The general consensus around creativity is that the best insights come about when we’re relaxed, working in a flexible environment and given the opportunity to meander from one idea to the next. But while this may be true, there’s another approach that could be just as fruitful: collaboration. Business leaders tend to know that collaboration is important, but don’t necessarily know how to do it, so we’ve spoken to some B2B experts to find out more.
1. Get different departments to work together
“Strength lies in differences, not in similarities” – Stephen R. Covey, author, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Creative ideas can be born from the most unlikely couplings, says Darren Bolton, head of creative at OgilvyOne Business. “It’s important to realise that the best ideas don’t always come from the creatives – there are planners, account managers and many other people in the business who are also well qualified when it comes to offering creative ideas.”
2. Identify the problem that you’re trying to solve
“A problem well put is half solved.” – John Dewey, philosopher
“Know your problem,” says Nick Eagleton, creative director at The Partners. “Without a problem, you won’t get a good idea. Most of the best ideas come from people who know their audience, and their problems, the best. They come from practitioners and support staff – not marketing people. Einstein said: ‘If I had an hour to save the world I would spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and five minutes thinking about the solution.’ Wise advice indeed.”
3. Start with humanistic problem solving first; use technology second
“You can never solve a problem on the level on which it was created.” – Albert Einstein, physicist
Ada Lovelace, the world’s first computer programmer, argued that for a machine to be intelligent it needed to come up with creative ideas. And as long as it’s programmed to achieve tasks, it won’t be able to reach human-like intelligence. This is emphasised by Nick, who believes creativity comes from humanistic problem-solving. “Technology like AR and VR is a red herring. You don’t get a creative culture from technology; you get it from solving human problems in novel ways. Design thinking is all about the human problem, and technology is a way of bringing that solution to life.”
4. Adopt an ‘open thinking wall’
“Asking ‘Why?’ can lead to understanding. Asking ‘Why not?’ can lead to breakthroughs.” – Daniel Pink, author, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
The mere act of challenging the status quo could help plant a creative seed and encourage closer collaboration. At OgilvyOne Business, Darren has introduced an ‘open thinking wall’ as a productive starting point for brainstorming. “We send a small, top-line brief around the agency. Over the next few days people will put their ideas on the wall… some will come in at night and hide them if they’re slightly embarrassed; others will attach their name. The point is to open the idea up to everyone.”
5. Encourage failure
“It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.” – Edward de Bono, physician
Dr Mark Batey, senior lecturer in organisational psychology at the Alliance Manchester Business School and Anna Walker, associate professor of business and management at Bath Spa University, say that openness to intelligent risk-taking is an essential step in any creative process. “Organisations must get used to the idea that failure is normal,” says Anna. “When a project fails, evaluate it – don’t die of shame.”
Darren agrees: for him, encouraging failure is a quick way of making things work in the long term. “If you can’t get things wrong, you won’t get things right. The whole point of hearing different opinions is that someone will come up with something that’s just plain stupid, but actually, that’s okay. There are plenty of things that can go wrong in a brainstorming session, but you want people to feel happy and comfortable saying anything. When someone does say something ‘stupid’ we work out quickly how to make it work.”
6. Urge your team to be commercially creative
“When bankers get together for dinner, they discuss art. When artists get together for dinner, they discuss money” – Oscar Wilde, author
It’s important that in professional environments collaborative teams pinpoint the main focus for achieving their goals. “The main thing is to find people who genuinely want to work in B2B,” says John Farrell, chairman of the PR and comms committee for The Worshipful Company of Marketors. “You need people who are passionate and knowledgeable about the industry. Creatives in B2B need to be commercial; they’re more likely to be exposed if they don’t know what they’re talking about.”
7. Work towards a state of ‘flow’
“Enjoyment appears at the boundary between boredom and anxiety, when the challenges are just balanced with the person’s capacity to act.” – Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, psychologist
In his book Flow: The Psychology of Happiness, Csikszentmihalyi argues that for someone to be truly happy at work, they have to achieve a state of ‘flow’ – a level of concentration that allows them to be fully absorbed in creative activity. This is reiterated by Louise Jorden, executive creative director at Rufus Leonard, who believes that applying this concept to a collaborative environment can lead to increased productivity. “Brand index, social proof and awards are usually good indicators for measuring creativity, but in reality it’s also the atmosphere, and the feeling you get when teams are really clicking and achieving ‘flow’. You know you’re getting it right when people are regularly getting into that zone and producing outstanding work as a result.”
