To most people, creativity and loafing don’t seem to go hand in hand, but in fact, they are strongly related. Most bad leaders don’t creatively loaf; they just loaf. What’s the difference? Creative loafing is planned and productive idleness. Good leaders learn how to loaf creatively and productively, and they can draw substantial benefits from doing it. Bad leaders don’t loaf creatively because they don’t see the knowledge, insights, and understanding that the proper kind of loafing can provide.

Bad leaders are known to loaf, but not creatively.

The history and etymology of the word “loaf,” as you might suspect, comes from the idea of mixing and kneading flour and various ingredients to make bread. Loafing is to form into portions or blocks to be baked. Yet, another definition is to idle away time. After the Industrial Revolution, loafing became identified with nonproductive time and nonproductive people who are non-energetic. People who are idle produce nothing. But good leaders know that productive idleness exists and is highly useful. Some of the best managers/leaders set aside time to loaf creatively because it sharpens their emotional intelligence and perceptions. If can also deepen their knowledge about how people use and talk about the products and services, their companies provide.

Creative loafing is a less sophisticated form of observational research than ethnography. Ethnography is a form of observational research in which researchers spend large amounts of time observing groups of people and identifying behaviors specific to each group. An organization might use ethnographic techniques to identify how potential customers spend their time, how lifestyle choices influence buying and product use, and how consumers access and consume services. The setting for the research may be the workplace, home, a leisure activity, or a variety of other locations such as shopping malls and airports. I often try to make the most of my time and sharpen my observation skills while waiting in airports. After the emails, texting, and phone calls have been done and I don’t want to read or write, I attempt to guess the country of origin, state of residence, vocation, primary motive in life, state of mind, or destination by observing the actions, attitudes, and appearance of people passing by. This then provides the data upon which we might engage in a conversation. In many ways, this is similar to the process used during creatively loafing. Good leaders go out of their way to more creatively interpret the information they have, get new information from others, and use what they have gathered to create productive engagements.

A leader’s refusal to creatively loaf can mirror an unwillingness to acknowledge the benefits created by coming out from behind the desk, purposefully walking around, and anticipating discovery. Creative loafing also sends the message that a leader is willing to learn and be led. Yes, it’s good to be seen as a “creative loafer” by employees. And, it’s bad to be seen by employees as just a “loafer.” There is a huge difference between the two. Ken Blanchard picked up on this theme in the One Minute Manager. 34 Other authors regarding management and leadership have written about management by walking around and using short segments of time to learn and gain perspective. For leaders, getting out of their primary setting for a few minutes to make observations will alter perspectives and increase the spirit of discovery.

Leaders who are too busy to speak in depth with their customers, employees, and fellow workers are clearly too busy to express their humanity. They see no benefit in touching hands and hearing the hearts of people they attempt to lead, influence, and sell. This imperialistic, detached, and thus untouchable leader would consider “creative loafing” to be silly and non-productive.

GOOD LESSONS:

• Great benefits accrue to those who become experts at creative loafing. It becomes a standard practice to increase awareness and exposure to people and ideas that make organizations relevant.
• Good leaders carve out time to creatively loaf. This requires a reprioritizing of their time and focus, but it seldom fails to produce insights and energy.
• For bad leaders, loafing creatively is just too much work.
• When bad leaders have the need to see themselves as busy (and others see them busy, too), they are less inclined to practice and derive value from creative loafing.
• Creative loafing causes bad leaders to reflect differently on their self-importance and the criticality of their presence, so they are unlikely to practice it. Creative loafing has both a process value and a product value, but it should not be practiced merely to escape conflict and avoid decision making.
• When practiced well, creative loafing sends a message about the good leader’s willingness to learn and be attentive, accessible, and visible. When not practiced, it sends a message about the bad leader’s unwillingness to learn and be inattentive, inaccessible, and invisible.
• Good leaders use creative loafing to increase human interaction, not decrease it. While creatively loafing, good leaders capitalize on and leverage what they have learned through human interaction.
• If you are too busy to loaf creatively, then you will miss the short-term energy, enhanced relationships, and long-term benefits created from this practice.