The benefits of perspective.
This blog is quite new. I’m amazed and delighted to see the activity and diversity of commentary being generated in such a short time. Thanks to all visitors and participants.
Early on I’d like to make clear the context for these ramblings and, hopefully, the ensuing discussions. This is about creative thinking in business. Not this or that category, but the business world in general.
“Isn’t that a little broad, Tom?” you might ask.
Exactly. As Thomas Friedman tells us in his best seller, “The World is Flat,” today business is not made up of lots markets, it’s one immense free-for-all.
I spent 20 years in advertising before I became a creative thinking coach. It’s often been said that from the ad world we see all business worlds. But today the ad world is all worlds. And all business worlds are marketing worlds, if not advertising, per se.
When I was a few years into my current career Jeff Goodby, chairman of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, one of the world’s great ad agencies remarked, “I bet you see the advertising business much clearer now that you’re not in it day to day.” Perceptive man.
I’ve discovered many things as I have immersed myself in the field of applied creativity in business. One thing I’ve discovered is that all these diverse business sectors are quite similar, when it comes to creative thinking, particularly what limits creativity. I’ve also discovered that the people who see the issues of their business categories the least clearly are often those with the inside/out perspective.
It is simply impossible to be completely objective about one’s self or one’s industry. Impossible. It’s at home where we have most attachments.
So I encourage visitors to this blog to be open to posts that focus on industries other than your own. You just might learn something.
In a recent blog entry I jabbed the advertising business about searching for creative inspiration too close to home. A number of commentators (some in advertising) have suggested that ad people need to look outside their industry to remain fresh.
That is precisely why this blog will be multicultural, business wise. We’ll also go outside business, to have an even less encumbered perspective; the arts, sports, science, you name it.
Do I have deep understanding of most business sectors? Not even close. Which just might give me the perspective to gain some insight and see some creative brilliance that those close to it may not recognize. The same outside perspective provides clarity around the stuck places as well.
From my background in advertising I had a window into hundreds of categories. Today, as a generalist creative thinking coach, I don’t just have windows into these industries, I am invited in through the front door. And I have to tell you I have learned so much from all these diverse situations.
From aerospace engineers I’ve learned to fail fast. From finance I’ve learned that differentiation is the product. From the retail category I’ve learned the true meaning of nimble mindedness. From technology I’ve learned the true shelf life of a new idea.
When I run my programs, if I’m in the room with people from category A, we use examples from categories B, C, D, X and triple Z. And by studying how people find fresh ideas in these diverse alien environments, the participants are more open to discovering new pathways to creative thinking and problem solving for themselves. Why? Because they are not attached to how it’s done in these places where they’ve never been.
Even the most successful people get attached. Sometimes more.
That’s why I call my core professional development program The Do-it-yourself Lobotomy, with a book written around the same concept. Because when we know, we know. When we don’t know - or, when we “lobotomize” - we wonder. And the best, freshest ideas in all fields, since the beginning of time, have come from wonder.
I believe gaining perspective is the key.
It’s my hope to attract visitors and participants from all sectors. And if you share my view on the benefits of perspective, then I bet we can discover a great deal together about this amazing thing called creativity.
© 2006 Tom Monahan, all rights reserved.
