir is singled out for praise, though the uses to which that firm puts its talents will arouse suspicion in some. The case studies make the book. The text is repetitive in places, and the language may be off-putting to those not marinated in business-speak, but for an unusually upbeat assessment of employment in a digital age, Hughes's volume is worth perusing.
The Creative Enterprise by Eugene Hughes is published by Troubador Publishing, ISBN: 978-1-80634-301-0; RRP: £19.99.
