Twelve representatives from some of the world’s most innovative brands – including Research in Motion, Cosworth, ASICS, Lloyds Banking Group and the BBC – met at The Imagination Gallery to discuss the role of creativity in business, addressing technology, the current economic climate and the unique challenges businesses face in 2012.
TECHNOLOGY
The challenges to creativity are many, not least how quickly our ideas can marry with technology, said Mark Coyle, Editor of 2012 Online, BBC.
“A creative idea within an organisation could be the best idea they ever had, but it needs to be of its time for the outside world. Many great ideas, especially those requiring technological advances, have had to be held – to succeed, you have to be brave enough to stick with it,” he said.
Technology barely keeps up with people who have great ideas, but also allows us to dream about possibilities for the future, said Rodrigo Castaneda, Senior Director, Design Systems at RiM.
“However the complexity of it is, if technology is moving faster that we can keep up, why don’t we have flying cars yet?” he asked.
REGULATION AND RIGHTS
Flying cars would be no problem, according to Tim Routsis, CEO of Cosworth, however regulation is one of the biggest barriers preventing creative ideas from being fully developed.
“More often than not regulation is a colossus that little ideas struggle to get through. Regulators worry about the things that might go wrong, if people will get hurt, and most play it safe and maintain the status quo. It can stifle how we get things developed and the potential for how they are used, as it’s only once we get market attention or critical mass do regulators press themselves to do something about it,” he said.
This regulatory obstacle is by no means restricted to the automotive sector, it hits all industries, including the media, BBC’s Coyle explained, referring to the challenges of international rights restrictions around sporting events.
DELIVERY
The realities of delivering great ideas can also be a challenge to the creative process and the execution of a creative idea, the BBC's Coyle said: “Invariably compromises have to be made about how and what we deliver. I’ve never worked on a project where we haven’t had to shave the proposition to meet the deadline, and this can cause creative tension also,” he said.
But friction and tension aren’t necessarily bad things for creativity, said Pamela Perl, Creative Pioneers, IPA: “Pressure and restrictions can also focus and force creativity in ways that having limitless possibility doesn’t.”
RESEARCH USE
The over-reliance on stats and resources can hinder creativity rather than help it, according to research and analysis companies BrainJuicer and Mintel.
We need to get away from algorithms, as we are getting lost in mountains of data and losing the art of listening, said Richard Cope, Principal Trends Analyst at Mintel.
“Some of the best ideas come from happy accidents and learning from mistakes - there’s a lot to be said for randomness, and stepping outside your sector and meeting new people,” he said.
Orlando Wood, Managing Director of BrainJuicer Labs agreed: “The way some companies are using research is making people sceptical – often it is terrible for information and just used as an insurance policy for ideas.”
”But it’s tremendously difficult, although exciting, to push past doctrines and how people think things should work. It seems like when people get to a certain level of seniority, they almost have to die out for the next wave of innovation to come along,” he said.
YOUTH
Young people are key to the success of Cosworth’s business, said Routsis: “The younger the demographics are, the more likely they will think the unthinkable.”
“Young engineers, from all walks of life and from all over the world, have a zest for life, appetite and enthusiasm – and in their inexperience they don’t know what they shouldn’t be trying. Sometimes they get things wrong, but sometimes of one them does something that leaves us breathless,” he said.
Julian Baker, Imagination’s European Creative Director, called on businesses to seek and support young talent better.
“It’s upsetting that as we’re here talking about creativity there are more youthful, enthusiastic and open-minded people languishing,” he said. “We need to get these people engaged and working, or we’re at risk of losing a whole generation of creativity to the economy.”
CREATIVE RESPONSIBILITY
However the mantle of ‘innovator’ should not be solely rested on the young, said Imagination CEO Douglas Broadley: “I’m a huge hater of the idea of the ‘creative department’ - everyone has the responsibility to be creative within organisations and everyone who runs a business in a successful way must have creativity at the heart of it.”
Baker agreed, saying businesses needed to take creativity as a responsibility more seriously than ever in the current economic climate: “Creativity is optimistic, ambitious and lays the foundations for businesses to strive for ideas that break out of the ordinary,” he said.
