Why Reverting to Childhood is Good For Business Creativity

Often, when I work at home in the evenings, my son Thomas will come and share my desk space and do some schoolwork or art.  I bought a bigger desk precisely for this reason, I felt my workload was neglecting him.  Last night, he was drawing an odd two-headed creature, I asked him what it was.

"It's a cat, daddy"

Hmmm…  interesting, I thought, a two-headed cat!  I asked him why the cat had two heads.  He said:

"Because it has."

There was no logic or drawn out justification, the cat simply had two heads, it's just the way it is.  When he started to fill in the drawing with a green felt tip, I asked him why he was colouring in a cat with green.  He replied unflinchingly:

"It's a green cat, daddy."

Of course it is and why shouldn't it be? 

I consider myself creative, I get paid for my creative input into corporate workshops, company literature and advertising campaigns, I am often commended on my artistic endeavours yet Thomas made me realise that as an adult my creativity has been stifled.  I'm not saying that I should storm into my next ideas session and say "What your brand would really benefit from is a green cat with two heads" but I think I would benefit from throwing off the restrictions of the corporate world, the limitations of grown-up life.

Particularly in business, we learn to do things in a certain way.  We start with a spark in our stomachs determined to set the business world on fire.  Formal education and internships introduce us to a world of suits and spreadsheets which come with a uniform of etiquette that's required to succeed.  We toe the line and learn what works and what doesn't and twenty years later we arrive at Destination Professional which affords us a nice standard of living but leaves our creative ambitions as a flickering candle rather that a blazing trail.

As children, we're not frightened to explore our imagination to its limits, we haven't ventured out into the real world yet, we don't know about the boundaries enforced on us as grown-ups.  Childhood is such an abundantly productive time, it's a shame we no longer allow ourselves to behave in a childlike way or even to remember what it was like.  The next time you sit down to a creative task, take yourself back through the Looking Glass and see what happens.

In business communication, the onus is on information, we have to get the facts across simply and accessibly.  This is imperative but when did we agree that the information had to lack imagination?  Take the glut of recent TV advertising for Pay-day Loan companies.  By law they have to declare a lot of information in a short snap of airtime.  Cash Lady's creative team came up with the idea of sticking a celebrity in front of the camera dictating information.  Wonga presented us with the idea that the company was run by very posh pensioner puppets.  Guess which campaign was the most successful?  Wonga's team presented something that a bunch of schoolkids could have come up with, it's funny and engaging, no mean feat considering that half the country are opposed to the company's business ethics.  The childlike creativity worked and Wonga remains the market leader with reported profits in excess of £1million per week.

When Thomas declared that the cat was green, I didn't argue with him.  His conviction was so strong there was nothing to argue with.  It was a green cat.  Idea sold.  Self-belief holds a lot of authority.  A lot of us lack it, we get intimidated, especially in business situations, we can be sat around a table with others who have more business miles on the clock and even though we have a brilliantly dangerous idea, we're too scared to share it.  Next time, take the plunge, remember that childhood conviction.  What's worse?  The fact that you might get laughed at or the fact that your game-changing concept that could set the business world on fire gets smothered?  If you want other people to believe in you then it's essential you believe in yourself.  Tell them it's a green cat, if they laugh or disagree with you, they are the ones that are wrong.  Conviction is contagious, present your ideas with confidence and belief and even if people don't necessarily like your idea, they will never doubt it.

When faced with naysayers, do as children do, never take no for an answer.  Just follow any young family around a supermarket for evidence of this!  Children have an ability to persist, even when being told firmly 'no' a number of times.  Some of those kids end up with that candy bar.  You see the CEO of your company?  He was the little kid, flailing and crying in the confectionery aisle until his parents submitted.  He didn't take no for an answer and neither should you.  Ever noticed how many CEOs are slightly overweight?  Too much candy.  I bet they blame their parents.

Creative spontaneity is essential in today's information-overloaded corporate world.  Don't be afraid to colour outside of the lines.  Try and undo a little of that well-meaning parental guidance that suggested things had to be done in a certain way.  Go with your crazy idea, tell people about it.  Don't be afraid to be wrong.  Better to fail 100 times before achieving success than never getting there due to fear of failure.  Remember how good that candy bar tasted?