New perspective of Creativity

This week’s post is a reflection of my past couple weeks. Since starting this blog I have tried to put myself out there and reach out to some other’s ideas of creativity. For instance, I have been reading a book for class called Hey Mr. Whipple, Spueeze This!, a great read about Luke Sullivan’s experiences as an advertising creative. He made some points in a few of the earlier chapters about the creative process as a whole. Some I agree with and some not so much.

To start, he mentions a process that has been around since the 1940’s. James Webb Young laid out a 5 step process of idea generation that holds true today.

1.     Gather as much information on the problem as possible. Read, underline, ask questions, “be” the problem.

2.     Sit down and actively attack the problem.

3.     Drop the whole thing and go do something else. Let your subconscious mind work on it.

4.     “Eureka!”

5.     Figure out how to implement your idea.

All I can say is, brilliant. I completely agree that this process can work for one person’s need for a creative solution. The television series Mad Men shows this process working for them every time and it's even held true with me. However, I believe that in a group setting this wouldn’t hold true. When working with a team and trying to all collectively land on one idea, it would be pointless to all work intensely to just drop the issue and then hope one person comes up with a great idea. However, I have seen this process kind of work in a group setting.

Imagine a group sitting in a room trying to brainstorm a new slogan for their T-shirt company. They start by coming up with words they want to be associated with, that evoke a specific emotion to their consumers. As they bounce several ideas off each other one creative takes a second to think about how hungry they are. They start thinking about their options on their way home from work Chipotle, Subway, Papa Johns, that new Chinese place with the really good egg rolls. They then picture sitting down on the couch to watch late night tv and take a their first bite, when the phone rings and it’s their best friend wanting to go out. When all of a sudden they get an idea so pure, so different that they rejoin the conversation to share their experience. Then as a team they agree and begin working on the implementation of the slogan.

I’m guilty of that scenario a couple of times in a group project. Sullivan also brings up a great point of how people put into a position where the job to be creative induces fear. He believes that being a little scared is an integral part of being creative. He then quotes Woody Allen “If you’re not failing every now and again, it’s a sign you’re not doing anything very innovative.” That is a great quote, and Luke Sullivan makes a great point. I personally feel as though fear does not reinforce the creative process. I feel as though being scared of your job is a natural thing. You have to report to someone more powerful than you regardless of how you feel about them. The fear of impressing is a common thing. Saying being scared is good for a job in the creative process is like saying you need to be a good skater to play professional ice hockey. It’s a part of life, just like skating is a part of ice hockey. Fear inhibits the mind, making you question choices in the best interest of yourself and your image. You don’t want to say anything that would be offensive or completely wrong to the problem at hand.

The way I think about it is every new idea is a good idea, but not every new idea is appropriate. For instance, I was on a project team with two fellow classmates. We pushed a project off until two days before it was due (bad idea to begin with). We spent the night bouncing ideas off each other until someone made a joke. This joke turned into a potentially good idea. The product we were creating an advertising campaign for was panty liners. One of the group members made a joke about what if you put a little face right in the middle of the pad. Then underneath put #ImSittinOn______ (insert face's name here). Focusing on the idea that this USED to be an uncomfortable topic. let's work to make it easier to talk about.

So stupid but after thinking about it we thought it was probably an idea no one else would even consider pitching because of how sensitive the topic is. We were even scared to get laughed at by people we will probably never talk to. So we wrote up the report and sent it in. We didn’t win, HOWEVER, the day after submitting it. We found another company with a commercial that’s out right now that featured a women talking about having “Sam” in her pants.(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePWlvzDkiA0)

ODDLY similar to the campaign idea we came up with. 

So I hope you can see my perspective. Comment about your creative moments and share your thoughts! Remember to stay happy and stay creative!

Why Creativity?

Why am I writing about creativity? Great question Ryan.

I believe creativity is an under-utilized skill every person has.

“Others have seen what is and asked why. I have seen what could be and asked why not. ”
― Pablo Picasso

What is stopping individuals from unlocking the ability to question the norm and step out in a unique and individual way?

I’ll use this blog to explore this phenomenon and explain why I believe that creativity is a skill that can be improved and unlocked.

Being able to visualize ideas, describe them to others and be passionate about them isn’t impossible. I love exploring individual’s passions and helping them to make it a reality. Through my experiences with event planning and leadership I have really gotten to witness creativity in its most pure and innocent form. Last year, as the Activities Programming Board Nightlife Chair, I spent a few meetings figuring out what style of leadership would help me inspire my committee of about 12 volunteers to creatively brainstorm events for campus.

At first I had them do it as homework, so the following meeting they returned empty handed and we were back at step one. So then I tried a let’s go ask people what they want method. As a group we walked around or small library and our on-campus hangout spot asking students of all demographics what events would they like. It helped a little but the events that kids were asking for were things we are doing already such as comedians and magicians. We needed creativity and we needed new.

I used the time until the next meeting to really think about what would help this group of students. I thought back to the documentary 6 Days to Air: The Making of South Park. In the movie the writers used a brainstorming method, in which the group sits in an enclosed room with a white board and starts writing jokes about things going on in today’s pop culture.

I decided to implement a similar tactic and have my group brainstorm just general ideas of things that make them happy, or things they think make other kids happy. Immediately I had a great response, the group was bouncing ideas left and right off each other. I sat and played devil’s advocate to keep them digging deeper into their thoughts of joy. We ended the day with the idea of a talent show.

The following meeting was round two, they came ready to talk about things that just made them happy. To have the group happy and laughing, before we even began helped take our ideas to a brand new level. We eventually ended this meeting discussing the different parts to an event called “Hamster Night”.

Hamster night became an idea because of the big human spheres that people get into and run around in. We then started putting ourselves into the shoes or tiny feet of hamsters and created a series of other games and activities that are similar to what a hamster would do.

This creative brainstorm was effective for this one size group and these individuals, various other methods can be applied. However the one common factor is joy. I believe that you must first reach a true and sincere feeling of happiness in order to drive an individual to creativity. Finding something that you are passionate about and enjoy will only open the doors to the various other ways to use or improve that one thing.

One could make the argument that any emotion can stem creativity. However let’s take anger for example. Anger is a self-motivating tool. On a busy day at the grocery store any one would be angry or frustrated. All these emotions result in the need to improve your situation, so maybe you scream at someone, or start cutting lines. Perhaps you start thinking about things you would improve. So you think, they need new staff, they have poor management, or there aren’t enough lines open. All negative influenced ideas.

These ideas, while observational aren’t proactive and don't bring new ideas to the busy shopper experience. Imagine now a person who truly loves the shopping experience and wants to help other people find the beauty of going to a central location for the most basic of human needs. This joy could spark the possibility of implementing televisions in view of the check-out lines so angry fans can still watch the game as they are picking up additional snacks. Another could be having tablets in the lines where consumers can take selfies (which are automatically uploaded to stores social media), play games, and the grocery store could advertise on them.

I hope that you can see the creativity in yourself. Just remember to be happy!