Creativity Undefined

"The U.S. economy is not powered by manufacturing; it's powered by creativity"- Alex Bogusky

I believe this, I absolutely believe this.

One of the biggest battles I fight here is the label of Creative. Being surrounded by incredibly talented artists and writers and strategists and managers everyday has opened my eyes to so many new ways to look at the world around us. It has also opened my eyes to the fact that creative is not a title to be coveted, but expected from everyone.

Another quote from the article:
"We all have it. It doesn't mean you can draw or sing or compose music or write. It might mean you have a unique ability to sniff out the right audience. Or an uncanny ability to find the truth of a business hidden in the numbers. Or maybe you have a way of talking to consumers that allows them to reveal what they're really thinking."-AB

Why does the title only get offered to those who manifest their creativity through a particular, designated medium? I would challenge anyone with a creative title to match their big ideas with some of the "non-creative" or "business" big ideas any day. Creativity should be demanded from everyone, in every position, in any industry.

Yet another quote:
"Anything we do as humans, when done well enough and with enough passion, becomes creative. Creativity is not inherent to the activity. I play guitar and it's certainly not at a level that I would consider a creative endeavor. I've even written commercials that in retrospect I would not consider creative. I've also seen strategy decks and marketing plans that were outrageously creative and flat-out brilliant." -AB

One of my most aspirational goals for my career is to eventually eradicate creative as a title -or- more likely a scenario, find a way to apply it to every position within a company. Creativity is not left for those who know simply know how to create beautiful images using the adobe suite or build images and feelings in people's minds with their words- it's so much more than that. I'd be willing to bet that even Steve in accounts receivable has a creative outlet of his own, while he's not getting his paychecks for it, yet, that doesn't banish him from the circle.

There are people, especially in this industry, who seem to hold on to that title so tightly and close to their chest that it's almost laughable- because that is inherently the opposite of what it is. Being able to embrace, and demand, good ideas from everyone and having the ability to see everyone's avenues for creativity, while different than our own, could also be considered a great definition for a creative.

What if the label of creative itself automatically kills the notion of creative because by classifying what we should all try our best to inherently operate with, it automatically falls into a preconceived grouping- completely negating the idea or original and creative.

"It's not the job. It's how you do it. Creativity and excellence are synonymous."-AB

Chew on that...