What’s Next > What’s Now. Part 3

In her review of the new Apple TV commercial, Ann-Christine Diaz of Ad Age starts off by saying, “If there’s one thing that’s true about the pandemic, it hasn’t put a damper on people’s creativity.”

The spot, tagged with the end line, “Creativity goes on,” is replete with the beautiful, sweet, thoughtful and of course pop-culturally current images and celebrities we’ve come to expect from the brand and its agency, TBWA\Media Arts Lab. If you haven’t yet seen it, it’s worth a watch, as their work always is.

But this is not an ad review.

No, in my ongoing desire to reinforce the belief that “What’s next is greater than what’s now,” I think the Apple spot is a great reminder to all of us that creativity will be a critically-important part of getting us from here (the now) to there (the next).

Like many of us have as we've searched for bright spots in pandemics past, you’ve probably read about Isaac Newton cracking gravity and calculus during one plague, while across town and in an entirely different 1600s-era illness, some guy named Bill Shakespeare wrote King Lear and Macbeth. You know, like one does. (Here's one of the posts about it, from the Scientific American)

It’s been funny to watch the backlash online about these remarkable events, with people saying that neither man was likely caring for small children during that time (true), while others whined that neither creator had Nintendo, or Netflix to distract them (also true).

Actually, “funny” may not be the right word - I find it odd that people read these articles about such remarkable feats of creativity in the most challenging of times and somehow see them as an opportunity for criticism, or self-condemnation. We are all a product of our environments and opportunities, but we are also a product of the creative potential that’s inherent within us, and how and when we choose to allow it out to play.

But that’s not really the point, either.

I see what both of those remarkable creators did as a way of, to revert back to my original article in this series, accelerating out of the now they were in and slingshotting themselves (and the rest of the world) into the next that was to come. They took the time that was granted to them and made something new, something no one had ever heard or seen or read before.

To present it another way, one of my favorite illustrated children’s books growing up was Frederick, by Leo Lionni. Here’s a quick 60-second synopsis of the story:

As winter approaches, the family of field mice living in the old stone wall begin their preparations, all pitching in to gather whatever food they can find for the long cold days ahead. Except one. Frederick sits aside, seemingly sleeping or daydreaming, but definitely not, in the minds of the other mice anyway, working. 

When challenged, Frederick responds saying that instead of nuts or grains of wheat, he’s collecting rays of the sun, colors of the Fall, and words, all to fill the long cold hours of winter. The skeptical family allows him to continue, and as winter begins, Frederick’s folly is forgotten, and all the mice are filled with the bounty of the food they’ve compiled. 

But as their supply runs thin, and as the cold gray days pervade their little stone hideaway, the mice turn to Frederick to ask about the things he’d gathered.

And man does Frederick deliver – with vivid descriptions of the sun’s rays that seem to warm the stone home, vivid images which bring to life the Fall’s colors that overpower the gray, and words that fill the space with imagination and take the mice to places far away from the bleak cold.

It’s been said that man does not live on bread alone, but it appears the same thing can be said for mice, and that stories - words and images – are sustenance for the soul.

A big part of the inspiration for “What’s Next > What’s Now” came from Frederick. That little mouse was all about eschewing the now and focusing on the next.

Not that the now isn’t important - as the story clearly illustrates, the mice that were focused on gathering food during the spring, summer, and fall kept the whole family alive during the first months of winter.

And to bring it back out of mouse-world to human-world, it is critically important for people and companies to take care of themselves now, to do what they need to do to keep themselves and their organizations as healthy as possible. Maybe not to thrive but to survive.

To live for another day.

But it's also critically important to consider works of art developed during past quarantines such as calculus and King Lear, because the lesson we learn (beyond the whole “Good vs. Evil” thing, of course, whatevs) is that creativity will live long past the coronavirus. A message that’s reinforced by Apple’s “Creativity goes on” end line.

All of which means that you must allow yourself to think like Frederick - or else designate a Frederick inside or outside your organization to do that on your behalf. Someone who has the ability to gather the stories about your company, to spread the warmth of your brand. To not only help keep you alive during the now, but to help you prepare for what’s next.

Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed this, please do consider Liking, Commenting, and/or Sharing. In future installments, I'll continue to discuss more of what you can be doing now to prepare for what's next. As always, I welcome your thoughts, suggestions, questions, and contributions below, or you can DM me directly.

Haven’t read the whole series? Binge them now with these easy links!  

What's Next >What's Now. Part 1 - Apollo 13

What's Next >What's Now. Part 2 - Breakfast Club

What's Next > What's Now. Part 4 - Shawshank Redemption

What's Next > What's Now. Part 5 - LL Bean

What's Next > What's Now, Part 6 - Homeostasis & Aron Ralston

What's Next > What's Now, Part 7 - Live Nation

What's Next > What's Now Part 8 - Listening

What's Next > What's Now Part 9 - Jigsaw Puzzle

What's Next > What's Now Part 10 - India and Showing Up