Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity

Citation

Bicen, P. (2010), "Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity", Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 27 No. 5, pp. 479-481. https://doi.org/10.1108/07363761011063394

When I started reading the first chapter (the first key to creativity) of this book, I recalled a presentation given by Ken Robinson at a TED conference. In his speech, he gave an example of a little girl at a kindergarten. In one of her courses, the teacher gave students an in‐class drawing assignment. After some time, the teacher started looking at the pictures that her little students drew. When she saw the little girl's drawing, she asked her “What did you draw?” The girl answered “I drew God.” Teacher responded “but, nobody knows what the God looks like.” The little girl responded “they will know in a minute.” By giving this example, Ken Robinson wanted to say that children are not frightened to be wrong. And, if you are not prepared to be wrong, you will never come up with anything original.

Hugh MacLeod is a renowned expert in creativity. He worked as an advertising copywriter for more than a decade (This probably explains why he has many insights when it comes to what not to do to be creative.) With his own words, one day after “[…] feeling a bit burned out by work and by life in general, [he] just started drawing on the back of business cards for no reason” (p. 6). He never thought that these little drawings on the back of business cards would be a big hit one day, and the publication of these drawings on his blog (gapingvoid) would capture the attention of millions. He never thought that his insights and products of his creative thinking would be a creative manifesto one day. Well, it all happened because his insights have motivated many people and have given them inspiration to create.

In his breakthrough, thought provoking, and manifesto‐like book, Hugh MacLeod shares the same feelings with Ken Robinson: In order to be creative, you should let your fears go! He has many bits of advice (keys) when it comes to how to be creative, which he groups into 40 chapters. In this review, due space constraints, I will be reviewing some of my favorite topics in this unforgettable book.

The first chapter is the most striking one, which is also the title of the book: Ignore Everybody. I believe that it is a struggle for many of us to ignore the crowd as we proceed. It reminds me of what Alan Watts said in his cult book, The Book, “we need a new experience […] a new feeling of what it is to be I” (Watts, 1989, p.12). Being “I” is not an easy task and neither are creation, invention, and innovation, but we need “I” and only “I” at the beginning of our idea development stage to proceed. MacLeod states that big ideas make you more lonely, because “good ideas alter the power balance in relationships” (p. 2). So, it is better to keep your idea to yourself at the beginning. We do not need a crowd to help or hinder us in our self directed process of creativity.

“The idea does not have to be big; it just has to be yours”. This chapter discusses how liberating it is to have your own ideas. The more it is your idea, the more you feel the freedom to do something amazing. When I worked at an advertising agency, we were told that we must come up with slogans that are original and simple because less is more. Yes, you can, frankly, explain many things in few words. This is why Nike's “just do it”, Loreal's “you are worth it”, McDonald's “I'm loving it”, and BMW's “ultimate driving machine” are such powerful slogans. They were not only originals, but also creative and simple.

“Everyone is born creative; everyone is given a box of crayons in kindergarten”. Presumably that includes the little girl with a God's drawing, painters Van Gogh and Dali, writers Shakespeare and Arthur Miller, composers Mozart and Vivaldi, philosophers Bertrand Russell and Karl Popper, and many others. This part I understand; what I do not understand is why the crayons are taken away when you grow up. As Picasso beautifully put it, “all children are artists; the problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” Do not give up on your crayons, and do not let anybody to take your crayons away.

“Companies that squelch creativity can no longer compete with companies that champion creativity”. This could not be put more succinctly. Today's business world is more competitive, faster, and more ever changing than before. Leading companies are aiming to find autonomous, creative, and independent thinkers. In order to find them, these companies are creating their own idiosyncratic interview processes. Finding creative people and attracting them to the company needs its own creativity.

