Call It What It Is
At dinner, I got into a conversation with a couple waiting on a table. One thing led to another, and we started talking about what I do for work, which they both found interesting. “Ah! She’s the creative one! She’s dying for you to teach me some of the juice!” he said. “I’m a CPA, but she’s in advertising, so this is totally up her alley.”
“Wait a minute,” I said. “Haven’t you ever had a moment where you’re like, ‘Dang, that was a great idea!’ or where someone on your team complimented you on a valuable contribution?”
“Yeah, totally,” he said.
“Well that’s creativity!” I said. “You’re drawing on the same skills she’s drawing on in advertising: making unexpected connections, looking at things from fresh angles, trying new approaches, etc. Creativity doesn’t only happen at the easel. It happens at the conference table too!” (And in many other unlikely spaces, like email marketing and M&A.)
The conversation took a marked turn from there, as they both engaged in the question of practical application. They left, having ordered the book and making promises to stay in touch.
It was a delightful experience. As I sat reflecting on the conversation, it struck me:
If you don’t call that special moment “creativity,” then you don’t think to call on your creative capacity when it could be most helpful. It’s worthwhile to take stock and consider your last breakthrough, and how you talk about that breakthrough, both to yourself and others.
If you don’t call it creativity, then you won’t call on creativity the next time you need it.
I can’t help but wonder how many folks never consciously call on “creative” tools because they don’t see the problems they’re facing as problems in need of creative thinking. But that’s all creativity is: generating solutions to problems that don’t yield to conventional thinking.
When you think about it this way, you realize we are all in the ideas business.
Related: Look for Connections
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Related: Diagram Your Last Breakthrough
Related: We Are All In The Ideas Business
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One of the defining contributions the d.school is helping teams ask themselves, “What kind of thinking is appropriate, when?” We call such clarity being “Mindful of Process.” And it can seem like semantics until you realize we need to show up in different ways.