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    Case - Creativity Under The Gun at Litmus Corporation

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    Dubois

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    ¥ HARVARD| BUSINESS |SCHOOL 9-008-075 Creativity under the Gun at Litmus Corporation ‘Walking down the corridor, Stanley Carmine suddenly heard grunts and matered expletives from the Ia where Miles Grad, he teas golden boy, was conducting tal. As acancered team leader, lead on edge fom the projets looming denne, Carmine araiusly peck “Hlwit going Miles?” he asked, bracing himself forbod news, Tes, jas rile” Grady answered, while continuing 16 fle with the equpment “It ook meal mori to ge his old machine up and running, and noe the thermoform won't dy. Well fave to serap al his work ane come up with something ese. And, as that wasnt enough, stil ave to prepare for he rl scheduled for next week. An do etme started on al he phone cll and paperwork Thave to deal with” ‘Sevng this 1-year veteran ofthe Litmus Corporation a8 fazaled as aschealboy cramming for ‘exams, Carmine grew worried, Tt was ely June 2003 and the Hyatt Team, in the New Busines Development division ofthe global chemicals company, was toling away on Projet Neosyrene, a chllenging assignment with a faskapproaching deudline. They ware tying fo transform the Imaterals that had boon tse forthe creation of nondsposoble plastic dishes, pared toward a Product for ne speci tableware company, Lenore, into broad array of pra lnes and, Uline 2 succesful busines, Hyatt’ immediate goal was to demonstate the viability ofthis wenfure to upper management al a growth review where new busines Has were propos ‘Crutnae, and voted on fr progression othe next tage This al review was scaduld for ter {hot summer And although the exact ate was some exile the tam had Limited wiggle room, ‘The company, which was aways juggling potenal Businesses, seta very sit time fame fr investigating new ideas. I the Fatt Teun could not present convincing eviden> forthe wider potent of the matonals developed for Lenore bythe ated dealing the project world be dissolved In favor ofa new assignment “The pressure was on for everybody but expecially for Grady, who had invented th urigue grade of plas sed for Lnor's estas ie, Lenore was Ded with the product. sigh weight nd inceesed darsbiity were unprecedented inthe stngnating pant ableware nds. Bu could Grady and the Hyot Team apt the new material to uses an nds far beyond azul dining? ‘The tick was to endow the light but somewhat brite pase with even greater stent and ‘veraiity than Lenore demande fori pltes, cus, and bow, thereby expanding the materials aT sn Asc Yn ny rp i hsp mea ct ln ‘pinay in Comet eee ae rd Se ae ee ct eh a eee ie Re ‘enki Topi tne ay sano ‘ind ate ast pone nave weer ay ender he Ca tie Capen se toa huge range of products—from fod preparation appliances to vacuux cleaners. The ea, Davin intimate knowlege of thei mater strongly believed in is abit to grow ito a thriving busines—benefiting tel company and themselves, wih the pte for raises promotions. and, of course, personal satsfacton. Management, however, was no as gung ho. Litms Corp. had many brorpectve brine wating in fh seinge ait 3 ack trond fing, only few develop ilo Ihcrave ventures. Ualee they were convinced ofa proe’s profitability, they mere mare intested in shutting it down quickly than pouring more money ito 2nsky enterprise. But Carmine and hs team were certain they could successfully madly thes material for wider mats. All they nese tra tine and ratty Gray's reatvy, toe reise ‘Tat was why Grady’s minimeltdown let Carmine in a cold sweat He reeded Gray in top {oem bute didnot know what advice or suppst he cou give to get him thee. Should he remind Grady of how esol he wast the projet and how litle ime they had le? Or should he assure him tha the growth review could be postponed and recomend that he take a break before he toumed out? In other words, should e sachet up te pressure or create a bubble of secuy? Carmine just i not koow, soe patted Grady on the back, mumbled seme Baral wards of ‘ercouragement, and Toft the Yoo Either way, he ew that he woul ry to ge the review pushed bck But then what? Time wae al scarce, and Carmine ad