Are we facing a creativity crisis?
With so much technology, march of automation and – despite lockdowns – continued pressure on time, our ability to step “out of the box” to unleash our creative potential can seem restricted. PSMG’s Bianca Constantin sat down to discuss with Matthew Rowe, head of PR and communications, at Birketts.
Let’s jump straight in: Has technology killed our creativity?
Creativity is recognised as a critical skill in today’s economy but alarmingly scores in the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (the gold standard for monitoring creativity) are in decline. However, many would argue though that far from killing creativity, technology is aiding creativity and inspiration and has fuelled an explosion of ideas, products, platforms, and opportunities for collaboration.
The problem, in my view, comes when we’re digitally distracted. We reach for a device just because it’s there. Speaking from personal experience, I am particularly bad just before going to sleep and when I wake up as I reach for my phone automatically when the alarm goes off and I don’t put it down straight away, I then go on to check through my notifications. So, in effect, by reaching for your phone, you’re not interacting with it, you’re just picking it up because it’s there and at that point our creativity deteriorates.
Creativity is one of the most central human traits and most valuable skills but only when it is used properly, can it unlock great potential. If we’re idly using technology, our ability to be creative will be negatively impacted.
We now have available to us various social platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, but also email - which comes in two categories: work and personal. The same goes for WhatsApp groups, texts and so on. You can go around in a huge loop, which may take you around 20 minutes to check and then by the time you finish, things can change and something new comes in and the cycle of checking every platform begins once again.
Back in the ‘olden times’, pre-email, when people would write letters, a lot more information would be gathered before sending off a first communication. It would take days for it to arrive and then be sent back and therefore the purpose was to get as much information as possible prior to sending anything to limit the number of letters being sent and make the process shorter. Now, we’re encouraged to send a “quick” email, and then it might take 20 pieces of communication to finalise a conversation.
So, when referring to the barrier of creativity, you need a certain amount of headspace to clearly compose your thoughts. Being stuck in a loop of constantly checking notifications on various apps and platforms prevents you from having that headspace to think. I refer to this phenomenon as digital distraction. From this perspective, technology is far from being a tool for enhanced collaboration, it is a huge distraction and instead has a completely negative impact on productivity and creativity.
It’s a serious subject though. We’ve lived in a world (until the start of 2020 at least) where we measured success and status in terms of how busy we were. Being too busy almost became a badge of honour. And yet, creativity surely comes when we have time to think, to plan, to research. Would you agree?
Absolutely. It can all become completely overwhelming and the pandemic blurred the all-important line between work and home: have we been working from home or living at work? I think the latter is the reality for some of us. The workday has become longer, and work is interfering with personal space, where prior to working from home we may have used that space to do our thinking about work and reflect, that space is no longer available.
Alongside all the numerous advantages that tech has brought to our lives we may have managed to kill off one of the main drivers of creativity: mind wandering. In my view, it is now very easy to become too busy and too entertained for creativity to blossom.
Part of the problem is the expectation that you are always available. I chose to operate on two mobile phones (a work phone and a personal phone) to try to prevent some of that but what that really means is that I end up having two places to check so I’m not sure I’ve got around the problem, maybe I sort of added to it!
We end up taking longer to complete tasks and feel much more drained at the end of the day. Minds need to wander; thoughts need to drift. Some of our best work originates from mulling over words, data, ideas, and challenges. There's a reason that Archimedes had his "Eureka!" moment in the bath.
However, unlike Archimedes, we tend to have more showers nowadays because we live in a fast-paced environment. In order to have a “Eureka” moment you need to be in a state of relaxation, to not do anything but simply think. When there are no distractions, that is when thoughts come into your head, and it could be bath time that fuels those thoughts or wandering through a forest or whatever it is that works for your individual world but the important thing is to get away from the day-to-day and process some of those thoughts.
Prior to the pandemic, I used to drive for 30 minutes between work and home, and I would use that time to reflect, to switch off from work and go into home mode. I’ve got two children and the reality now is that as soon as I open the study door, I’m in the other space, the space where my family want me to be immediately on in family mode. There’s no switch off, there’s no adjustment period, only an overwhelming sense of continually being on and so, how do you get the opportunity to process your thoughts?
Do you think there is a correlation between being risk-averse and being creative? Does fear stop us from being creative?”
Challenging ourselves and others around us to take small risks is essential to really push the boundaries, challenge the norm, learn, and improve. Unfortunately, there’s a huge barrier: fear. I think that it is a human tendency - and we need to embrace that.
