Like modern politics, the corporate world is crammed with terms that either don’t mean what they are usually intended to mean, or mean something else entirely.
An example of this is ‘creativity’. In the corporate workplace this word is chucked around with the same giddy abandon that monkey chuck feces around their enclosures at the zoo. And it has approximately the same value.
Most people want to believe that there is a degree of creativity (and autonomy) in their corporate work because most people want to be ‘creatives’. Unfortunately, though, the strictures of the corporate workplace make real creativity almost impossible.
I used to work in advertising. I was employed by a large media owner. Part of the job was to come up with creative concepts for how advertisers could speak to that media owner’s particular audience in its particular tone of voice.
At face value this sounds like a pretty creative gig, and yes, to some extent it was. But the reality of it was that one’s application of creativity was severely hampered by two immovable sets of red lines: those of the client, and those of the media company itself.
This wasn’t a case of painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling. There was no blank canvas. Say the client was selling deodorants. While you might be able to sit down with a blank sheet of paper and come up with some pretty wild ideas that pertained to the product, if they didn’t also suit the character of the media company’s assets then they wouldn’t be allowed. Either that, or your wild ideas would be rejected by the advertiser as being too ‘out there’ for their brand.
In either case true creativity would fall victim to the commercial constraints of the players involved. And worse, there would sometimes be other voices—creative agencies, PRs and so on—who would work to stifle any remaining flame of invention.
For this reason most of the work that would end up being commissioned was of the blandest, most unremarkable quality imaginable.
This is not to say that creativity is never possible is the arena of commerce. It is—it’s the degree of ‘true’ creativity which is at risk, and in the end this is down to how risk averse the key decision-makers are.
Yes, once in a blue moon you’ll see an advert like the Cadbury’s gorilla one, where the concept is zany, memorable and has little to do with what is being sold. But in the main stakeholders are cautious. Targets must be met, and dividends paid. And no one wants to be one who went out on a limb when profits fall.
This is why if you want to be truly creative you have no choice but to work for yourself. I can put what I like—within reason—on this blog and I don’t have to ask anyone for permission. Yes, I have to attract readers, and so if I put out an off-topic, ten-article series on model railways I’d be shooting myself in the foot. But at the same time, it is also up to me what audience I want to go after. I get to make that decision and to fashion my content accordingly. And while so far the money I am earning is dwarfed by my former salary, the freedom that this brings me is priceless.
My latest release Fifty Shades of Game Vol 1 reached number 11 in Germany, 12 in the UK and 28 in the US Amazon ‘Sex’ charts this week and is getting five star reviews:
Troy Francis once again takes the role of an experienced teacher, this time into the edgy realm of kinkiness and how to reap all its benefits – Alexandre (Five stars *****)
To pick up your copy of Fifty Shades of Game Vol 1 click here