to fgure out hohe could maximize Grady’ pectormance. How could he coax Gady's creativity under the gn? Background Utmus Corp. global chemi rm, was formed in 19 ater the merger of Kohl Ine # Geman based agricultural company, and US-hased. Litmus Chemicals. With annual revenue of pproximately $2 bilion and a workgorce of over 25000, Litmus Corp. Wasa laer ints industry. ‘The conipany eecratedpremie thinkers and scons from around the world and distinguished ‘itself with constant advancements in the eld In tribute science and innovation, every research fn! dovelopment team within the company was named after a famous chemisthe Hyat Team was named after eli inventor Joe Wesley Hyatt. ‘Specaiing ina wide aerayof chemicals Litas Corp. ha products ranging fom various ster, acid and alcool (used In paints, cleaner, ete, ae food production to egriultural products such ar pesticides and ferizer to plstics (used for packaging, appliances, automotive parts, protective coatings, amination and binding). While the US. arm ofthe compan was headquartered Fr Rytman, Virgin, some lam, including Hyat, were loested at other nearby sts due tothe !allabty of unique and neces equipment. 1993, Lizmus Corp. restrutur nd pitino to Sectors: Operational Research, which tacked eaclystage props fom concept Uough pre ‘commercalizatin, and” New Busines Development, where’ projess expanded during pre- ‘omnmercazation to marketable basins. With as much emphasis on launching anew busines as tn developing individual products, Litmus Corp. was alvays evaluating is mjiad products for Inarket potential, The criterion for New Busines Development was that a 2ejct should have rcected earings of atest $100 milan within 7 t 10 years History, ewe than 10% of Litmus projet suceeded commer Stanley Carmine Carmine, 48 years ld had bon the team lender and busines manager forthe thre years tha he Hyat Team had been together. Although He ad been with the company for 35 years, sng from reeatch anislant fo cee engineer to various adminstaive fle, this was his fist team ‘rate uaertbe Gat tas aeration wos leadership poston. And while he weleomed the increased responsibilities, Carine sil hd some ‘servations about hs fam macagement technique He was a sesoncd exper inthe Ba Kind, level-headed leder, and sense in his administrative dus, suchas budgeting planning, ard strategizing, But when tame tthe social an psychaogical sublets of his ole such ss drawing the Ine fete fret ad ne, mating Re rammed sting the opumam balance ‘betwen a reductive staff and ahappy staf, Carmine knew he ad more to stn. Miles Grady At years old, Grady had bon with he company for over 15 yeas, moving fom team to fem as research associate and chemi engineer. He usually performed variety of tnt, such {as conducting production als and dats analysis, aswel as paripating in customer visits. While he had worked a a cone tum menber on many new projets and products, Grady ad not dominated ‘in generaing ideas and gavanieng beahroughs, That al changed in 2001, when he alas single- hace ushered in the we of polystyrene inthe production of nonsposable dishware, giving LUtmus Corp the most innovatve and desiable plastic product inthe household items market ‘Grady may have been the brains behind the produ, ut he was by no means used tothe pressured ‘hmoophereof high-stakes inven. Sil when his rainchil,the modified palystyrene talored to Linor’s specifications, had to be maxifed yet aguin forthe chance of launching a profitable ‘busines, Grady had no choc eto take therein and ry to duphent is stroke of cstv, ‘The Team and the Project ‘The Hyatt Testa was made up of four core members whe, aside from Carmine and Grady, Included technical specialist Martin Kasovtz and research asaciate Randy Greet. The tem was responsible for creating thermore, or hea-produce, past for we in small ouschold products Sn applies, sucha ood preparation equipment (benders, mixers, and coffee maker) cleaning ‘suipment(acwums), and dispeeabe and nondisposibe plastic dishware Trve to fee company’s ‘epuaton for ingen, the tam was known fr exploring noel wes for tied and-true plastic ‘Compounds whenever a project eemanded snavaon Such a project came along an Octobe 1, 2001, ‘when the team was approaches by Lenore, a lage dishware company, The