The views expressed by the business participants are their own.
Creative business, a seemingly contradictory term, is a unique and unusual combination of skills. The balance of business and creativity is not just a set of skills – it is a powerful force that can make a person stand out in the business world.
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky once asked, “Of the 500 companies in the Fortune 500, how many [run by] creative people?” He takes this question further, asking how many designers are on those boards of directors. Chesky noted that he may be one of the only Fortune 500 CEOs who is a commercial designer, having studied industrial design at the Rhode Island School of Design.
His creative flair, shaped by his design background, shapes how he runs the $88 billion global home-sharing business. Chesky sees himself as a designer, not an entrepreneur, and this identity informs the way he shapes his company to value good design and experience above all else.
Creators think differently. Entrepreneurs work hard. By hiring entrepreneurial innovators, you infuse creativity into your organization’s DNA and unlock a world of measurable benefits that bring creativity and growth. Here’s what you need to know about these secret heroes, their impact on your bottom line and how to harness their combined power.
Related: Small Business Owners Take 3 Creative Steps to Achieve Their Goals by 2024, According to New Report
Digging into the dichotomy: The inventor and the entrepreneur
On the other hand, creatives are often seen as free-spirited dreamers or visionary artists who challenge norms – they are judged on their ability to tell stories and evoke emotions through their work. On the other hand, entrepreneurs are often portrayed as hard-working and fast-paced or hyper-competitive managers who hyperfocus on the bottom line. They are judged on their ability to deliver returns to investors or scale the business at any cost.
The archetypes of creativity and entrepreneurship seem contradictory. But when an organization hires leaders who excel in both art and business, new layers of empathy and efficiency are unlocked.
Related: How to Use Entrepreneurial Creativity For Innovation
Art and story
A study by global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company developed a measure of creativity to assess the relationship between creativity and business performance. The results of that study showed that “art is strongly related to higher business performance” – specifically, better financial performance, innovation and growth.
Among the top-ranked creative companies – as measured by the number, scope and frequency of prestigious awards won over a 15-year period – 67% of the top-ranked creative companies had above-average organic revenue growth, and 70% of those creative companies had a total return above of the ratio to the shareholders.
In addition, research has revealed that “art is the foundation of business innovation, and innovation is the engine of growth,” supporting the idea that creativity and business growth are powerful forces that go hand in hand.
A person or organization that has both is unstoppable. So, how do you introduce creativity into your business? By hiring creative people.
Related: 5 Secrets to Building Your Top Team of Remote Freelancers – and How to Keep Them
The best of both worlds: The power of creative entrepreneurs
Creative entrepreneurs are part clouds, part numbers. We provide visionary leadership and have an (absolutely) extraordinary ability to envision results. We are also good at solving problems, have the business sense to make practical and practical decisions and adopt plans and frameworks to implement a broader vision.
After a successful creative career in advertising agencies and working on the product side, I can attest to how my business skills, knowledge and confidence were equally expanded when exploring commerce. I started an ecommerce business that evolved into an award-winning direct-to-consumer candle brand, now expanding into stores across domestic and international markets.
Week after week, I go from whiteboarding sentiment, writing product guidelines, considering ad campaigns and writing clever email headlines, scripts, or long content pieces to looking at costs and profit margins, reviewing trending weather reports and research. regulations to ensure compliance with product export laws.
My creative mind is constantly challenged, and in that time, I have integrated, developed and strengthened my business idea. These are the kind of “combined powers” that you only hear about in action movies, but they can be accessed by any artist who wants to change their professional experience.
It is equally beneficial for businesses to check out these secret heroes. When creative people are concentrated in a business, it provides a holistic view of both worlds, which undoubtedly makes the creative work and the company more impactful, innovative and profitable.
3 benefits of a combined creative and business mindset
For companies interested in embedding innovation and creativity into their culture, process and organization, here are three ways a hybrid business and innovation mindset is beneficial:
- Increase empathy: A mixed creative and business mindset fosters a deep understanding of your or your customer’s needs and the challenges of the creative team, allowing you to make intuitive decisions that will resonate with all stakeholders.
- Improve efficiency: By combining intelligent problem solving with business intelligence, this integrated mindset streamlines processes, reduces bottlenecks, covers failures and inspires innovative solutions that improve productivity and profitability.
- Better collaboration across departments: This hybrid mindset bridges the gap between creative and functional teams, fostering a shared language and mutual respect that can lead to greater collaboration and efficiency across your organization.
Baking to establish a business
There is no shortage of team exercises and strategies to help C-suite executives increase creativity within their organizations. But you can’t make your workshop to be more creative.
Creativity should exist in the heart of your employees and in the soul of your organization. It’s not just a nice to have but a necessity to encourage innovation and drive growth in today’s competitive business.
When you hire and embed creative people in top and senior leadership roles – and let them use their creativity – you give yourself a great opportunity to bake creativity into your business’s DNA, which has proven to drive innovation and above-average revenue growth and returns. . But you have to be forward-thinking enough to take that opportunity with creative leadership.
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