The Power of Creativity

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Creative thinking has always had the power to change the world. But in recent times the business world has become intensely focussed on technology and automation. So, I wanted to get some perspective on how the role of creativity has evolved and how creative thinking can be leveraged for the future.

?My guest in this episode Lee Simpson , has won some of the most prestigious creative awards in the world including the rare D&AD Black Pencil and 2 Grand Prix at Cannes Lions. He’s worked with companies like Volvo, Westfield and CommBank. And most recently as CEO of WhiteGrey, led them to win AFR’s Most Innovative Company in 2023.?

We explored:

1. How the role of creativity has evolved
2. What great creativity looks like today
3. How to build a creative culture
4. Using creativity to solve real world problems
5. Creativity in the AI age

If you would prefer to continue reading, scroll past the video for the core insights?

Top Insights

1) Creativity has never been more important

Creativity has always been a powerful force and driven the world forward. It’s helped us re-invent how we do things, drive more safely and quit smoking etc. So, at a time where the world is evolving faster than ever and the disruptors like Telsla are getting disrupted by companies like BYD, creativity has never been more important. Many organisations are struggling to change quick enough to keep up with competitors and creativity is key to unlocking and driving change.?

2) The key to building a creative culture

Inside large organisations there’s typically a structured hierarchy which often means voices and ideas from different levels aren’t treated equally which tends to stifle creativity. Large organisations need to learn from creative agencies when it comes to building a creative and innovative culture. It’s essential to create an environment where employees feel they have a voice and colleagues are genuinely interested in their perspective and keen to act on their ideas. It creates an exciting and infectious culture where anything is possible.

3) Diverse perspectives drives better creativity

The point above is the crucial foundational step for building a creative culture. Then to take it to the next level it’s important to focus on gathering a diverse range of perspectives when solving problems. Too often organisations gather people of similar mindsets and backgrounds and get similar outcomes. Lee is known for talking about how diverse perspectives creates tension that leads you to better creative creativity and more extraordinary thinking. So next time you’re tackling a problem make sure you’ve got a diverse range of representatives, gender, ethnicity, age and socioeconomic groups as it will give you a better reflection of society and lead more creative outcomes.

4) You need resilience not just brilliance

You can come up with the most brilliant idea in the world, but if you don’t have the resilience to make it happen, then it wont. Any idea conceived will face barriers to making it happen, budget, bureaucracy, technological challenges etc. The more brilliant the idea is, typically the more challenging it is to create. So, it order to drive new creative ideas successfully you need to be able to navigate through organisations. You need to be able to protect ideas. You need to be able to resuscitate them and maintain belief that it is worth the effort. Ultimately, it's your ability to tell stories and jump hurdles that will get your ideas live into the world.?

5) AI will free us up to be more creative

There is fear in some parts of the creative industry that AI will reduce the need for some creative and design roles. There’s no doubt that will happen, particularly for work that doesn’t require a lot of original thought like creating 100 versions of one digital ad for different media formats etc. So, it will challenge aspects of the industry, but it will also power them to be more creative. AI tools are already being leveraged in the creative process to help liberate creatives to think about bigger more impactful ideas. So, AI will free us up to spend more time on big picture thinking.

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About me

I’ve spent the last 20 years working on digital transformation and CX projects all around the globe with brands like Samsung, Virgin, Lexus, eBay, Australian Air Force as well as being Head of Brand and Digital CX at a professional football team. If you would like to get in touch or have any questions:

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