company wanted 10 fxpand its highend line of powslain fine china by adding lower-end, durable, and affordable plastic dish ie, These would be casa nondisposable dishes for outdone and indooe use. Lenore thas hoping to market ts dishes as “vrtlly unbreakable” and dstrbute them in discount stores Such os WalMart and Kina lastad of department and specalty stores where the company’s ‘roel were usualy sold. Ta dtinguish tet rm other sina dishlines, Lenore ashe the Hyatt [Team if they could crete a hier material San the lading plastic plate mancfature, while aitaning 9 strdines worthy ofthe company’s name. This would be he tean’s major obstacle The leading material used for pis tableware, olysrbonae, ould not be modified into lighter bot equally fortified stat, To nest Lenore’ roirements, Hyatt would have to investigate a ‘ferent plastic compound and pioneers use forthe product Ths could very well ave tumed into 2 frutes endeavor, but Grady Sadan ides, He suggested thatthe tam investigate polystyrene, a plastic commonly sed inthe ration of fa dishes and disposable psi cutlery. Twas ight but Ft wo srstialintgsty—equiing significant chemical adjustment before it could be suitable for Lenore’ purposs. Grady thought could be done. He comnced hs team that it could be hardened and made more flee witout dramatically changing its weight 0 all members of the esas havent an Ls Coren ‘eam immediately switched thee focus to ther new elit and in May of 200, within # record sb month of Grady snew conception, created the lightest nndspesble plastic dishes onthe mae ving developed the product and secured thee position as Lnor’setcsive plasticdish smupufaturer, the Hyatt Team fced two alternatives, They could move on anole projet hey Cull expand this innovative materi beyond is targeted se for Lenore, and even beyond psi ddshware in genera, and turn it info a lucrative Busines with wider application and appeal. Ts ‘would nequitesigiianttechical adjustment. What they had creted as reolutonay—a ligweight plastic with the durability and tensile propesits of heavier counteparts—but it would ‘eed 10 be enriched with even grote Sexbilty and strengthened ft were tobe applied beyond tableware, I successful, the tam was certain that their modified polystyrene would be invaluable to st of ester duty household apancesfom then equpment vacuum deaer casings. In ‘her wor, ey believed tha hey were siting ona great nev busines dc, Now al they Rad to ‘ko was convince upper management, They werked for several months on busines plan, with pliinary technical dat, and thei plan was approved forthe usual ix-mont intial stage of New Business Development pool ‘Tie Time Crunch Litmus Cop. woul! have loved t see the Hyatt Team’ preet grow int a busines us, with so many other props vying for me and resources st had to have pid prot of is fealty, profitably, and make! appeal In tine lls company protocol. the team way sven approximately FHC moaths to puesent 2 prototype of the modified themoform and demewstate 2 feasible manufacturing process by thal te, upper management was not adequately convinced that his ‘business iden could come to futon, they would dismantle the project for fear of investing more tine ‘vd money ino a venture wi le ely return. The projec offically launched c Janay 2, 2003 fd was expeced to be asesed inthe summer drng a growth review, new scheduled fr ‘Augsst 5. By company standards, casing down an unprofitable profit was considered a axcess And since upper management was so acistomed othe taband err fasion of investing new business ido there mas litle preseure Irom the bras o produce positive results But onthe Hyat Team's ‘rd the pres wa here. Carmine and Ns teammates wer virtually certain that the teroform ‘rl be meifed but uncertain whether si months was enough time to make itappen, A fale ‘would not jeopardize the terminates’ abso potions inthe compan. Bu ifthe sins took of, tir salaries and bonuses would undoubtedly benef. Given the incentives ad heir genuine ath in tir product the Hyatt Tear commlted thir best efforts and set out fale the polystyrene success by the end ofthe sume. ‘What Carmine nesded 2s » prototype of he modified plastic even if it was rudimentary and Incomplete, to present at the growth review And while the ene team