Today’s guest post is by Tanya Jones, the MD of Lawrence Creative Strategy.
“One of the great enemies of creativity is getting too comfortable in your thinking,” stated guest speaker Andrew Denton to a crowd of over 200 senior leaders from the STW Group’s 75+ companies who came together for the annual leadership dinner and Dashboard Awards last week.
Andrew Denton is widely recognised as one of Australian television’s genuine creative forces, both behind and in front of the camera. Introducing him, STW Group’s Executive Creative Director and CEO of Lawrence Creative Strategy Neil Lawrence described Denton as “a man of boundless creativity with a deep sense of personal integrity and who, throughout his highly successful career, has proved that intelligent entertainment is not an oxymoron.”
Denton gripped his audience for every second of his 30-minute speech with the title “When in doubt, change the routine”.
Denton admitted he was “a little intimidated” at the “challenge of talking to Australia’s most-credentialed marketing and advertising group about creativity – especially after having spent the last 7 years looking at the advertising industry through Gruen eyes.” His fears, however, were misplaced as the Museum of Contemporary Art’s Foundation Hall roared with laughter as Denton recounted some tales from his career and imparted creative words of wisdom.
Denton took us back to the place where he got his start as a performer: Theatresports.
If you’ve ever been, you’ll know that Theatresports has 10 Commandments, the second one of which I want to talk to you about tonight. I have followed this commandment faithfully all my career and doing so has brought me more joy, and more creative success, than anything else I can think of.
The Commandment is this. When in doubt, change the routine. To me, this is the essence of creativity: Seek change. Embrace change. Change.
He talked about the importance of day-dreaming: “The simple act of allowing your brain to freewheel can lead you to connections and solutions that had previously been hidden in plain sight.”
He also warned of us of becoming too comfortable in our thinking – of not challenging ourselves. “I cannot overstate the value of this,” he said. “One of the great enemies of creativity is getting too comfortable in your thinking”.
We were also reminded that it is alright to fail. “Though never pleasant” Denton said, “it is an inevitable outcome of stretching yourself. It’s how you get better.”
Denton described creative failure or “creative death” as “when you lose the courage, the passion to keep stretching yourself. To try something new.” Quoting Samuel Beckett, he said: “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”
A self-confessed “great keeper of quotes,” Denton also shared the quote that resonates with him above all else, from missionary, philosopher, and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize Albert Schweitezer, who said:
The tragedy of a man is what dies inside himself while he still lives.
Denton summed up to say:
To create is to be alive. To be truly alive is to take risks. Sometimes pain is an inevitable outcome of leaping, but who amongst us has a life free of pain? To take a leap and succeed is to experience, in full, the joy of being alive. Make the leap. Make the leap. Make the leap. When in doubt, change the routine.
We, blissfully lucky to be working in a creative industry, should all heed this advice – on a regular basis. Imagine how boring we could become to our clients, or indeed to each other, if we felt we could rest on the laurels of the creative successes of our past – hoping they would define and protect our future.
I’m hoping that if you were there on the night (or if that by reading this post, you feel inspired by Andrew Denton’s speech), you’ll share with Nextness how you have personally tried and failed, only to succeed.
Or think about how you too might ‘change the routine’. I’m going to start right now.
The Leaders’ Dinner was held at the Museum of Contemporary Art, where CEO Mike Connaghan opened proceedings by recounting the group’s positive performance in 2012, and outlined the vision and growth plan for the year ahead. Chief Operating Officer Chris Savage also introduced some exciting new members to the STW Group family. Today’s guest post was by Tanya Jones, the MD of Lawrence Creative Strategy.