“Even though I have ‘creativity’ in my job title, it’s a common bond and basic human need. Creativity is what gives us sublime moments of joy in our lives – that’s how you know when you’ve found ‘it’, and that’s how you achieve real cut-through and business value.”
UNAFRAID TO FAIL
But conversely, the current economic climate is frightening many people out of being truly creative, RiM’s Castaneda said: “You need to have a working environment that aids that level of trust, so you can feel brave to disagree or speak your mind, without being afraid you’ll lose your job.”
Outgoing Lloyds Banking Group Brand & Customer Marketing Director, Joe Clift agreed, saying as an industry marketers need to accept that as there are less marketers, those left standing need to be more creative, quoting Samuel Beckett’s “Try, fail, try again, fail better.”
Cosworth’s Routsis said all industries across the UK need to embrace a culture of being unafraid to fail without recrimination.
“We need to take the opportunity away from the timid,“ he said. ”The best things we as business leaders can do is foster an environment where people can be creative and not get smacked down. It’s a cultural issue, to allow people to speak up.”
At the same time, leaders need to trust their colleagues and staff, and ask for honest observations, Routsis said: “Those who come to you and say ‘I have observed there is a real need for this‘, who may not have any idea of the framework, how to implement it or develop it, can give you some breakthroughs. The trick is to have a degree of innocence and naivety.”
CREATIVE CULTURE
Cultural factors also affect creativity, observed Michael Price, European Marketing Director of ASICS, saying while Americans seem to cope with recession better, the Japanese have a great skill of listening and trusting regional resources rather than pretending they know it all.
“The Americans seem to have less fear of failure – they are always trying, and if something doesn’t work, they just try again. Who can say if it’s coincidence that the largest companies in the globe, such as Apple and Google, have come out of America?” he said.
Chinese teams can be quieter and less prone to defend their own ideas, RiM’s Castaneda said from his own experience: “The role of the leader is to appreciate differences, understand them to help people thrive from within the system and protect the ideas.”
Cultural understanding is crucial, Imagination’s Broadley agreed, as companies try to be more local and more global at the same time: “To be successful, global concepts and campaigns need to have to localised insights, and the companies that excel are the ones with trusted teams globally,” he said.
IT'S NOT ABOUT THE MONEY
Paul Simonet, Creative Strategy Director at Imagination, then raised the question of whether people can be truly creative for money.
Crowd sourcing was prime example of money being no object when it comes to creativity, countered RiM’s Castaneda: “It doesn’t matter how much money you pay someone, if they’re not interested and the passion’s not there, they just won’t suddenly be more creative. Unless there’s a calling, you’ll just cruise around.”
In the face of the current macro-environment, companies need to stop being so cautious with their cash and talents, Cosworth’s Routsis said: “This is the time to strive, as there are an awful lot of people sitting back, watching, waiting and making the decision to do nothing. In my view, this is the time to be brave and push – take the opportunities.”
Imagination CEO Broadley agreed, ending the roundtable saying imagination, above all, was key to flourishing creativity.
“Our name, Imagination, is the philosophy of our company – but we all must stay true to the idea that creativity can solve everything, and optimism is the argument of the day.”
Participants in the roundtable were:
- Douglas Broadley, CEO, Imagination
- Julian Baker, European Creative Director, Imagination
- Paul Simonet, Creative Strategy Director, Imagination
- Mark Hewitt, Director, Imagination
- Rodrigo Castaneda, Senior Director, Design Systems, RiM
- Joe Clift, outgoing Brand & Customer Marketing Director, Lloyds Banking Group,
- Richard Cope, Principal Trends Analyst, Mintel
- Mark Coyle, Editor 2012 Online, BBC
- Pamela Perl, Creative Pioneers, IPA
- Michael Price, European Marketing Director, ASICS
- Tim Routsis, CEO, Cosworth
- Orlando Wood, Managing Director BrainJuicer Labs
Tweets from the Imagination Experience Roundtable and Seminar can be read via #creativity2012