I was browsing through the NYT when I found this statement about the decrease in golf players and the small crisis in the sector:
“When the ship is sinking, it’s time to get creative”
I couldn’t help but make a sethgodin-like comment: creativity isn’t a fire axe on the wall. Creativity is something you apply everyday to ensure you don’t miss chances, even if you end discarding the most risky options. It’s not a skill you can easily find when you most need it if you haven’t had it before.
If selling your product may sometimes require creativity, then you need to keep some creative workers with you. They’ll learn about your market and find solutions as it changes, not after. When creativity is what can stop a crisis, it’s highly probable that the lack of creativity was what actually triggered it.
I agree. Creativity is a gift, not a plan. Not even an A plan.
You bet.
By the way, your is the first comment in English since I turned the blog bilingual last week.
I basically agree with you. It is also true, however, that creativity is too overvalued sometimes. Many crisis do not arise from lack of creativity, and many others can’t be solved just with creativity. IMHO, creativity is an essential ingredient in many strategies, but it has become a politically correct concept that now seems to fit everywhere. Just like with illnesses and drugs, there is a solution for each problem. You can’t cure every single condition with a given drug, just as you cannot solve every crisis with creativity.
Well, that’s why the last decision isn’t often left to creatives. I concur that a wrong aplication of creativity during a crisis can produce unacceptable risks. Creatives are like hounds, they spot the target but they don’t carry the gun.