Hello,

This articles purpose is to bring to light one of the biggest problems both current and past business have, and will keep on facing. The problem of imagination and risk. Once again I encourage any form of criticism so please post your opinions. True progress can only come once the norm has been challenged. Now let’s dig in deep.

Intro

Now decision making at the highest level in business is more often than not, organized and determined by the select few running the business. Debating occurs until a majority or complete vote on a decision is made. Now this process most of the time stomps out any creative, new or supposedly risky ideas which in most cases, is substantiated by the risk at hand. But the issue is when creativity is completely forgone and complacency rules the brain. What is “creativity” in the business sense? When is it necessary to start being creative with decisions? How creativity can lead to enormous success that regular means could never attain? This article will answer these questions.

Change is neither good nor bad but progress requires change.

What is “creativity” in business terms?

The term creativity is built on the idea of originality. In the business sense, it is a plan or idea that is original whether as a product for the business or a change to the business to itself which will lead to improved productivity and thus profitability. An example of a creative change to a business that is productive is with Google, incorporating slides in the main building as a fun little way of moving around the building, had a huge positive impact on the mentality of its employees. Relieving stress, adding excitement to a boring day, change in routine and so on. The positive impact leads to higher productivity, less complaints from employees and ultimately higher level of product/service being pushed out and therefor more profit. Another example of creative change would be with Stream Creative’s use of remodeling their website which led to an increase in viewers by 167%, and an increase in leads by 235%. Small changes can have big impacts only if they are truly original in the way they change. Examples of creative products and services can be seen fairly often: Uber with its taxi based services that rely on network communications, Netflix’s complete to change to network based streaming services for movies and shows, Apple, in 1977, with its Apple 2 personal computer that integrated a monitor and new arrangement that simultaneously eliminated the need for a separate refresh circuit for the DRAM chips and so on. All these ideas helped forward the current state of their markets and took the lead in claiming them.

Creativity comes from the ability to see a gap in the market that no one else can and the courage to risk a loss for massive profit. But that’s what makes an entrepreneur and entrepreneur.

When is it necessary to start being creative with decisions?

The simple answer is always, everyday, every week, every month and every year you should be thinking about how to make creative decisions. This is a tough task being occupied with work, family , friends and hobbies but just cause you won’t be thinking constantly doesn’t mean someone else won’t be. If you’re not hungry for the prospect of beating your competitors, gaining popularity and ultimately making more profit, then you will be beat by someone who is and that is the problem complacency gives. Satisfaction should be temporary in the business world. An instance of this happening is with Ferrari and Lamborghini, Enzo Ferrari was complacent with his title as one of the super car giants in the industry and made the mistake of insulting tractor company owner, Ferruccio Lamborghini who not only rose to the challenge of proving Enzo wrong but would become one of his most dangerous competitors to this day. Now you could say that its just bad luck that Ferrucio made such a decision, that if he didn’t things would be different and that is true. But no matter how unlikely, no matter how the statistics may point against, when something happens it happens, the business world doesn’t wait anyone to make a decision so if you fall behind you will be left behind.

The world is unfair, random and at most times unexpected no matter how much data analysis and predictions you have done. You have to live with it, accept it and ultimately fight against it in the tsunami that is the business world.

How creativity can lead to enormous success that regular means could never attain?

Risks are one of the hardest things to take in everyday life let alone in the business world. But there are ways to take risks while reducing the possibility and even the impact of failure. This is meaningless though if you are not willing to take the risk. It is a risk to be creative in itself and reward is usually directly proportional to the risk associated with the creative decision. But what happens if you take a creative decision where both the risk and the reward are uncertain? An example of this is starting up a social media page using the various platforms, the risk ranges from toxic comments/criticisms and false rumors on your account all the way to your account being hacked, potentially losing important credentials and secrets, the reward is more followers, more people interested in your product, free advertising through the use of sharing and word of mouth online, newer/more efficient outlets for updates, less manpower on advertising, buying less resources for advertising, saving money on marketing and so on. Now you may be thinking it isn’t very creative to start up a social media page as everyone else has done it but where the creativity comes in is how you transform and use the platform. YouTubers and Instagram stars have made a living on these platforms by selling their personalities and original content. Wendy’s and McDonald’s clever use of Twitter as the platform for their own unique advertising campaigns, using humor and internet culture to their advantage. Both risk and reward are uncertain but the experiences of others help make it easier to try your own hand at being creative. Regular advertising and marketing methods cost more, take longer and have less reach.

Creating something original can start from scratch or be based upon the foundation of something else.

Outro

I hope this has at least provided some help to anyone who was struggling with creativity and creative decision making and I wish you all the best in your entrepreneurship adventures.

Thank you for reading.