brainstomed options and techies all ejes were on Gady. He ne this technology beter than anyone else and asthe dominant creative force behind Lenore's prc, which had achieved a sturdiness and light weight tuigue to the plastic industry, Now, the Hyat Tem wanted to alle it even father and strike 2 balance beeen strength and weight that had never been attempted [twas ike aoking someone to ‘wate amber one song on demand: Carmine needed Grady tlbecestive, and he needed itn. Skil, Carmine was determined to ask management—nce again—fr litle more tine, ‘eat enderthe Gant Lams Coen woes Meeting with Management On June 17, 2003, Ronald Daniels, the head of Operational Research, and Dan Sherman, Carmine's immediate superior, nerd into the conference room where Carmine had ben Wali forthe past 0 mina, nervously rehearsing hs spec. Alter witesing Grod)’s antic state on the dy of tha troublesome tal, Carmine hunadly fequested this mecting wth the bosses to petion fran extension to the growth review, Carmine had his work cut out for hi th ovew hod already been postponed early that spring, pushed back rom uly 10 to August 15 upen Carmine's urging, ‘ad managenient was bcomingaotceably lee certain ofthe Hyatt Teams pont fo sucess. The ‘ore their confidence waned, les inclined they would be to grant anaher extension, afd to "ink more ofthe company’s esurces ito 2 alg endeavor. But Hyatt was et clinging toa dying ‘use. Despte the constant tne pressure and eccsional sethacs, the tam was growing more ‘eran of thei ably to moi the polystynene with each passing day Alita, Grady and the team’s technicians had success complete! the fist kath of tal Was, wih acted that the polystyrene didn fact, have he chemical pact tobe toughened to the tam’ specications. The Frethod would have to be mae compa than the one we fo crete hepsi fr Lenore, but Hyatt tras finding increasing technic evidence that it could be done. Unfortunatly, in a company inapling doven of pote business ventures at 2 tine, dhe team’s faith assurance, and signs of ‘esping technica progress jus were not enough. After some friendly banter, Danes and Sherman sat down across from Carmine at the big mahogany conference tbl, sang Bim to get fo the point "Well gentlemen, on beal of he "Hyat Team I'm requesting yet agsin.” Carmine ansously cleared is tat, “an extension tothe irowth review. Were confident that we've onthe right path and thatthe necessary teehnoloical Freaktheough willl int place any day now. Bat worry that wel need jst bit moe tne” “I don't ko, Stn" Dani responded with oficous sympathy, “we heard this tune frm you before ane we satng to wey that you're jst ding your te beense you don't want See your pt prt salad” “Honestly, Sta,” Sherman timed in “the most we can give you safe weeks, company policy, yu know, and that cant make il hat mach difference fr you guys. Why are you pushing or his ohare” Carmine fidget in his char bxcause he knew Sherman was right. He di not think Grady rece mote ime as much 35 he needed the usion of more tine, oi the pressure of loming Gesdlne. Carmine beleved thst 2 calm, unstained work environment would reduce Grads palpable anity and ese him into 2 creative whiind. Having nothing t lose, he shred Hs bypothess withthe bosses, hopig ora sympathetic ea. ‘To tell you the truth” Daniels responded with a skeptical ale, “Tin not so sure that easing the pressure isthe Best approche my experience, lighting a fie underneath someore i sully ust ‘whats needed to path eesti, Te had some of my bet devs when the clock was Ucking and 1 "lays came tag jst in the ick of ne” “Then agin Sherman intersted, “that doesn’t work everytime Too mach pressure can jst ive youa pan attack, especial if you don’t have the right sort of fos Maybe Mies docs need to fel I gt some gest ets when I'm siting alone, unbothered in my oe, nd there's no deadline nagging mete pad” That's alo when you take some of your best naps joket Daniels ses ety ude Ga ttm Cperton ‘After a lle more back and forth abou the virtues and pitfalls of te pressure, Daniels and Sherman decided to postpone the growth review another tree wees, unl September although Carmine was thankful, left the meeting with even mare ast than before After essing such ‘ontraictory advice abou time pressure, Carmine was ta lss