Everyone's a Creative, But Are You A Creative Professional?

Are you creative? The answer to this is without question, “yes!” Everyone is a creative thinker, everyone’s got ideas; some, I admit, are actually pretty good. Each and every person in your company has the capacity to walk in door today with a great idea. And that's where the story needs to end. Please don't get confused and think these same people can cultivate and launch their ideas alone. That approach rarely works out. The question that needs to be asked is, “are you a Creative professional?” 

Do you know what the difference between a creative professional (like myself), and your everyday account manager, lawyer, sales person, project manager, etc. is? It's not what you may think. It’s not that our mojo is based purely on coming up with ideas. Like I said in the previous paragraph, everyone’s got ideas. Ideas are actually really easy; a child can come up with ideas (and if I’m honest, quite often they do it better than adults.)  

What makes a creative professional worth her or his salt is actually pretty hard. I know, I know, a lot of our colleagues think they can be creative professionals so this might come to a shock to some of you. For now let’s skip by the obvious ideation part of Creative, which everyone thinks they can do (such as the common suggestion to use a pop-up store in Time Square even though I would argue that the idea is completely irrelevant to the brand, is cliché, out of scope and is just totally lame). But just to make a point, let’s just say that everyone can come up with decent, relevant ideas. What comes next? You can't launch anything with just an idea. That’s when you’d need individuals with creative skill sets to flush out the idea. So what then? Yes, you can use a computer and compose sentences but do you have the proficiency in the medium to eloquently write a short headline to capture views. Yes, you can use Photoshop, but do you have the expertise to immerse a client with a storyboard or stop someone in their tracks with a masterful subtly designed page layout. With all of our new technology and communication devices, the below quote is more relevant now than ever before:

The tool doesn't make the craftsmen

What makes creative professionals, PROFESSIONALS is their years of knowledge and training through years of school, years in the field and their depth of skill in one or several skill sets. Now if I bring it back full circle, this knowledge alongside their skill(s) does make creative professionals more adept at developing ideas that are actually effective and executable. So yes, you got ideas, but I’d argue that a Creative’s ideas more likely then not may be more then they seem on the surface. That’s why we are professionals, because we make it look so easy. 

So yes, you are creative but just not a creative professional. The faster you realize that and actually value and seek out great Creative talent, the better your business will be.

Jarek Carethers is an Group Creative Director, Content Director and Creative Strategist. A storyteller who uses multiple platforms to connect people with the culture of the brands. Jarek has worked with Ford, Chrysler, Verizon Wireless, Burger King, Lincoln, American Airlines, Royal Caribbean, ESPN and Nike.
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