In innovation companies, advertising agencies, design firms and other such creative organizations, you often hear the sentiment, “Everyone is creative,” echo through the halls. This is meant to encourage everyone in the organization, not just the “creatives,” but also the support staff, the money guys and others, to exercise their creative muscles.
Certainly it is true that ideas can come from anywhere. But, generally, there is a certain department whose job it is to generate ideas. The tendency of this department is to do its work without including people from other departments—or, all too often, the client. Inviting into the process people who are not well practiced in the ways of the “creatives” can feel, from the creatives’ perspective, inefficient, and can even inhibit the ideators from ideating freely.
However, it is counterproductive to be so insular. Bringing “outsiders” into the creative process can enhance that process significantly, but it needs to be done carefully, thoughtfully, intelligently.
The reality is that the guy in accounting may not be very creative. In fact, his value may derive precisely from the fact that he isn’t creative. His “left-brainedness”, if you’ll excuse the oversimplification, can make him a very useful participant at certain points in the creative process. He is literally hardwired differently. He sees the world through a different lens. And it is this very difference that, if encouraged and given free voice, can be so helpful in, for example, brainstorming sessions. Beyond the direct contributions these “outsiders” can make to the generation and refinement of ideas, including these folks in the process accomplishes at least two other things.
It helps break down the self-imposed barriers and compartmentalization that occurs in organizations and create the perception of “outsiders” in the first place. Bringing people from other departments, or, again, even the client, into the process won’t eradicate these divisions completely, nor should it. But it will soften and blur the lines, creating bonds, enriching relationships and contributing to a general sense that you’re all rowing in the same direction and everyone’s hands are on the oars.
It also distributes a sense of ownership and authorship more broadly, so that more people in the organization—as well as clients—can feel like they’ve had some impact and made some contribution to the idea. This engenders enthusiasm and support for the idea far beyond the small circle of “creatives”—and increases the odds for that idea’s success. This, in turn, contributes to the success of the entire organization.
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