about how he would str up Gray's ‘eatve breakthrough, Even with the extension, the tam sil adjust under thre months to produce the prototype thee decisive months during which Grady’ reatviy’ needed tobe incibted in the perfect circumstances Now Carmine just had to igue out what those circumstances shod be Grady’s Logs ‘And the answer was right at Carmine's fngetps—in 2 company intranet datasce labeled Litmus Lab Logs” These logs were, in elfect daly dias, kept by Litmus cents and ehnicans as part of a company projet to survey tack, and understand the employees and the: work. The ents, intended as paragraphlong descriptions ofthe da’s events, were af times tese and dey ‘utes of ake ana dates and other tines emotional trades and complaint. At theend of ach workday they were entered eectronicaly info a scur siteacessbe onl 4 each fam’ respective team leaders, Unfortunatly, these logs lay lagely explored, seen throughout the company a 2 welintentioned but infect atempe at increasing employee satisfaction and team efectveress That was sey took Carmine some tne to even remember they exited, even thougk they could ‘old exactly the inslght he was looking for He rele he could red Uyough some of Grady’ recent logs to get an iden of his work habits and actions to ensronmenal circumstances, Then, he might ‘able fo discern a patter in Gray's performance that would neste the typeof ie pressure (i ny) under ehich he thrived. Did he ten to Be mote creative in the excitement of busy, rgmented day inthe intesty of eoncenteting ona single tsk? Did he benefit from many cllabcaes from relative isolation? Did he need Yo be pushes or protected fram time pressure? Was he most creative wien tril withthe overall mission af is Work or when the work seemed everyday? {Carmine hurried back 0 Ms fice ind out (Exhibit 1 presents selected ene from Gray's daly Iaboratory Togs) even hr Gant mas apni wns Exhibit1_ Selected Dally Laboratory Log of Miles Grady 12/17/2001 (Lenore project) xcept for Stan pecking in every now and then, noone realy Bothered me today. We ran another fe tals o anne the heaton polystyrene forthe new plastic tableware projet We've Ling to te fe can hep augmenting the maeri's fle witout eelnforig t with other plastics, ‘which would dent the purpose of using the lightweight olysyrene. After the fist athe palstyrene tested for sighly move Next, Thies realy promising Thi ia realy unusual way {o han ths particular plastic compound, an Idi even expec came out in ne pices We toi! Lenore nat to sxpect maces and that even we've sucastul may take awhile, but havea sneaking suspicion tht we may have thet product way ahead of schedule Mayen as files thee ‘mont Afle the ist aT work all day with light hear, fr the st tune in many weeks not ‘Worrying that my crazy idca to use the polystyrene wil Dackfie and sabotage our comantent 10 ‘urs. pent te esto the day playing around wit the mechanical etn brainstorming new methods forextactng the thermolorm and conducting afew more tals 1/24/2000tLenore projet) When came inthis aan, and for most ofthe morning thee wat noone here—they werll of at seeing I as le and quiet and got some “deep thought”ype work done 'm sil eying to figure out what went wrong daring last week's plastic stess tests—Lenore want “vstlly unbreakable” but ll we on offer so fais “prety damn tough Icame up with ome Kes or how ‘wean ad anaher ayer of suppor with negligible weight gant ran than by Stan and the team, ed thy al ser thik ths ithe answer, Cant wait a benthe new tas 3/25/2002 (Lenore project) Today was spent catching up on things at dda get done while I was away onthe cstomer trol Stan asked fora quae pont, which submited late. Then Din Sherman and eho stopped by to ingle about our tral reits That ook most ofthe moming relayed secrecy agreements fom an espment vendor 1 Dan for signature. 