The Business of Creativity

We all seem to have been bundled up into one big “instant gratification” society. Remember Roald Dahl’s character Veruca Salt in “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” who wanted the whole world and wanted it now. What was once seen as a flawed trait for a privileged handful, could be argued as today’s expectation of the masses.

But it’s not only the demands of consumers that have enabled this fast-moving snowball. This relentless 24-hour race to the top – and impulse to stay there – means no business or its brands can sit idle. Operating like you always have is no longer an option. Thinking and behaving creatively is not a luxury for specific types of organizations; it’s a must for all.

Creativity, by definition, challenges people to rethink the norm; to exercise their resourcefulness, knowledge and experience to try a different approach. For the brands and businesses Padilla works with to navigate challenges, they must in turn challenge the way they think and operate. This ecosystem of ongoing assessment and reassessment is the new norm. In the Forrester survey, “The Creative Dividend – How Creativity Impacts Business Results,” 82 percent of executives agree that companies benefit from creativity, and more than half of all respondents set goals attached to creative outcomes.

From agriculture and manufacturing to food and finance, there’s barely an industry or business that doesn’t benefit from adopting creative methodologies and metrics. In fact, the Forrester study found that “companies that embrace creativity outperform peers and competitors on key business performance indicators, including revenue growth, market share, and talent acquisition.”

How can you operate more creatively as an organization? In the Padilla POV Business of Creativity episode (watch here) our panelists share tips on how you can reinvigorate your organization, and build, grow and protect your position in the marketplace. Whether a business of one or a multinational organization, creativity helps influence every aspect of your operation from people to product.