Why You Don’t Need To Be “Creative” To Thrive In A Creative Industry

In this guest post, CEO of Presentation Studio and author of upcoming book Visual Thinking: How to transform the way you think, communicate and influence with presentations, Emma Bannister (pictured below), says these are the ‘must haves’ for employees of the future…

We are relying more and more on machines to make workplace decisions, so how can we as humans stay competitive, and in some cases, keep our jobs?

Emma Bannister 1

According to the 2016 World Economic Forum report, The Future of Jobs, we will need to supply skills in the future that machines cannot. Chief human resources and strategy officers from leading global organisations revealed that the skill of creativity, in particular, will be highly regarded in the next decade of our workforce.

Creativity does not mean you have to be artistic, as most of us believe. Rather, it means having the ability to problem solve, to think laterally, through experimentation, curiosity, imagination, innovation and expression of ideas.

This is something that, traditionally, organisations do not encourage or, in some cases, even allow.

In addition, a recent IDC study identified the following 10 most important skills employers are looking for in future candidates:

Oral and written communication skills
Project management
Microsoft Office
Team-oriented, teamwork
Marketing
Creativity
Problem solving
Detail oriented
Microsoft PowerPoint
Integrity

All of these skills (including creativity) are vital in creative agencies, but are now strongly associated with all types of organisations, and all industries.

They are particularly critical for any of us putting together presentations. Communication skills, Microsoft Office, creativity and PowerPoint are essential for businesses and business professionals, whether you are communicating the latest vision or values, selling stakeholders an idea or inspiring your team to act.

These skills ensure you stand out in a competitive marketplace, whether you’re in admin, are a middle manager or a leading CEO.

You might have the best brain in the office, but if you can’t clearly articulate and communicate that knowledge to your team and come up with creative ways of communicating and sharing your ideas then you’ll fail to progress in your career.

Get creative

Being creative at work does not mean you have to have bean bags and ping pong tables.

It can start as simply as brainstorming.

Write down all your ideas for an upcoming presentation on sticky notes. This is about quantity not quality – it’s a brain dump. Silence your inner voice and set your mind free.

Next, sketch your ideas onto paper. This is about visualising your main message, key points, data and info so it will make sense to you and to others. Draw diagrams and mind maps to connect the dots and your thinking. Remember, this is not about ‘being artistic’; it is about exploring.

Then organise your thoughts and points. Get rid of everything that isn’t essential. Start making choices and focus on what achieves your objective. This is your ‘aha’ moment where you start to make sense of everything you have brainstormed or sketched out.

Above all else, remember that the creative process is supposed to be fun.

Inspiration comes from everyday stuff and situations like books, magazines, and when you’re out walking the dog.

Just try it and see.

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Latest comments

Hana Guenzl says:
12/09/2017 at 10:30 pm
Thank you Emma, I’ve enjoyed reading your article. A quote came to my mind: “Creativity is like looking at the world through a kaleidoscope. You look at a set of elements, the same ones everyone else sees, but then reassemble those floating bits and pieces into an enticing new possibility.”
– Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Emma Bannister