1 also gave feedbsck t the vendor concerning samples submited not meting our eequtements, A member of he Litmus Engincering department ‘how a neighboring ste vst to leam firsthand about our project actives and capabilities, ‘Acditoal time went to phone cls with our legal department concerning patens and company polis. By the tie al tat got done, I was foo exhausted and coulda concentrate onthe polystyrene mold samples which we need or Fiay-—which the oly impeetant work ely ad todo today 4792002 (Lenore project) ‘This morning was spent following up on laboratory testing and handing several email and ‘eephone messages. Martin and I iscasd pans fr lal wth Lenore net week and aranged 10 Select and ship hey sample mater for tha ta. Tso began planing a fvelaer shot extrusion {tal for net Wednesday. Five vistors fom an eipment vendor showed up about one bor ealy for 430 mesting, The meeting hep us leverage our resources by gaining thelr agreement to -Suply some machines for upcoming tal ant co some laboratory processing or us. Thattook the res of the day. I received call from a vendor questioning one paragraph in a confidentalty sosers oat ner Gant ama Capertion _grsement sent him months ago. | fd these administrative details re neesar, bul they consume more time than I oul ike to adr. I's ashame there Is no one to whom we can delegate sich rales Daun it depletes my nergy and resources forthe el task at hare 2/24/2008 (Project Neostyrene) | had been tying to compound the resin for next week’ tal forthe lst tro days. We've aanged for an ulpment specials to come in and supervise the tal because none of usar that familar withthe machine well be wing, which we ordered specifiy for his projet, and wee ‘ol wad with the thermaorm iil ea week before we can schedule another Wal with im. Tha’ “nother week closer to the growth review! Ive Been 0 sessed over th, but today, wih no restings no distention, and no oer pesky litle projects I rally put my sires to good use and jist plowed through my’ work {made great progress and I thnk the ran should! be ready by MontayF be sure cnce Ise how it res. Sometimes it ely gives me a great jo of energy and eaiviy to know howe important ths project i and hat largely in ny Rands—especally i Tean just get some protected time oconentaton i 3/28/2008 (Project Neostyrene) ‘realy busy day inthe fice. Ne moved up ur Thursday tl to Wesnesday, so we had 10 secarbl fo get materi assembled and died one day ery Martin and I ocked oursles inthe Tab and worked nonstop went 730, when Thad to leave for my daughter's concert at school and ‘Martin stayed to ish tp almost wish could have stayed to, We wee kindof saving the da, sn everyone was rushing around taking on all our ite tasks and erandsso we eould concentrate Undistubed. I wish Tcould work ike tht every clay. Funny Bow a day Uke oda could fel 0 short ‘ven though worked for almost 11 ous! 4/38/2008 (Project Neostyrene) Forthe fst tie in months ft eran hat wel be abl to produce a prototype ofthe modified polystyrene by the time ofthe review. Ive been Ike a deer enught in the henlights recent 100 Jnotied slut the approaching dsaline to let myelsit down and reall think about this dying process were using The result hs een a sort of spastic teaband-rzor method rater than a eal, Ectelaed approach, But after «sucessful trl this morning and sore oer good results fem the Tab gta Tong-nised surge of confidence about the work we've daing and, with alte mental ofa forced mye to forget ll bout the stupid deadline and ended up having very productive Bn eeative day of works ally had the chance to work though al the aliaatve production ‘ethods we threw around in some ale Brainstorming silos, which Tve bean too steed 10 onside. Tin certain now tht the cethod ee wsing is the best one, and we just have 4 heep tweaking it nti we get oar rests 5/5/2003 (Project Neostyrene) | the end ofthe day today, aftr pouring though the weeks Ib results and writing up our report tht me a to how creative Nartin ad had been together when we had worked rm, tray fom the telephone, nls, iterptions and other distractions. On days ike this, when everyting going well and dens te owing, ifs almost exciting to havea looming deadline. Il ‘ey sti with the work we had produced eat enderthe Gant ime Cootion woes £6(3/2003 (Project Neostyrene) ‘This has been an especialy hectic day. The trial got off © @ bad start with some equipment problrnthe fist steal coud not beextre du fo nadequate drying We hdd and cane {Up lth fallback pla, revised teenie ral procure, and managed to alage tee ky sample Stan came down and saw the mes; he loked 3 bit worried but sad he understands some ofthe

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