Creativity Central [Marty Baker]

Novelty has a life cycle.  Some long, some remarkably short.   Among life's cruelest truths is this one:  "Wonderful things are especially wonderful the first time they happen, but their wonderfulness wanes with repetition," writes Daniel Gilbert in his fascinating book, Stumbling on Happiness.

Psychologists called this habituation, economists call it declining marginal utility and advertisers call it time for new campaign.  Ironically, the more novel the experience, the faster we tire of it.  I call this the "Hootie" moment.  Hootie and Blowfish came out of nowhere and had a hit album -- Cracked Rear View.   The radio stations blasted this album into the stratosphere and then like Skylab, there was a serious crash and burn.  16 million albums sold. We were Hootized into serious backlash. (Unfortunately, it was the radio stations, not the group who created the problem.)

 In creativity seminars there is a predictable and seemingly inevitable cycle.  During the seminar most participants are actively engaged.  Their neurons are firing, adrenaline is pumping and they enthusiastically believe in the power of creativity and creative tools.  After a week or so, gravity pulls this feeling back down to Earth.   The creativity tool is put on the habituated back burner along with the Hootie album, pasta machines, and a zen garden kit.  The brain is bored.

In seminars, our goal is help people make a habit of creativity or a least open a door to possibilities.  But maybe we are doing a very (un) creative job of follow up.   There is almost a creative backlash.  In my experience, people get back to the business of business.  They get re-absorbed in usual business culture until the next seminar or guru comes along.

Most leaders I talk to say "Honestly, I don't have the time."   Or without "guided creativity" they often don't produce results that truly have an impact on their business.  The returns on ideas don't show up on this quarter's balance sheet. 

According to Edward de Bono, to get creativity in back in business, "you have to make it an expectation."  Businesses want to embrace innovation but "creativity" and "non-patterned" thinking is typically not encouraged daily because it uses that precious commodity -- time.   But I will put the creative ball back in our court.  Maybe we've sold you novelty and not an mindstyle.  Perhaps we've motivated you for a day, maybe a week. Our collective goal is to plant the seed of possibility.  What is possible with a habit of creativity?  Think Pixar.  Think Disney.  Think Ideo.  Think Hallmark.  Think the "old" Sony. Think CBS -- three different versions of CSI. (In an odd twist of irony, Disney's Michael Eisner turned down CSI.)

Ultimately, it's about creative capital.  How important is it to a company?  Or to a individual leader?  So maybe the question isn't "Did you have a nice day?"  But "did you have a creative day?"  Now, I will put on Cracked Rear View, dust off the pasta maker and get "Jiggi" with it.