Welcome to episode 2 of The Bright Side and thank-you for tuning in. We hope that you find what follows informative, useful and entertaining.

In last weeks podcast we told the beginnings of “The Dark Side”, and how it would feel to be a creative person in a business that doesn’t understand you. To build upon that, this week we are going to talk about what it might be like to be a business that is going through “The Dark Side”, as well. What does it mean to suffer from a lack of creative alignment at a business level? When a business isn’t performing well at a creative level it is a bit like having your spine out of alignment. You are not screaming in agony, but it just doesn’t feel right.

5 Habits of Creatively Dysfunctional Businesses:

* Foot dragging - Passive form of resistance where things get challenged below the surface.

* Meeting issues - Too long, unfocused, lack of clarity around agenda, unclear whether the mode is creative, decision making, or problem solving. Passive participation. People not adding value. Sometimes too loud. To look at a businesses creative potential and culture, look at how they run their meetings.

* How does time get used - Are people spending time worrying about narratives and how to tell a story. 80% of time should be spent thinking and looking at how to make new ideas. 20% should be spent on the story telling.

* Myopia or short sightedness - Spending a huge amount of time worrying about their business. Only focusing on self examination and what the competition is doing, isn’t a great way to bring fresh thinking into the business. Busy being busy, so they don’t lift their heads up. Not reading enough and keeping pace with latest thinking.

* Dysfunctional businesses can be self referential - Entire management team spent all of their time worrying about what the rest of the senior management team was doing. They weren’t paying attention to how their clients and staff were feeling. Key to turn around is a mindset shift. They are there to serve, not the other way around.

A good place to start is to just think about these concepts and what part they may be playing in your business. If you have spotted some of these behaviors, be optimistic and look at the bright side. Nothing gets better until you acknowledge things can be fixed. Get real about what the issues are. It is your job to serve others. Identify the reasons behind issues.

Look at the effectiveness of your meetings. Don’t cleave to gimmicky management methods when it comes to meetings. Have clarity of the purpose of the meeting, and the mode of the meeting. What is the feeling I want to create in this room? People respond well to feeling good. Think about the structure of your organization and how it supports your meetings and your agenda. What do you take for granted? Lift your head up and look at the world around you.