Creativity is getting a bit of a kicking these days.
Oh, people talk about it.
They wax on about how valuable it is.
But then they dictate a ‘formula’ … something they say ‘optimises’ effectiveness and efficiency … conveniently ignoring they are actually promoting the total opposite of what creativity is and how it works.
Complicity.
Somewhere along the line, we’ve decided the value of creativity is not related to output at all … just input.
Now there is truth to that, creativity definitely starts with the mind, however that never includes an endless list of superfluous and superficial mandatories followed by dictatorial demands regarding terminology, talent and ‘category codes’.
You don’t liberate the power of creativity by weighing it down with factors that – at best – can come much later in the process.
And yet it is happening more and more.
Where success is people knowing your name and your corporate colours.
It doesn’t matter if they like you or feel something about you, it’s all function attribution.
And that blows my mind because creativity is capable of incredible things.
Making people care.
Creating value and intrigue.
Driving change and differentiation.
Literally open up possibilities that make people want you rather than you having to chase them down or brainwash them into submission with millions of dollars of spend.
That all these possible outputs are being dismissed in favour of following a pre-determined process and output blows my mind.
Of course one of the big reasons for this is control.
Creativity asks people to let go of comfort zones.
Asks them to be open to new ways to solve old problems.
Demands them to trust someone who isn’t at all like them.
I get it, that’s scary and hard … and there’s definitely a lot of people and organisations who have been burnt by other people and organisations who claimed to offer ‘creativity’ but weren’t really that creative.
[Though it you’re going to value creativity by price point or complicity rather than the impact it has on your business … what do you expect?]
However while everyone has some form of creativity, there are some who know how to harness its power in ways that can change how millions think or feel or want to live.
Sure that may include your brand becoming synonymous with a colour.
Or a set of words.
But it will be more than that, because they will find a way where people value you for what you have added to their world.
Not simply functionally … but how they see and feel what’s around and possible.
And while there is always a risk it might not end up quite as successful as you hope, it is still better to end up with something that means everything to someone rather than nothing to everyone.
That said, when you see the possibilities of creativity – like this magical mural by Brazilian artist Fabio Gomes – then you may accept people who see the World differently to you can create ideas that are far bigger and more powerful than your World could ever imagine.