The Partners recently conducted research into how much value UK businesses place on ‘creativity’ as part of their strategy. As a result of this our Managing Partner, Jim Prior, has written an opinion piece for The Times today based on the research findings. It came as no surprise to us that whereas many companies place a high value on creativity, very few feel capable of delivering it, or even have it on the agenda at board level. Jim offers some suggestions for how to harness creativity and help drive your business forward.
“I want a brand as strong as Apple” is a statement we often hear from senior managers in very un-Apple-like organisations. The problem is that they’re just not prepared to do what it takes to make it happen.
In our research, brands such as Apple, Virgin and Google were mentioned consistently as the companies that business leaders said they most admired and aspired to be like. There is a tacit understanding that these organisations are driven by a different kind of engine to most others — their creativity — and it is this, fundamentally, to which these senior managers aspire.
Yet our study also revealed that for most business leaders creativity is not regarded as a serious topic for debate — only 10 per cent discuss it at board meetings and more than 40 per cent say that nobody has responsibility for it in their business. They prefer, instead, to talk about sales, costs, timeframes, supply chains, resources and other seemingly more tangible matters. The subject of creativity, with its inherently unconventional nature, subjectivity and lack of immediate measurability, is the sort of thing that most business leaders have been taught to avoid. Saying that you’d like to be more creative is one thing; doing something about it is quite another.
Yet, in this economic environment, this is a huge opportunity missed. Despite their reluctance to act, business leaders already acknowledge the value that creativity brings. Ninety-six per cent of respondents in our study cite creativity as integral to business success. More than 40 per cent place more value on creativity as a source of business advantage than on those traditional deliverables of knowledge and efficiency. And they are entirely right. A recessionary, or post-recessionary, world demands new thinking, new approaches, differentiation and innovation, certainly not merely more of the same. People are looking for change, for stronger, more meaningful relationships in which businesses help to solve the problems that matter most, not only those that generate most profit. They want radical, brave solutions. This is a time for creative thinking and action, the transition from the knowledge economy of the past 20 years to the ideas economy of the future.
To make this transition effective, businesses need to overcome the barrier that prevents their acknowledgement of creativity’s value from being acted upon in practise. As 46 per cent of our respondents told us that they would be happy to take increased responsibility for creativity, we can conclude that the problem is not a lack of desire but a lack of know-how.
The good news is that providing the know-how is not as daunting as it may seem. Despite its esoteric reputation, creativity can be taught. Despite its non-linear thought processes, it can be systemised. Despite its often peripheral role, it can and should be installed as a fundamental strategic platform that informs every decision and action. What is needed is a firm commitment from the organisation’s leadership to embrace it and external, specialist help to plan and deliver it. It needs companies to realise that you can’t simply talk a good game, you’ve got to deliver one, too.
Business leaders already know the superior value that creativity can bring. Now they must act on it, with courage and conviction and the mindset of a new, creative age.
• Jim Prior is managing partner of The Partners, a branding consultancy
Article taken from The Times Online.
About Kevin
Designer, moaner and geek at design agency; The Partners. Follow my ramblings at http://twitter.com/theklan
Creativity is not an option
“I want a brand as strong as Apple” is a statement we often hear from senior managers in very un-Apple-like organisations. The problem is that they’re just not prepared to do what it takes to make it happen.
In our research, brands such as Apple, Virgin and Google were mentioned consistently as the companies that business leaders said they most admired and aspired to be like. There is a tacit understanding that these organisations are driven by a different kind of engine to most others — their creativity — and it is this, fundamentally, to which these senior managers aspire.
Yet our study also revealed that for most business leaders creativity is not regarded as a serious topic for debate — only 10 per cent discuss it at board meetings and more than 40 per cent say that nobody has responsibility for it in their business. They prefer, instead, to talk about sales, costs, timeframes, supply chains, resources and other seemingly more tangible matters. The subject of creativity, with its inherently unconventional nature, subjectivity and lack of immediate measurability, is the sort of thing that most business leaders have been taught to avoid. Saying that you’d like to be more creative is one thing; doing something about it is quite another.
Yet, in this economic environment, this is a huge opportunity missed. Despite their reluctance to act, business leaders already acknowledge the value that creativity brings. Ninety-six per cent of respondents in our study cite creativity as integral to business success. More than 40 per cent place more value on creativity as a source of business advantage than on those traditional deliverables of knowledge and efficiency. And they are entirely right. A recessionary, or post-recessionary, world demands new thinking, new approaches, differentiation and innovation, certainly not merely more of the same. People are looking for change, for stronger, more meaningful relationships in which businesses help to solve the problems that matter most, not only those that generate most profit. They want radical, brave solutions. This is a time for creative thinking and action, the transition from the knowledge economy of the past 20 years to the ideas economy of the future.
To make this transition effective, businesses need to overcome the barrier that prevents their acknowledgement of creativity’s value from being acted upon in practise. As 46 per cent of our respondents told us that they would be happy to take increased responsibility for creativity, we can conclude that the problem is not a lack of desire but a lack of know-how.
The good news is that providing the know-how is not as daunting as it may seem. Despite its esoteric reputation, creativity can be taught. Despite its non-linear thought processes, it can be systemised. Despite its often peripheral role, it can and should be installed as a fundamental strategic platform that informs every decision and action. What is needed is a firm commitment from the organisation’s leadership to embrace it and external, specialist help to plan and deliver it. It needs companies to realise that you can’t simply talk a good game, you’ve got to deliver one, too.
Business leaders already know the superior value that creativity can bring. Now they must act on it, with courage and conviction and the mindset of a new, creative age.
• Jim Prior is managing partner of The Partners, a branding consultancy
Article taken from The Times Online.
About Kevin
Designer, moaner and geek at design agency; The Partners. Follow my ramblings at http://twitter.com/theklan