Creativity vs. Process

Image: "Parking Anyone?" (c) Matthew Woodget www.fluidpixel.com

The pursuit of process is by its very nature the pursuit of perfection. I can't fault people for wanting that. The Rules of the Road are a great example of a process that works pretty well for most of us. If we didn't have an agreement on how to act on the black-top it wouldn’t just be chaos it would be a blood bath. Brits, go visit a US city with round-a-bouts to experience this first hand. I recommend Seattle.

However, processes don't have to stay in place forever. The nature of the universe itself, and our friend entropy have something to teach us on this. Treating a defined way of doing things as the only way is like an adult who feels like they are finished growing up (ahh bless). Thinking you are complete is an ignorant fallacy (The day you stop learning is the day you die). The rules of the road, and roads themselves change over time along with the ebb and flow of the world at large.

Creativity is a critical component of problem solving or taking advantage of opportunities. Both require analysis. Only then can we create a hypothesis and eventually execute. From rapid prototyping of software to bridge building the same fundamental approach applies. Albeit with differing levels of testing and time scales.

Creativity has, as one of its core tenants, synthesis. Taking multiple old things and merging them into something new, something better (Virtual Salt). Even other forms of creativity such as revolution and evolution utilize existing information in different permutations. We can even establish processes to encourage creativity, to keep things fresh and competitive. Next practice. Creativity can also result in the forging and establishing of new processes. Something that was once new, ground breaking can become established as a process over time. Best practice.

I'm not saying that we should all live in a wild west of creativity. Rather we shouldn't let a natural desire for structure and predictability lead to a blind adherence to process for process sake. We should seek out the grey areas, fuel and foster both for the right reasons. What I see in today's world more often than not is that we fail to create space for the vision and foresight that creates the future. That we are often bound to the short term pursuit of quarterly profits and cost cutting. It's kind of like the accusations Bob Lutz levels at the short term pursuit of profits vs. long term success in his book "Car Guys vs. Bean Counters". Creativity and innovation can benefit from process. Likewise processes can improve and become more effective when we allow space for creativity to make it better. Whether it's a criticism of accountants and their impact on product innovation in biotech (How Accountants Kill Innovation - I love his comments "some of my best friends are accountants") or it's identifying new and more effective ways of marketing that cut through the attention economy (Dealing with Distraction) at the end of the day we have to take risks, to act, purse the new, and design our organizations with the intention of doing so.

Both creativity and process are important and they have a relationship. We need to find a place for both. Be it the balance sheet or the marketing campaign make sure you are leaving space to fuel what made you great in the first place.