Creativity is an art
That said, the first thing that probably comes to mind when we hear the word “creativity” is – some art gallery with amazing interiors, a beautiful picture hanging at some wall and signed by Pablo Picasso or Leonardo da Vinci or some other artist. Or perhaps we might think of some super fantabulous advertisement campaign that changed the fate of some company and helped it earn tons of money. But are artists or ad makers the most creative people in the world?
Artists
Agreed that artists start with an empty canvas, an idea, sketch it, mix colours, paint it and give life to the painting. The painting might be sold for some million dollars and can give enough money to the artist as well as enough fame and eyeballs to the person/museum that bought it. But does it bring any change in the lives of millions of people living in the world?
Ad Makers
Advertisements reflect the thinking of the companies, they propagate the vision of the companies, they sometimes challenge the world, they often show the beliefs of the companies, and they are most often meant to increase the sales of the companies. Ad makers put in a lot of efforts to make the advertisements surreal and thereby gathering eyeballs, which they expect to convert to sales for the companies. But how many advertisements do we have whose purpose is not only to make money but to bring about a change in the lives of millions of people living in the world?
Now let us paint a picture of entrepreneurs
Yes the ultimate purpose of most of the entrepreneurs is to make money. And they do, but in the process also bring about a change in the lives of many people. Entrepreneurs are a different species living on this earth, who are most of the times not happy with the present situations, some problems afflict them, who see opportunities everywhere, who are not afraid to make their hands dirty and thereby bringing about a change – a change that is not ephemeral, a change that creates more opportunities, a change that is necessary. Money is the by-product of the change that he’s working for.
You might see entrepreneurs with no shoes, sometimes with dirty clothes, ruffled hairs, stubble looks and you might think that they are drunk. Yes, they are drunk. They are drunk with the ideas to create something great and have a positive impact on the world. Some write codes, some create devices, some save environment, some simplify things. They are all entrepreneurs. They are creative. They are solving problems. They are bringing a change.
What do you think? Who are the most creative people?
P.S.: This article makes no attempt to belittle any artist or ad makers or someone else. The point being driven home is that creativity is great if it can have a positive impact on the lives of many people.
The article was originally written for www.catapp.in.
Deepak Mittal
Hi Ashish,
Let me start by asking a simple question
Who do you think are the best designers?
Those who can design clothes or toys or anything else or people who can write HTML with jquery and who’s work in general would touch more lives than a conventional designer?
The point I am trying to highlight is that if you change the definition of word or a classification it then comes down to what is better suited for that definition.
The definition of creativity or someone creative by Webster is the one with the ability to create or bring into existence rather than imitate. I think an Artist fits that definition perfectly followed by an average Ad-Maker followed by an average Entrepreneur. My simple argument would be that one can find many entrepreneurs who are necessarily not creative (as per the classic definition) but it will be very tough to find an artist who can be rubbished as non creative.
Why would you want to change the yardstick of creativity with an additional constraint of someone who can solve problems or bring a change? I think the term entrepreneur itself is lose term for someone who can do just that (i.e. solve problems and bring a change) without the ability to manage, organize or assume risk of a business (again by webster).
Ashish Chowdhary
Hi Deepak,
First of all, apologies for replying so late. Some things kept me occupied.
Anyway, every time we use that device or platform written on HTML with jquery or any other programming language and we feel “WOW” by using it, isn’t that because of the DESIGN?
Every time we just share files, upload pics, share video, post statuses, answer questions, connect with people – that’s because of the design and creativity of that platform.
Every time we find useful info in emergency, unknown people are out there to help you and guide you, you can find solutions to most of your problems – that’s again because of that platform.
Secondly, those who are not creative, are they really NON CREATIVE? You’ll find many artists who might copy from other’s work and term it as “INSPIRED WORK”, but an entrepreneur, although he may copy, would still need to execute in his own CREATIVE ways..
You get an idea from Apple’s iPhone’s designs and you create another phones (read Samsung) – that’s not creativity.