And it's true - in any brainstorm anyone around any table can come up with the creative spark, the conceptual catalyst, or even the actual form of words that crystallise the elusive concept, and we can all yell 'eureka!' and rejoice.
The problem with these bonus moments of creative revelation is that they seem to smash down the walls of the creative fiefdom and strip the creative emperor of his or her professional garb. There is an almost revolutionary fervour around these moments. You can see the suits in the room ready to rip off their personalised cufflinks or pearl necklaces and declare:
"We don't need these people! Why must we pay them? I had the idea!"
These moments are indeed exciting - I get that - but if not put in perspective they can get out of hand. They can create the illusion that all it takes to be creative is to adopt a bad hairstyle, get some facial piercings, ease up on the personal hygiene, become moody and unpredictable, and then you can come up with hare-brained flashes of occasional brilliance for a living.
Whereas this may be so in certain exceptional cases, it is certainly not true in every suit's case.
So, despite these occasional glitches in the creative matrix, there are number of reasons that it is still worth employing professional creatives, and here are just three that I think are important:
- A creative is measured according to the consistency of their output. It's their job to come up with brand new solutions to often tired or at least familiar briefs. In the same way that a creative might occasionally come up with a super-smart solution to a seemingly impossible logistics problem - you wouldn't move them into the production office full time.
- A creative is building their career on their creative output. This includes their past and their future reputation. It is literally their stock in trade, and for this reason you can expect them to deliver - or at least strive to - every single day, on every new brief. Conversely the marketing executive or client service director that comes up with a super-cool idea can dine out on that singular moment for weeks.
- Creatives make their living by consistently conceiving, producing and executing surprisingly beautiful thoughts and exquisitely elegant solutions. Sometimes the germs of these journeys come easily - but most often they don't - and in all cases they will be have to be harnessed and honed according to the highest creative standards. So just as any professional exhibits only the tip of their experiential iceberg, the real conceptual spark or creative cue is likewise supported by a wealth of rigour and experience.
So next time you have that giddy feeling that you have just 'cracked the creative' and you are planning that week's brag fest - spare a thought for the moody scruffball pouting in the corner and throw them a bone. You ate their lunch and swallowed their pride today - but you are going to need them tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow.
[For the record - even if they are almost universally unpredictably moody - some creatives have excellent personal hygiene, neat hair, and only very discreet facial piercings and body décor.]
