Creativity is notoriously hard to pin down and difficult to define, but the value it can bring to your organisation is worth the time, effort, and sometimes money needed to pursue it. Here are three things you should know about the art of creativity.
CREATIVITY IS HAVING A REBRAND
For Adweek contributor Donald Chesnut, ‘it’s time to step up and rethink the role that creatives and, more importantly, creativity play in transforming businesses.’ Chesnut believes that part of this rethinking must involve ‘realizing the new, unchartered problem-solving potential that informed creativity can play.’
Forbes contributor Ben Plomion believes this rethinking is needed because ‘creativity has a branding problem.’ Plomion explains that although when most people think of they think of the likes of Pablo Picasso and Steve Jobs, in fact ‘creativity isn’t just about revolutionary ideas, and it’s not just the domain of artists and visionaries. Creativity is for everyone.’
Since ‘incremental creativity is what the vast majority of projects and businesses need to continue to move forward,’ rebranding creativity to ensure that expectations better fit reality is a must.
TECHNOLOGY IS FUELLING CREATIVITY
Technology is often thought to be at odds with creativity, with the former thought of in binary, technical and precise terms and the latter free-flowing, impossible to regulate and human-centric. Yet this division between technology and creativity could actually be hampering progress in using creativity to its full potential.
According to an article by The Drum, ‘technology can power the next surge in creativity.’ The Drum pointed to Facebook’s “Cannected” event, which showcased some of the best creative material that appeared on the platform in the past year. The event aimed to emphasise ‘the link between creativity and technology, and show how much of the best work comes from a deep engagement between the two.’
One example was marketing agency Adam & Eve DDB’s “Trolling is Ugly” campaign for The Cybersmile Foundation, which was based around the Instagram feed of a social media influencer and body positivity campaigner. Every time she received a trolling comment, the team responded by digitally altering her appearance, creating a visually shocking and memorable campaign. The campaign also demonstrated that using technology could drive a creative approach to tackling a social problem and raising awareness.
CREATIVITY CAN BE CULTIVATED
Building on the notion that creativity is for everyone and technology is here to help, the belief that creativity is an inherent trait rather than a skill that can be cultivated has to go. Creativity takes time and effort to foster and so having a strategy in place to develop it is a must if your organisation is going to embrace a culture of creativity.
There a number of methods you can use to cultivate creativity. According to an article by the Forbes Young Entrepreneur Council, one way to do this is to ensure you are attending industry conferences. Forbes argues that ‘industry conferences are a great resource for recharging and inspiration. It's a place where you can meet other like-minded [people], hear exciting talks from other leaders and network with other businesses.’
A related tip for fostering creativity is to speak to leaders. The article argues in order to cultivate creativity you should ‘speak to other leaders who have walked down the path before and have seen success with it. They have a better idea of what success should look like and they are able to offer their guidance.’
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