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The Truth About Creativity

Written by: Jay Conrad Levinson

Article Overview: The concept of creativity is over 50,000 years old and has always been an inherent talent in Homo sapiens -- human beings, as we know them now. It was not an inherent talent in Neanderthal man. Michael Ray, a Stanford professor who teaches a course on creativity, says that creativity exists within everyone. He believes that when people can’t tap into their creativity, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Instead, it means that the creativity is being suppressed by what he terms as the voice of judgment – what I term as the inner censor. That’s what gets the blame for destroying self-esteem.

The Truth About Creativity

The concept of creativity is over 50,000 years old and has always been an inherent talent in Homo sapiens -- human beings, as we know them now. It was not an inherent talent in Neanderthal man. Michael Ray, a Stanford professor who teaches a course on creativity, says that creativity exists within everyone. He believes that when people can’t tap into their creativity, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Instead, it means that the creativity is being suppressed by what he terms as the voice of judgment – what I term as the inner censor. That’s what gets the blame for destroying self-esteem.

Professor Ray believes there are five qualities of creativity: intuition, will, joy, strength and compassion. Four tools stimulate those qualities – faith in your own creativity, absence of judgment, precise observation and penetrating questions. He and I agree wholeheartedly that creativity is not one great eureka moment that produces a brilliant idea. Instead, it is a way of life.

Almost every creative professional knows very well that true creativity is not the result of inspiration, but instead comes from hard work and focus. I’ve authored or co-authored 29 books so far and not one of them has come from a moment of inspiration. If I waited for that flash of inspiration, I’d still be laboring over page one of my first book. The idea is to be able to create by reaching deep into yourself and not to wait for a bright light to flash inside your head. If you do, you’re in for a long, dark wait.

Job description for guerrillas

Your job as a guerrilla is to come up with a winning meme – one that identifies your business and communicates something about the quality that you offer, expressed in terms that suggest a benefit. If you’re looking for creativity heaven, you’ll find it right inside of yourself. And you’ll see that as your meme will be the result of your creativity, it will also serve as the nucleus of your creativity for all your future marketing.

Would the great artists, musicians, dancers and writers been creative guerrilla marketers? My guess is that they would – because they did not wait for inspiration, but instead, knew where to find it inside of themselves.

Dotcoms and memes

A powerful meme would be of extreme value to a dotcom company because it would make their offline marketing far more effective at being remembered, motivating people to access a site, and demonstrating the primary benefit that the company offers. But many dotcom business owners are so wrapped up in technology that they are used to finding their inspiration outside of themselves rather than within. After all, it’s outside of themselves technology has always resided. But the rules are different with true guerrilla creativity. It resides inside of them – if only they’d look long and hard enough.

With the telecommunications wars being waged with ferocity and non-stop telemarketing, all the phone companies have been striving for a point of difference. My guess is that some copywriter in some ad agency was one of many working to give his or her client an edge. Research showed that one of the benefits that could be offered by a phone company was clarity of sound.

Shhhhhhh!

That copywriter most likely pondered this concept and then tried to recall how people refer to clear sound. "So quiet, you could hear a pin drop," came to mind. That spurred the birth of Sprint’s meme, a graphic depiction of a pin dropping next to a telephone. As with many memes, it did require a bit of explanation, which Sprint did with its TV commercials.

Since that time, Sprint has been using its meme wisely and consistently, in true guerrilla fashion. Ideally, they’ll be able to stay with it for a long time, or at least until research shows that clear sound is now taken for granted. Unlike Y2K, which was a short-lived meme, the pin dropping can be a meme with longevity – the best and most powerful kind.

The tale of Sprint is a tale of creativity in action. You can be certain that the imaginary copywriter was not aiming to win awards or accolades. Instead, the motivation was to communicate a meaningful benefit to consumers, something instantly communicated by the visual of a pin dropping. In just a flash, viewers and readers got the point – no pun intended. This kind of creativity is rare. But it’s the kind you’ll need in our increasingly competitive marketing environment.

Because creativity is so misunderstood in marketing circles, astonishing sums of money are wasted. Truly creative marketing does not have to be attractive, but should come on strong to key prospects, attractiveness be damned. It takes into consideration the lifetime value of a customer rather than the instant gratification of a quick sale.

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Article Tags: brilliant idea, creative professional, flash of inspiration, four tools, future marketing, gre, guerrilla, guerrillas, intuition, job description, man michael, michael ray, neanderthal man, nucleus, penetrating questions, precise observation, professor ray, stanford professor, true creativity, way of life



Related Forum Posts
Essential Leadership skills - Delegate Serve Creativity optimistic smart Focused Reliable honest Good sense of judgment consistent... It all comes from the confidence from within
3 for 1 - Thats a tough job, a single word as an expression of thought for a word like 'internet' is sure a difficult one ! However, I could think of a number of them - they are : 1. Creativity 2. Freedom 3. Universe Hope this is of help.
Me Too - So.... - I write. Its a form of 'pull' marketing that suits me, though I'm quite an outgoing person. I know all the stuff about it not being me, 'they're just not ready yet'. Truth is I'm not good with rejection and will walk if I get too much of it - so I do it differently. Each to his own I guess. Still, I wish I had the guts to do those 500, just to say 'I did it'! Will read that article!
Internet Marketing - Creativity or originality would be good words. you might want to try two words; after all, you are trying to suggest a complex idea that combines at least two concepts: marketing and internet. in other words, the concept has to evoke an action (marketing), how (honestly, responsibly?) and by what means you are going to carry that action out (internet). I hope this helps; Good luck!
Re: Cash up front ... or Royalties? - There are so many amazing stories here. Most my inventions were created on the job and are the property of my employer. Cash up front if you are out of options is what some people must do. These people may consider a 5 year contract. This would allow them to renegotiate another license when they are stronger financially. Truth is most people that are in financial trouble today are still in trouble 5 years later. Discipline and control of your own life is priceless. An example of cash up front versus royalties is "Star Wars" Harrison Ford (Hans Solo) took cash up front. He needed the money. Alec Ginness (Obiwankonbi) took royalties. I believe the force is still paying.


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