Most of us don’t like to look like we’ve failed or done something stupid so we’re reluctant to throw caution to the wind and it is that fear of failure that can strangle creativity. When coupled with time pressures and trying to appease numerous internal stakeholders everything becomes inoffensive and vanilla. Which, as we all know, doesn’t create standout marketing.
We need permission to take risks and time to try different things. Pablo Picasso once famously said, “I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.”
I think ideally what you need is to create a culture where you’re given permission to take risks and sometimes “fail” because that’s where your learning will come from.
“Minds need to wander; thoughts need to drift. Some of our best work originates from mulling over words, data, ideas and challenges. There's a reason that Archimedes had his "Eureka!" moment in the bath.”
Do you think that creativity can be taught?
That question has long been debated and many people believe creativity is one of those things that you are either born with or without and simply can't be taught. However, according to Kaufman and Beghetto, creativity is a scalar concept, a matter of degree and levels – we don't have to be in Shakespeare's or Picasso's league to qualify as creative.
Some cognitive abilities are absolutely necessary to develop creativity, and knowledge and skills play an essential role too, but we all have the potential if we’re provided with the right tools and a supportive environment. The bad news of course is that non-creative behaviour can also be learned.
What I do find alarming is the lack of imaginative play among some children these days as they absent-mindedly reach for their electronic devices. It is through imaginative play that children express, explore, and work out their own ideas, thoughts, and feelings. That said, adults are just as bad (myself included). As parents I think we're very quick to tell our children to put down the devices but very poor at scheduling time for ourselves and our thoughts (at home and at work).
I’ll make a sweeping generalisation here: Lawyers and accountants are possibly not the most creative types; marketers are most definitely expected to ooze creativity. How do we bridge that gap?
I’ve worked at a couple of different law firms and accountancy firms and while there are undoubtedly those that fall into the conservative, risk-averse stereotype, some of the best lawyers and accountants have creativity in abundance.
If you think about it, a large part of their job involves problem-solving, abstract thought, analysis, and creative consideration to come up with new solutions to resolve existing problems for clients. They are just applying creativity in a different way. The key for me isn’t necessarily a need to ‘bridge the gap’ but create a culture where people are comfortable with the idea of trying something different and not always getting it right.
The problem with both accountancy and law firms, generally speaking, is that time pressure is a barrier which gets in the way of creativity.
How do you foster a culture where creativity is important at Birketts?
We are encouraged to try different things. We’ve gone through a cultural change programme where we talk about moving from good to great and it’s very much around putting clients first. We’re making data-led decisions and giving colleagues enough time and space to be able to try something new and work with different teams on various projects.
I’m not sure we’re doing anything differently to other firms but there may be an unexplored opportunity for firms to learn from each other and collaborate.
Do you think clients still value creativity? Or have they too succumbed to the “technology is king” mantra.
Creativity is one of the most highly sought qualities by clients of all walks of life across all services in my view. At the end of the day a client of any law firm expects the lawyer to know the law as a mere minimum. We all want advisors to think outside the box to get around obstacles (quickly and inexpensively) to help secure our objectives. If technology can help achieve that then great but first and foremost solve the problem.
Speaking as someone at the front end of their career, do you think there’s an opportunity for young professionals to stand-out by honing their creative gene?
I think the one piece of advice I would give any young marketer who wants to stand-out is to learn about your customers and be curious. If you understand what your firm’s clients truly want or need you’ll become invaluable. Work with people of different backgrounds who don't all share the same view. Bring a new perspective and don't be afraid to try things that fail (just make sure you learn something from the experience and adapt going forwards).
At Birketts, we have a business services managers forum where the heads of IT, marketing, HR. etc all come together to discuss a topic. So, you suddenly have those Eureka moments that we talked about earlier – and it’s because you’re going slightly out of your comfort zone, where you are not talking about the same old thing, in the same old way, with the same old people. We’re quite fortunate we’re not focused necessarily on what is the right way, the focus is on what is it that we are trying to achieve.
What keeps you creative?
Spending time with my children and people that don’t always share my view of the world. It’s important to question our perspective, I'm also doing my best to stay offline outside of work, but it can be a bit of a struggle. To remain creative, I believe that we need time to reflect and experiment in our days and give ourselves some ‘head space’.
Being inside for too long definitely affects me so I enjoy going for long walks and gardening. I set time aside for such activities where I am performing a task but where my mind can wander at the same time. We need to vary our routines, spend time with others and get out in the fresh air. If you’re looking for one tip, it might be advisable to occasionally do nothing at all and let you mind wander.