Previously posted on http://practicalmagician.spaces.live.com last 24 September 2006.
When do you know that you have a new idea that is your own? Are there really unique ideas? Or have all ideas already been thought of and it's just a matter of you picking it up? Or is it combining different ideas to come up with a new one?
This weekend, I had to take part in the creative brainstorming for my team. I was really diappointed to see everyone becoming too logical and too linear to come up with breakthrough ideas. I learned from our idea generation workshop that creativity is the ability to see relationships & patters, and make unfamiliar combinations & connections. My take-away from this is that, yes there are no real new ideas, BUT you have to be able to find new connections between usual things -- not so logical, not so obvious. Yes, it's the role of Accounts to inspire Creatives with a good brief, be able answer their questions on the brand, product, target market and strategy... but not to spoon-feed them with creative ideas. That's sad.
Then there's a question of if was someone else who you didn't work with while understanding the brand, understanding the market, coming up with the strategy, proposition and creative idea, but later found out you both had the same creative idea... does that make you less creative? Or does that just validate that you both had the same great idea?
When does practical magic become less magical and just practical? If you had two magicians who came up with the same magic trick, does that make you less of a great magician? Or is it in the presentation that will be the judge? on who is the greater one?
More questions.. less answers. :(
