Routine offers such an insidious level of subtle comfort that it often stifles the creative juices needed to push ability and skill to the next phase of development.

The beginning of any developmental process is loaded with chaos, unrestricted activity and a genuine excitement about what is possible. The birth of the industrial age allowed this country to say good-bye to an agricultural age and dependence that had evolved to a routine, predictable and self-limiting activity occasionally disrupted by bad weather.

The horse drawn carriage makers, blacksmiths and buggy whip producers of that era had such gained comfort and profit in the routine of horse maintenance, that the idea of a faster and more individual form of transportation never entered their world view. However, the horse would soon be taken off the street and they never saw it coming.

Woven into the thread of human capability is an internal yin and yang debate that provides the framework for how we approach the process of routine. The work environment is a place where the predictable and the routine are necessary in order to minimize chaos and bring a sense of stability to organizational activity. While the yin, known as routine is valued, the yang, known as creativity, is encouraged but rarely turned loose, except during a crisis. When the world around us has a certain level of stability, it allows for an unconscious slip into a dangerous predictability cycle that, essentially, put the manufacturers of horse-drawn carriages, propellers and flat-disc albums out of business.

While many attribute the constant downsizing of the automotive sector to decreasing market share, hidden underneath the rubble of that process is the painful admission that the level of comfort with an established routine was buried so deep into the organizational pyramid that only a major excavation of this sort would free up the spirit of creativity. The reason why artists exist is to remind us that human activity was never meant to be completely predictable. Obviously, when the sum total of what gets accomplished in an organization can be standardized to the point of automatons activity, creativity begins a slow death march.

The harder the fight to preserve the routine, the easier it is to ignore the impact. There is a security in knowing what will happen today, tomorrow and the next. However, globalization has become a snappy event and the security of knowing what will happen tomorrow is a domain reserved for unemployed psychics. The global battle is not about routine activity, but non-routine opportunities that tap into the artistic side of the workplace where ‘creative classes’ of employees have a chance to actively engage in helping their organization regain its competitive ground.

This is an automotive region in which the ‘Detroit 3’ will remain the primary movers and shakers for years to come. As their view of the competitive landscape broadens to encompass the many others who have found their way into the market, they will undoubtedly have to say ‘good riddance’ and bury the routine of the automaton. It will be a good death.

Lee E. Meadows, PhD, is a professor of management at Walsh College and the author of ‘Silent Conspiracy’ and ‘Silent Suspicion’, Lincoln Keller Mysteries. He can be reached at lmeadows@walshcollege.edu.