“The world is changing”. All of us see, experience, and live this every day. It is certain; it is the truth. But, how many people realize this in real terms, and how many people really do something about it? Are we ready for the next change? What is our strategy for the next change? Do we already have a strategy for the current change? What does it take to enjoy the change? MacLeod answers all these questions in one paragraph “in order to navigate the New Realities you have to be creative – not just within your particular profession, but in everything. Your way of looking at the world will need to become ever more fertile and original. And, this isn't true for artists, writers, techies, creative directors, and CEOs this is true for everybody. Janitors, receptionist, and bus drivers, too. The game has just been ratcheted up a notch” (p. 70).

“Merit can be bought, passion can't”. When I read this chapter, the first thing that came to my mind was the Schumpeter's well‐known words – “creative destruction”. Human beings have this urge to change, modify, and create things. They need to embark upon the process of self‐directed creative destruction to feel alive. Like the little girl in the kindergarten, we were born creative. When we grow up, we forget and/or are taught to forget that we were creative. Actually, as MacLeod says, and I strongly agree, “part of understanding the creative urge is understanding that it's primal. Wanting to change the world is not a noble calling, it is a primal calling” (p.74). Deep, is it not?

“Don't worry about finding inspiration, it comes eventually”. Both academicians and practitioners, suffer from lack of ideas from time to time. But, according to MacLeod, the problem is not the lack of ideas or writer's block, “if you are arranging your life in such a way that you need to make a lot of fuss between feeling the itch and getting to work, you are putting the cart before the horse” (p. 100). It is that simple. “Trying to create when you don't feel like it is like making conversation for the sake of making conversation” (p. 100). The Cohen Brothers' movie, Barton Fink, describes an author who has a symptom of feeling that he has nothing to say, but he should feel the need to say something. It is a two‐hour thriller about I cannot create. The interesting detail about the movie is that the Cohen Brothers felt the same syndrome when they were writing a scenario for a movie, Miller's Crossing. They were frustrated; and, therefore, they paused the writing process for Miller Crossing's scenario, and started writing the scenario for Barton Fink. Their frustration in the Miller Crossing's scenario inspired the award‐winning Barton Fink's scenario. Interesting, no? MacLeod recommends the same thing that Cohen Brothers did, “if you are looking at a blank piece of paper and nothing comes to you, then go do something else” (p. 101).

“You have to find your own shtick”. MacLeod describes your shtick as your true voice. He gives examples from well‐known creators: Picasso, Hemingway, and Pollock. When providing the examples, he highlights that “it was not the format that made the art great. It was the fact that somehow while playing around with something new, suddenly they found they were able to put their entire selves into it” (p. 104). It was not about only being creative, or the moment of inspiration, “part of being a master is learning how to sing in nobody else's voice but your own” (p. 103).

“Start blogging”. This advice is novel. Blogging started almost 15 years ago. And, as happens to every new idea, it was resisted at the beginning. When you look around now, you will see many blogs and many bloggers. You can define a blog with many different names: continuous flow of information, instant change, interaction, constructivist knowledge, etc. Blogs are new ways of doing business. Today, many companies have blogs and accounts in Facebook and Twitter to continuously interact with their customers and update their images. Blogs are one impactful way of publishing your creation and getting instant feedback from your audience. As MacLeod mentioned “[…] Put some of your ideas on a blog and get them out there. Eventually the fish will start biting. Just remember that it does not happen overnight. It usually takes a couple of years on continual posting to build up enough trust to where people are willing to invest in you financially. But you never know” (p. 143). Your ideas may be rejected at the beginning, but if you remember MacLeod's first advice, you can always ignore the crowd.

After reading this book, I would strongly encourage you to read it. It is humorous, striking, breakthrough, true, novel, strong, creative, joyful, colorful, delightful, and unique. You will love reading it. I believe it is written for everyone because we all need to be creative to feel alive. I will close my review with this unforgettable book's 40th piece of advice: “Work hard. Keep at it. Live simply and quietly. Remain humble. Stay positive. Create your own luck. Be nice. Be polite” (p. 156). Enjoy reading it!