“You can design and create, and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality.”
~Walt Disney.
First of all, Happy Easter, He is risen.
Ever get into a discussion of creativity with one of those, “I’m the creative one around here,” or “all creativity comes from one department?”
Well, it’s wrong. Creativity and creative people are all around you. I’m fortunate enough to work in a place heavily populated with creativity, as this video about Easter shows.
The author, writer, and producer, Mark Ornelas isn’t in radio programming or marketing, but his creativity and communication skills are unmistakable.
When it comes to creativity, my mind always wanders over to Walt Disney. The man was not only creative, but he was so “systematically.” He established a framework of producing creativity through the lens of three roles.
The Dreamer has the visionary, big picture role. This is where ideas start.
The Realist is the one who thinks constructively and devises an action plan for the vision.
The Critic (the most familiar role) tests the idea, looks for problems and unintended consequences.
The best ideas come when all three roles are present, but that’s not what typically happens. If the roles are completely separate instead of a continuum, they fight each other. Some say that all three roles can be handled by one person, but I know more people who think they are that person than are. The best creativity necessitates all three roles being involved.
So one of three things happens. We tilt to one role or the other roles, and miss the totality, bringing about a “good idea” that goes nowhere. Or we outsource our creativity and innovation to people who have convinced us they are that three-in-one person. Lastly, we just stop being creative – we give up on even trying to be more creative.
Creativity isn’t a department or a person, and it’s not a collection of good ideas that, in the end, don’t “put points on the scoreboard” at all. They’re just cool ideas.
Mark and his video showed me that creativity isn’t that elusive, it’s right under our noses if we look for it.