John Cleese, star of Monty Python and Faulty Tower and one of the most respected comedians of the last century, gives a master class on his field of expertise: Creativity. His video, "John Cleese on Creativity", is included in the "10 (More) Amazing Videos About the Creative Process" article (by the Behance Team, 99U, www.99u.com).
As an advertising professional, these things are known to me, and we try to live by these principles in our advertising world, but some of them are so essentially basic that become inspiring and refreshing.
After stating the fact that creativity can't be explained, and that most of the scientific research on the matter halted in the 70's because science could not find answers for it, Cleese explains that there are basically two modes in how we approach our thinking. First there is the "closed mode", which is the one that takes most of our life and is best represented by "work". But then we have the "open mode", in which we can seclude from trivial things and the rules of the closed mode, and start thinking broader and engaging in a childish playing mode, with no right or wrong, no fear of mistakes, just exploring our minds freely until we find original solutions to problems.
Then, Cleese jumps to key things to make the creative process more efficiently. Number one is to separate a proper amount of time (not too much) where we can isolate ourselves from the obstacles of the closed mode. Secondly, to have other people we like and trust to play with us. And lastly, humor, as a great tool to deal with problems in a less logical and structured way. This is a perfect picture of how the creative people working in advertising behave.
There is one example Cleese mentions when it comes to exchanging ideas as a group. He says that Japanese companies usually have very unstructured meetings and the most junior people are the ones giving their opinion first, so as to get the most honest points of view. That I will start implementing from now on!
I think this talk, even though delivered by John Cleese and with a good deal of humor in it (he keeps going back to the "how many x are needed to change a light bulb" joke), is tremendously serious and can be eye-opening for a lot of business people.
To finish... How many advertising creatives are needed to change a light bulb? None. They will not change it because it is not theirs.
Link to article: http://99u.com/articles/7225/10-%28More%29-Amazing-Videos-About-the-Creative-Process
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