BACK CHAT: Different creative styles

One of my favourite books is The Art of Looking Sideways by designer Alan Fletcher. It’s a book of creative ponderings and observations and in it he draws an analogy with helicopters and vending machines.

The helicopters are those people who look at a project or problem from all different angles and perspectives. They hover high above the terrain to see everything in its entirety, to get the big picture.

They then zoom in, getting nice and close to see all the detail. They fly around and see the terrain from as many different vantage points as possible. And because they see problems from so many perspectives, they can see endless possibilities.

Then you get the vending machines. These are the creatives (or creative companies) who have a range of standard solutions and ideas already in place. Clients put their money in the slot and out come the same old off-the-shelf solutions, wrapped up a little bit differently.

The problem is that many companies, in their quest to win over a client or get a project out quickly, settle for the vending machine approach. Yes, it delivers solutions and ideas – but only adequate ones, not the best ones, not the great ones.

As creative people and leaders of creative teams, we need to be helicopters. Being creative is about seeing the world from different perspectives and from fresh, unique angles.

Be open to as many possibilities as you can: from possibilities come great ideas. If you limit the possibilities like a vending machine, you limit the value and quality of ideas.

To be truly creative is to be a helicopter.

But there’s something even more important. Without the right ground support, a brilliant creative will never get airborne. It’s vital for leaders to hire, develop, and retain helicopters.

Great leaders of creative people build heliports and maintain safe air space to work in. They know it’s important because that’s where the great ideas come from and that’s what compounds their creative currency.

Being creative is all about exploring possibilities, finding new ways of doing things, and boldly going where no creative mind has gone before. You need to fly around to see those possibilities.

It’ll never happen if you’re stuck on the ground being a vending machine. You need a culture that allows people the freedom to do just that, to explore possibilities and investigate alternatives. From possibilities come great ideas. Exploring is about finding ways to let your people be helicopters.

It’s a great analogy.