We’re at the brink of the next industrial revolution. It’s not a revolution of technology, but of creativity. Machines will free up people’s brains and empower them to unlock their uniquely human creative talent. Artificial Intelligence is already taking over certain tasks - from self-driving cars to media planning. But it’s people’s imagination and strategic guidance that will transform industries by leading and complementing these machines. The strongest chess player is neither a human or a computer, but a team of humans with a computer.
Over the past decades creativity has increasingly become productized, with pre-packaged deliverables (30 sec spots), preordained roles (only those with ‘creative’ in their job title being allowed to generate ideas) and templatized processes.
New forms of creative collaboration (between man and machine, company and consumer, agency and client) can break through this pattern and unlock the raw creativity innate in all people. Raw creativity is characterized by a lack of clear-cut roles around who can contribute ideas and who can’t, utilizing a kaleidoscope of perspectives and cultural experiences, allowing the aha moment to come from anywhere and connecting previously unconnected dots.
I’ve experienced first-hand in the past year that while technology can help unlock and inspire the creative intelligence of diverse communities, the keys to making it work are instilling a strong sense of culture and shared purpose, providing psychological safety and properly rewarding desired behaviors. With community at its core, new technologies may well spark a new cycle of innovation, resulting in a level of disruption we haven’t seen in a lifetime.
(Image: Andy Zenz, RobotsLoveBalloons)