If you don’t feel exposed during the creative process, there’s something wrong.
Creatives are having an identity crisis.
We face so many shoulds. What should I write? Who should I write for? How far should I push it? How much should I risk?
Risk. That is a key word. Companies often have less time for out-there thinking and, understandably, want marketing that will get them results right now. This leaves creatives in a bind. Ideas are our specialism. If our wings are clipped by the big bad word – “risk”– where do we do?
Sure, we can be safe. Deliver what works. Deliver what’s tried and true. But where’s the fun in that? And – more importantly – where’s the innovation?
Then there’s ChatGPT lighting the coals under our feet. It makes us question our role as creatives. Like we have to justify our existence. What sets us apart from machines? What does being human offer?
I can’t believe that’s an actual question. But, as I discussed here, authenticity is what sets up apart. Our ability to draw on nebulous parts of our mind to create beauty. Expressing this authenticity isn’t easy though.
You must make yourself vulnerable
Expose yourself. Expose your thinking without fear of looking stupid. Because I assure you, the only person that might think you sound stupid will be you. It is like when someone prefaces a question with “sorry, stupid question”, you know they’re about to ask the best question.
So it’s not even real vulnerability. It is shedding your fear of vulnerability. That is how you find your real voice and create ideas that are uniquely yours and uniquely powerful.
How do you do that? How do you throw restraint out the window without delivering drivel? Going back to the mind, we should balance three personas. Three personality layers we all have, but are often too afraid to use:
Be a child
John Cleese, one of Britain’s best ever comics, said it best: “Nothing will stop you being creative so effectively than the fear of making a mistake”. He goes on to talk about “true play”. True experimenting. Trying things without worriy. Just because it’s fun. Sounds a lot like a child, right?
Children aren't cynical and neurotic like us grown-ups are. They say what they want and do what they want. I don’t believe we lose that instinct as we get older. I believe just we suppress it – especially at work.
But I cannot express how important that instinct is for creativity. You need that child-like excitement. That imagination. That freedom. That bravery to say “what if?” and throw out off-the-wall ideas that might seem like nonsense at first, but might also lead to something beautiful.
“You can’t be spontaneous within reason”, an Alan Watts quote that Cleese so perfectly raised. So, please, be a child when brainstorming. Anything starting with “this might sound stupid” might be what you’re looking for.
Be a teenager
I am lucky enough to have never raised a teenager. But I am unlucky enough to have been one. And from what I remember, being a teenager sucks.
You’re emotional. Brash. Moany. Fickle. Idealistic. Sensitive to injustice. Never afraid to share your grievances or passions. It is a time where every belief you have is more important than the last.
Carry that energy forward in your creative work. Question everything. Why does it have to be like this? That’s stupid. It should be like this. Why? Because I know it will be better. That passion – together with your experience and instinct – can be what you need to break through cycles of subjectivity and settle on an idea.
I’m not saying you should slam your laptop and storm to your room if a client doesn’t like your idea. I’m saying use the good bits of your teenage impulse. The bad bits can be tempered by the last persona…
Be an adult
This is our default setting. The Apollonian. The conscious. The mature voice that filters all of the above into lucid, on-time and on-brief work. The problem is that many people are only ever an adult. Staying on the surface of what their real capabilities and getting lost in a cycle of they should do.
Why? Because doing anything else would make them feel vulnerable. But you have to be vulnerable. You have to be irrational – within reason.
That ability is what makes us different from Gen AI and how real creativity will win.
Do you agree? Creativity isn’t only a topic for creatives. So no matter your profession, let me know your thoughts in the comments.
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