Ode to happy accidents

Without a mangled condiment request we wouldn’t have Sergeant Pepper. That’s unthinkable. It was an album that defined an era. The anecdote is shared early in the wonderfully atmospheric Hulu series McCartney 3-2-1 in which Sir Paul shares stories with Rick Rubin around a mixing desk. Mis-hearing ‘salt and pepper’ is a wonderful example of serendipitous human error.

It’s the same dynamic at work with another musician, the producer virtuoso Mark Ronson, who’s made smash hits with Amy Winehouse, Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars. One of the takeaways from the six part series Watch the Sound is that so much innovation, so many transcendent moments were happy accidents, occurring from the craft and the companion messiness and imperfections of an organic creative process. Ronson’s realization was how much the pandemic had robbed him of the creativity of shared space: that he just missed being in a room with people and creating. Anyone in advertising or design who’s passionate about creativity is likely to be similarly inclined.

As we collectively wrestle with a hybrid way of working in this ‘work from wherever’ time it’s crucial to recognize the value of live co-creating, perhaps in meetings but more likely from unscheduled, unstructured time like hanging out. Either helps cultivate a shared space for happy accidents. For creativity’s sake it can’t happen too much.