Creative transformation — applying the tools of creativity to your business challenges, so that you can change the future. Here’s how to get there:
01 — You have no choice but to change
We live in uncertain times – but both organisations and people know that we cannot continue the way things are. We need change, and ambitious leaders who are prepared to shake things up and make a better world for everyone. Businesses need to feel emboldened and confident to make this happen, and to be able to change over time to arrive at that future.
02 — Logic won't save you, creativity will
Traditional consultants rely on systems and structures, data and decks, category norms and marketing speak. But when you only look to logic and what you already know, you annihilate the potential for magic. Your worldview contracts, focused on cutting costs, making efficiencies, and merging departments. Creativity is the only tool that will liberate you from this defensive play and propel you towards creating value, not simply making savings. Businesses need to transform to stay relevant, but they can’t get there through operational thinking alone. The secret is engaging people – and creativity is really good at engaging people.
03 — The reframe is your superpower
As the computer scientist Alan Kay said, “A change in perspective is worth 80IQ points.” Organisations get stuck and miss possibilities when they get used to thinking of themselves in one way. Use lateral thinking, intuition and reframing to get you out of your comfort zones, open a new window on business problems, and allow you to see yourself in a new light. What kind of business are you really? And what little leaps can you take to get there?
04 — Creativity isn't science or art: it's alchemy
In too many agencies, creativity is seen solely as a capability of the design team. But while design is a creative act, creativity itself is bigger and more profound. It’s about finding precious insights and ideas and collisions in a world of information overwhelm, and then slamming them together to try and create something magical that inspires people and moves them to action. Creativity is the skill that CEOs prize above all others. It’s what happens when you use imagination to make bold leaps and construct new futures – and will help humanity differentiate in an increasingly AI-driven world.
05 — Creativity isn’t a product: it’s a collective act
The history of human progress is built upon creativity. Rather than commoditising it to guard and sell, people thrive when you help them find their own vision, then give them both the inspiration and the very practical tools and frameworks to codify and channel that creativity. Create space to take people out of your business-as-usual mindset and think differently about the things that often get lost in the everyday pressures and commercial forces acting on a company: what is your business really about? What could it be about in future? And what ideas could you create to support that?
06 — Search for the questions, not the answers
The philosopher Meno said, “How will you go about finding that thing the nature of which is totally unknown to you? The answer is getting lost.” A narrow brief that demands a certain outcome misses the chance to uncover the “unknown unknowns”: the things we don’t know we don’t know. The real opportunity might not be what the brief sets out, but something deeper that emerges when we challenge assumptions and let go of control. When we pursue a mindset of what the poet Keats called “negative capability: when a man is capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason.” What a business thinks it needs, may not be what it needs after all – but if you go in with an open mind, it will be an experience.
07 — Change is linear, but transformation is expansive
To truly transform, you must do away with siloed thinking and a product-line approach to solving problems. As the business challenges you face become more diverse and unexpected, you need more diverse and unexpected capabilities to answer them. Future talent will need a broader set of tools to succeed: open-mindedness, collaboration, diagonal thinking. There is future power in intelligent and thoughtful people working together across tangents and across disciplines: strategist, futurist, data scientist, behavioural scientist, creative, and roles as yet undefined.
08 — Tension fuels transformation
Dualities are at the heart of creative transformation. It’s where business intersects with creativity, thinkers and doers meet, and new realities come into being. It’s also a human act that demands conversation and positive disagreement. Rather than fleeing from this conflict, you must fight for it: when different viewpoints collide in the spirit of assertive inquiry, greatness can arrive. Constructively challenge and provoke each other, ask tough questions, and do the majority of work through debate, discussion and workshopping. A clash doesn’t have to be an issue, but something that can create energy, dynamism and change.
09 — Intangible impacts drive tangible growth
The outcome of creative transformation will differ each time, but will likely always include a clearer sense of who a business is, where it’s going, and why. This increased clarity and conviction can power tremendous growth or a tremendous shift in market perception: a brand and business that is confident and energised in its mission has tangible value. It’s a narrative that can touch everyone: your audiences, your internal teams, your decision making. Start with the core, and your business will be able to adapt and behave in new ways. And once it behaves in new ways, you unlock innovation, new revenue streams, and a better ability to reach customers.
