Stimuli and Inputs

At BusinessPundit, Rob bemoans the interference of the day-to-day work grind with creativity:

Over at FC Blog there has been a lot of discussion about ideas and how to generate them. I've been ruminating on some of the posts and I realized that I don't feel nearly as creative as I used to feel. I think my creativity has been killed by my daily grind. Almost everything I do right now is focused on the operational aspects of a new business. Since I started these long days focused on getting everything in place, I haven't had time to do the things I used to, and I think those things helped make me creative. So what I would like to add to the debate is this question: Are we uncreative because we simply don't have the time? Seriously, creativity takes work. It takes varying stimuli and inputs. I don't have those right now. My thinking has moved from dynamic and non-linear to linear and one-dimensional. I can tell. It really sucks, but I can't break it until I have time to stop this one-track thinking process I have of growing a new business. It's a catch-22, because I'd probably grow the business better if I used some creativity.

I've been thinking a lot about this topic, but more in context with what I can offer my clients. Here's a heads-up for my blog friends... I'm renaming my company and repositioning myself out of the branding game. Stay tuned; I'll hopefully have a new web site & corporate ID in a couple weeks to share with you. I decided it's time to follow my own advice! As many of you know, I've been struggling with the word 'brand' for a long time; there's too much confusion about what it means, and 'branding' is too crowded of a market. But more fundamentally, most execs don't think they have a branding problem. The issue they usually face is being too close to their own businesses... getting mired in operations and 'the way we've always done things.' They'd all like to be creative about where to take their businesses, but as Rob points out, that can be a real challenge.

I think the biggest stumbling block to creativity is not time per se, but finding the right "stimuli and inputs' that generate creative thought. If I can bring that to the table -- not a brand neatly wrapped, but completely new perspectives on their businesses from the eyes of customers, employees and the marketplace -- then I can work with my clients to co-create new directions and opportunities. The process might produce a brand strategy, a new way to go to market, a new product idea, a way to reduce churn, or simply a more effective sales presentation. This is what I truly have fun doing in my work; finding the 'ah hah!' that changes the way my clients see their businesses. More to come on this topic...

Comments

[hugh macleod]

Just as well.... "Brand" as a term is kinda tired. People are sick of hearing it, sick of saying it etc.

So now we're all scrambling around to find the new magic word. No, it isn't "love marks". Heh.

What companies find interesting is not what they make; not their brands. What is the hot thang is the "purpose-belief"... the glue that keep the Fellowship "fellow'd and ship'd", as it were.

i.e. honing in on the collective sense of purpose.... through common purpose comes common identity.

That being said, "Fellowship" applies far more easily to a company like Apple or Dell than say, Chef-Boy-Ar-Dee.

My advice would be, if you're trying to sell them "purpose", to stear clear of clients who have little sense of purpose themselves.

A marketeer cannot give a company a sense of purpose- she can only better reveal what is already there.

[Kyle]

Mmm. The 'Ah ha!' moment. That's what I live for. That stuff is addictive.

Can't wait to see what you've got coming.

[Effern]

I think the biggest stumbling block to creativity is not time per se, but finding the right "stimuli and inputs' that generate creative thought.

Bingo.

I harken back to an old job where me and a co-worker were creative as all get-out, while we were working. We talked out our zany ideas while doing the boring mundane stuff. Who says boring job duties have to be...boring? The paradox of that job was, as much as it killed me to work there, I must say that I had fun in the meantime.

[Scott Miller]

Creativity is the talent to make non-obvious connections within your mind. Knowledge is therefore the required food of creativity. This is why I spend no less than 2-3 hours a day reading and learning. And I often read outside my normal areas of interest, to purposely expand my creative scope. Unquestionably, distractions harm creativity, but creativity doesn't necessarily take a lot of time if you have a lot of knowledge to draw creative links from.

BTW, Jennifer, I agree that branding is an over-saturated and too often misunderstood category. Can't wait to see how you position your company to overcome this problem.

[Jackie Huba]

Jennifer,
I think this is a good change.

Just to give you more amunition for the decision, I ran into the marketing acquisitions editor for our publisher on Friday. I asked him what kind of marketing books was he looking to aquire for the next publishing season. He said he was looking for almost any marketing topic, except branding.

Can't wait to see the new you!