"Eurotrash" Say Wahhhh?!?!?

WHAT:
When working as an intern for Eurotrash Boutique, there were certain values and ideas that were common amongst the employees. This is known as organizational culture.  An organizational culture is specifically Organizational Culture Definition.  Within this culture, certain degrees of power were divided within the employee base.  The owner of the store had the most influence and power and the manager on duty followed as second in command.  The rest of the employees were last in the power chain and were to just listen to the managers and owner.  This is where I as the intern was placed in the chain.
SO WHAT:
There are two types of cultures: high power cultures and low power cultures.  This business would be considered both a high and lower power culture.  A lot of times high power cultures are not always effective because people do not have a lot of creative input.  However, low power cultures may not be must better because members of the organizational culture have to take the initiative and do what they think is best with no direction.  Eurotrash Boutique was a nice blend of both high power culture and low power culture. The owner would ask for the manager as well as the employees’ feedback on design layout of the store, mannequin ideas, and ways in order to sell more inventory, therefore, making it a low power culture.  The high power culture would come into play when employees were told directly what to do.  The fact that the boutique is as successful as it is brings hope to a lot of people.  When the owner, opened the store it was during the middle of the 2008 recession when no one had disposable income. The U.S. economy still has not fully recovered compared to how it used to be as evident in CNN Economy Report  However, she was able to establish a strong clientele that kept spreading the word about her amazing clothes.  This is extremely important because her clothes tend to be a bit expensive, so having a solid base of people to back her products is necessary.
NOW WHAT:
After having this internship, I have a better understanding of how to be a good leader within an organizational culture.  I was able to learn that you only need a certain amount of power within an organizational culture in order to be effective.  If everyone is trustworthy and responsible the organizational culture should be effective.  I realized that with a certain balance between high and low power culture, an organization can be successful. Information about the boutique can be found at Eurotrash Boutique.

Spark of Creativity

WHAT:
     What is creativity exactly?  The Creative Definition is the official description of what creativity is. It is something that a lot of people think they lack. Ways to increase your creativity can be found at Increase in Creativity.

SO WHAT:
     Creativity is something I have prided myself on throughout my life.  I was always the girl coloring, drawing, or painting. My creativity was really put to the test when I was Editor in Chief of the school yearbook.  I was expected to be able to come up with all ideas for the design components of the yearbook.  At first, I was excited because I am someone who likes to have complete control over projects.  I am in other words a control freak.  However, as time went on throughout the year I realized that I was not able to come up with every idea for the 300 page book. 
     Now at first, I thought I was defeated because I was not capable of producing all those thoughts and images. I did not know what I was going to do because I was the creative director of the yearbook. The other two editors specifically dealt with the layout and writing.  Therefore, I decided that I needed to involve the other students in the class.  We would have brainstorming sessions at the beginning of the class on the chalkboard. This way everyone was able to participate in each step of the design process.  Another way that we allowed everyone to be involved is that individuals could design their own layout for each page.
     I realized though that if I had the whole class participate in the decision making process then more sparks of creativity would occur. An easy way in order to have everyone participate in the creative process is to have a group brainstorming activity like we did in yearbook.  Some ways for effective brainstorming can be found at Effective Brainstorming.

NOW WHAT:
     Knowing that groups produce more creative ideas than individuals  is something that will help me in the future. Being Editor, taught me that not all my ideas are the best and I am not going to be able to come up with ideas every time.  Even though at first I thought the best way to handle the class was to be in complete control, over time I realized that was not true.  I now apply my lessons learned from yearbook to all activities I am involved in.  In the leadership group for my Elements of Team Leadership Class, we all discuss and input ideas so no one person dominates with the creative ideas.  Also this approach is used with my Sigma Kappa leadership position as well.  Everyone gets their own amount of input into each activity that we decide to do allowing a diversity of ideas to be put on the table. We make a concerted effort to allow everyone to participate with the innovation portion of our meetings that way the same ideas are not consistently used.