Creativity is valuable. Some say it’s the only thing that really makes us human.
That’s terrifying.
Everybody’s got it, or at least had it at one point. And it happens at the strangest times. Under pressure. In the shower. In the corner of your eye. Sometimes the same things that make us creative are the same things that kill our creativity. Fear. Hope. Doubt. Anger. Love.
I write about operationalizing creativity, which sounds like just about the worst thing you could ever do to creativity, doesn’t it? There’s nothing more shitty than an idea being squeezed to death. The more agendas to serve, the less creative it gets, right?
Right?
I’m not so sure.
There’s heads up creativity like improv and there’s heads down creativity like writing. There’s “make it for the them” right alongside “make it for me” in product design, logo design, business design, and the doodles in your notebook. There’s solving problems and there’s meeting needs, and everything in between. By committee or brute force. Whatever works.
A little bit about me:
I get excited about words like maybe. I love the guitar feedback in Mayonnaise. I think it’s hilarious how people love to argue about the intrinsic value of just about anything, when everybody knows that truly, everything is made up. Thank God. I think it’s funny when designers and developers argue. Warriors fans and Lakers fans, Bulldogs and Yellow Jackets, guitars and drums, cats and dogs, whatever. Because that’s why it works, duh. I sang in a choir, played on a basketball team, and toured in a band. I understand flow. I’ve managed producers, designers, developers, directors, writers, strategists, product managers, salespeople, mean people, kind people, kids fresh out of school to seasoned VPs, and I can tell you that at the end of the day, people are people, and that is what is so great and so hard about working with people. I hate how so many stupid platitudes turn out to be true, and how fake it til you make it is both true and false and a platitude at the same time, just like that last one about people. So irritating.
Oh, I can’t stand mayonnaise.
Here’s me in an equation:
👋 = ((📈 Business Strategy x ✏️ Design x ❤️ Creative) / 🤖 Operations) + 🎧
I’ll be writing about how to make creativity happen in business. I promise to use lots of metaphors.
Sign up now so you don’t miss the boat.
And tell your friends!