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While digesting my daily dose of BBC News, I stumbled across this article in the business section.
Focusing on the latest book by Steven Johnson ‘The business of innovation’, the article discusses whether the majority of great ideas are the result of a moment of sheer inspiration by the individual, or rather the work of more sustained, collaborative efforts.
Johnson it seems comes down in favour of the later, believing that “the lone genius is the exception rather than the rule."
Now I’m not a ‘creative’ but I’d have to agree. At Marketecture, we rarely lock our creative geniuses away in an attic, listening at the door for that elusive ‘eureka!’ moment. Not unless they’ve been really naughty that is. Instead we operate as a team, with everyone from account managers to copywriters to directors helping our creatives come up with that one fabulous idea.
Johnson goes on to explain that "[Good ideas] come from crowds, they come from networks.” And in today’s increasingly connected world surely that can only be a good thing? As a bit of a social media whore, I frequently use Twitter, Facebook and their ilk for my own blog ideas. I’m doing it here, ‘stealing’ someone else’s book review. But surely the best ideas have to come from somewhere? And why not someone else’s thoughts or musings?
Indeed Johnson encourages us all to:
"Go for a walk; cultivate hunches; write everything down; but keep your folders messy; embrace serendipity; make generative mistakes; take on multiple hobbies, frequent coffee houses and other liquid networks; follow the links; let others build on your ideas; borrow, recycle, reinvent."
I’d agree with everything apart from the messy folders bit. But perhaps that's where creatives and account managers really differ!
Of course it’s not enough to just blatantly steal someone else’s good work, but if you can use it as the basis of something better, why not? Having recently watched ‘The Social Network’, the story of Facebook, the movie perfectly portrays how one small nugget of inspiration can be taken on by someone else and turned into something utterly phenomenal. Watch it, it’s a good un.
I don’t, of course, want to imply that any of us are capable of award winning creative concepts. I’m quite often in awe of the work my colleagues produce from the most basic of briefs, and it’s certainly not something I’m capable of doing (but please – let’s not tell them – their heads are too big as it is!). However, in my defence, I’d like to think that I, with the rest of the Marketecture team, help them along a little bit.
