Ohhhhh creativity…
Ohhhhhhhhhh creativity...
Since I began working as a creativity coach last year, one of the biggest battles I've had is to reach people on their definition of creativity before they politely tell me to f**k off, that they're not paying me to help them with something that's already written above the door.
Many businesses tell me they've spent their budget on 'the tools' - which is AI and AI training. AI has its value, but it is made entirely of existing material. It will drag you into the sea of same if relied upon.
Humans are instruments of creation, not reconfiguration.
It's my challenge to smarten up and go in with a different approach.
On my way to the station this morning, I let my mind wander. The old unconscious began handing me thoughts about joining dots.
That's a big part of what I'm trying to do: help people to join the dots only they could join by using what's inside – their story; an utterly unique lived experience, invaluable and beautiful, and their personality, all the good, bad, and downright weird. Using it with confidence, passion, a deep understanding of what they have, and conscious command.
Most of us don't. We bottle things, censor ourselves, conform, and stray from the magic of discovery and play. That starts in adolescence as they start to dangle the words 'career', 'security', and 'grow up' in our maturing, half-grown faces.
But play, silliness, self-expression, and curiosity are the things that keep our brains in the state in which we see the line between the dots when nobody else can. That's what sparks ideas that not just land awards in industry, but enrich our lives and pave the way to a better future.
AI is on the rise and we're in the early stages of a revolution.
Every one of us, business or individual, is at a crossroads. That's sent me down some serious negative thought spirals recently as I see it happening in real-time, my industry plunged deeper into the unknown than ever before. Those who come through, organisation or freelancer, no matter how prevalent the role of AI in their practice, will be the ones who value creativity, understand its ways, enable it, employ it, sell it, and treat it as king f**king dick.
But I'm using the fear and seeking the joy, playing, joining dots, evolving my practice accordingly. Keeping my eyes open and my mind free enough from screens to bring me the solutions to the obsession with automation.
And more than ever, this world must be my art school, not an oppressive machine.
In 2011, I took off in a camper van to Serbia with 3 other talented friends and a video camera to make a documentary as we headed for Exit Festival. We had an idea, sold it to the Serbian British Council, and worked it out along the way.
Joining dots is what illuminates this life for me, so I keep following that thread. Now, I get to help others out of their own way and into that awesome forward motion.
If you’d like to work with me on this, head to the coaching section of the site and let’s chat!