Everything I know about being creative in the workplace I learned from Captain Picard

But seriously — for a navy jock he has the soul of a poet.

There is so much moralizing and so many life lessons to learn from Star Trek don’t you think? It’s near impossible to not shout out “life lesson” throughout each episode.

I’m a Trekker (yes I even nerd out to the level of refusing to be a Trekkie instead opting to be a Trekker) and while there are many flaws with the greatest TV show ever — I mean seriously, 400 years from now white middle aged men still rule the world? F**k! — there are many absolutely inspirational parts to Trek.

One which I’ve been ruminating on recently is about the management skills of Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Seriously, that man knows how to motivate, challenge, teach, inspire and manipulate. He’s essentially the perfect 21st century middle office manager.

Management styles: as varied as workers themselves. But there is one thing I cannot stand…list makers. They keep lists. They tick off tasks. They work off a bible / diary / infinite and ongoing rolling notebook. If you’re not on the list then you don’t exist. If you are on the list then prepare to be micromanaged to within an inch of your life. And if you don’t meet expectations (as per what is stipulated via yet another list) then there is no corner of the organization to which you can outrun the ticker of tasks.

Don’t get me wrong I don’t hate the person behind the list but the list itself. And the need for one in the first place.

There are so many business buzz words out there. One for this year is surely agility. Agility implies being quick and responsive. Able to adapt and update. List makers then are essentially the Titanic making a three point turn on a country laneway. In fact it seems the more workplaces seek to be agile or creative or disruptive, the more they rely on present lists to determine what it all means.

And here’s where Captain Picard comes in. He should be a list maker; he’s a military man. But he’s also a free spirit. Let’s say it’s because of being so highly evolved 400 years from now or something but this guy knows the time to throw the list out, get creative and start thinking outside the box.

He’s smug about it. But he’s also right.

I look around my colleagues and see the next generation (pun intended) of list makers. And I worry that lists are making us actually think less. I could probably save myself a lot of time and some heartache by not reinventing the wheel each time I start something and just refer to a trusty checklist. But would the end result be any good? Or just a regurgitation of something that was once ok but that degrades with each recycled version?

This is where I think back on those many hours spent watch Picard. Each episode is essentially the same in Star Trek but each solution headed by Picard is bespoke. Picard is a creative leader — he works his staff so that they reach the right choice themselves, he leads but doesn’t make them have the same opinion, he sets them free and reigns them in when he needs to. So here’s what I know about being creative in the workplace courtesy of the Captain:

To be free you have to have some rules…but don’t get stuck only playing by the rules
No one really knows that they’re doing all the time so don’t be afraid to not know what you’re doing, in fact, vulnerability is downright delightful
Expect and appreciate that other people probably know more than you do, embrace it, we’re all experts, don’t try and be the only one
Professionalism is fine but being human is even better
When the proverbial hits the fan step up, not back
Creativity and curiosity are more important than just getting it done. If you need extra time to make something good, take it. Everyone can hand something shabby in on time, but why not make something actually worthwhile instead?
Sometimes you just have to take five to recap to camera, explain what happened
When you get stuck, the Federation will step in, but don’t rely on someone always there with the answers, that’s just not life.

So the next time I’m having a particularly my-life-is-an-episode-of-The-Office-day, I’ll think of Picard, after all if he can cope with being assimilated by the Borg, getting kidnapped on his holiday and can play it cool when his ex (that he left waiting for him in Parisian cafe and hasn’t seen since) turns up with her new fella, I can probably handle a few list makers and an office temperature seemingly set to simulate an Alaskan winter.