By DAVID SELL
Colorado Springs Gazette

	MAKING IDEAS FLY

Try popsicles.

Patty Kryscha of Southwest Airlines told a roomful of sports editors at the APSE meeting in Philadelphia that popsicles brainstorming sessions have worked well for her and her airline. Kryscha was the keynote speaker for a workshop entitled "Making Ideas Fly: How to Create a Work Environment That Encourages Innovation and Creativity."

"People can't be creative without food," said Kryscha, a district manager, who supervises seven marketing managers and three marketing representatives that cover eight major cities in Southwest's network.

Journalists can be a skeptical lot, so enthusiastic employee involvement in the creative process can be a challenge.

Kryscha said that hiring, training, attitude and atmosphere are all important parts of the Southwest equation. The airline has won numerous industry awards for the happiness of its employees. The airline is a low-fare carrier, but has had 31 years of profitability in an industry drowning in red ink.

"In the beginning, Southwest was a cause, because the big guys didn't want us to fly," Kryscha said. She said that 25 percent of an employee's evaluation is an assessment of how well he or she interacts with fellow employees.

One of the ways Southwest became and remains profitable is that it does not have planes sit on the ground very long. In the very beginning a gate agent — not a company vice president — had a very good idea borne of front-line necessity. One of the first Southwest planes developed a mechanical problem.

"We only had three planes and four flights were scheduled," Kryscha said. "That's how the 10-minute turnaround was born."

Kryscha said the Southwest managers are taught to think of creative employee involvement in four ways: A) Be open to it; B) Encourage it; C) Nurture it; D) Implement it.

"If nothing happens, it zaps people's creative energy," Kryscha said.

Former Washington Post Executive Editor Ben Bradlee used to say that the most important thing he did in his role was hire good people.

"We hire for attitude and train for skills, though maybe not to the same extent with pilots and mechanics," Kryscha said. Referring to Southwest's flight attendants, who are famous for their conversational style, Kryscha said, "Safety is No. 1, but once that is taken care of, there is no reason you can't tell a joke. It lightens the mood for everyone."

In early July, Southwest flight attendants agreed to a new contract that followed two years of contentious bargaining that did not always mesh with the company image of smooth labor relations. Unlike marketing people, who might be in the same office during the same hours, flight attendants are rarely in the same place as managers or even the same set of co-workers. In short, they are more like reporters, who work out of the office, or copy editors who work at night.

"It is more challenging to reach them because they are often in hotels," Kryscha said. Still, they contribute. "Flight attendants said they and we needed help in reaching our Spanish-speaking customers."

In July, Southwest announced the launch of a Web site on which Spanish-only speakers could book tickets online.