It is said that the only constant thing in life is change. Entrepreneurship is about thriving on change. A business cannot
continue to do the same thing every day and hope to remain competitive. In business as well as in life, change is not a choice, it’s a must. The options are very clear; innovate or die!
If there’s one aspect of business that can potentially increase your odds of keeping up with change as an entrepreneur, it is the creative side of your business.
Why do I make such a claim?
Being in business is all about meeting the needs and solving the problems of a particular set of people. These people are known as your target customers.
They have needs that arise as a result of certain problems they have and are in search of products/services that will solve their problems. These needs are always changing with time. Meaning, what may be considered as a need today, may turn out to be unnecessary tomorrow.
Success goes to the business and entrepreneur that not only keep up with these changes, but is also capable of pioneering some of these changes by constantly creating innovative products/services that eventually shapes the needs of the market.
A business is only able to achieve this through an unwavering dedication to creativity.
What does it mean to create?
To create means to come up with something new which never existed before and has the capacity of positively affecting lives. You must bear in mind when creating that what you want to create must be new [unique] and can positively affect lives [useful].
Creativity is the essence of entrepreneurship. Meaning, an entrepreneur is nothing without creating. Products/services don’t fall from the sky like manna, they are created. And the one person that must bear the burden to create is no other than you the entrepreneur.
As Michael E. Gerber, author of ‘E-myth Mastery‘ rightly puts it;
“The entrepreneur takes shape through the act of invention. If there is no invention there is no entrepreneur. If there is no entrepreneur there is no invention. The two are inextricably bound. The substance of the entrepreneur, his worth as an entrepreneur, is determined by the substance of his invention.”
So, your task as an entrepreneur is to engage in a never ending process of creation by forming a creative habit. It is only through the habit of creating that the entrepreneur masters the art of creation.
Creation (making new and better things) must never be confused for execution (getting things done). Your work as an entrepreneur is not about execution but about creation; seeking to do what never existed before and not just seeking to get things done.
To create requires the entrepreneur to go with his/her imagination. It doesn’t matter if there’s an existing need for what is being created or not. Committing to the habit of creation must be the entrepreneur’s work.
Steve Jobs of Apple Corporation didn’t wait for the market to request for an iPod or an iPhone, he went ahead to create what he believed long before the market ever thought they would be needing it. The whole world didn’t know their information needed to be organized until Google came along and changed everything.
The key thing to note here is that entrepreneurs are driven by the passion to create something that never existed before not necessarily because of a need that must be met (although this is equally important) but because of the joy they get from creating.
It’s the joy of creation that makes entrepreneurs persist even when the world laughs at their idea. They don’t wait for the world to approve what they feel should be created; they simply go wherever their heart leads.
This habit of ‘going with the flow’ is what enables them to create what never existed before. They realize one simple truth about our world and they exploit that truth to the fullest.
That simple truth is this; creation is not a human effort, it’s a spiritual exercise being done through the human body.
Entrepreneurs realize that creation is not a thing we humans do or can ever be able to do, but that it’s a thing done through us. They see themselves as the medium through which creation must happen. Knowing this makes it easy for them to submit completely like a child to the creative process not knowing where their imagination can lead them, yet never obstructing the urge to follow through.
They have an unwavering faith that at the end of the process something new which never existed before will be created. So they commit to the process wholeheartedly relishing every moment as the unknown keeps unfolding before them. Trusting the creative flow (passion) and committing to the creative process (practice) is what being an entrepreneur means.
As entrepreneurs, we must never refuse to begin simply because we have no reason. If all men waited for a reason before they begin, there wouldn’t be anything made. The goal of creation is to surprise the creature; that feeling of amazement of how the creation (idea, vision or opportunity) turns out.
Focus on the creation of the vision, idea or opportunity you have and let its usefulness (purpose) follow. You will never fully know until you’re willing to begin.
Vision, that image of experiencing the birth of something which didn’t exist before is what should inspire you as an entrepreneur to create. It’s in the pursuit of vision (idea or opportunity) that we fulfill purpose (find meaning). It’s in the process of creating the idea we have in mind that the purpose is revealed. Without committing to the process of creation by pursuing the vision, idea or opportunity we see, we’ll never realize the reason for the creation.
How do you create?
Practice creation. Form the habit of coming up with something out of nothing. Become like a child again; invent play!
You find the power to create something through the practice of that thing.
You create a book by forming the habit of reading a book and practicing writing.
You create music by forming the habit of listening to music and practicing playing music.
The power to create doesn’t come from practice, it comes from you.
But why practice then?
Practice is your signal to the universe that you’re ready to create.
Practice says to the universe; “I’m prepared; make me an instrument for creation!”
How do you know the universe will answer?
Form the habit and commit to the practice first, keep doing it over and over, only then will you know.
You will know only when you’re not afraid to begin. You will only begin to know only after you begin to act!
Balancing Creativity With Innovation
The entrepreneur must also be careful while creating to ensure that what is being created will someday be needed. This can be somewhat hard to tell from the beginning because an idea is never fully matured, it keeps unfolding with every additional step you take to make it a reality. This is the difference between invention and innovation.
An idea that is unique is an invention, but an idea that is both unique and useful is an innovation. This is a very crucial fact that must never elude you as you strive to deliver change. Efforts must be made towards integrating usefulness into every unique idea.
A good way to do this is to form the habit of asking yourself this question; “how is this idea going to make the world a better place for someone?”
By constantly questioning the idea, this keeps you in the creative process long enough for the idea to reveal its intrinsic usefulness – potential value of invention.
So no matter how unique [new] an idea may be, keep in mind that unless its time has come, its usefulness [potential value] will be the lesson, knowledge and experience you gained from undergoing the creative process. This shouldn’t stop you from pursuing another idea just because one or two or more didn’t work out; rather, this should propel you to continue because with every failed idea created through you, the closer you get to creating the one that will work.
Google for instance, has launched several products such as knol; a unit of knowledge, jaiku; a micro blog etc. that wasn’t as successful as the search engine or Gmail. But they kept on trying and now the result has paid off with their latest project google+
The point here is this; it’s not the number of ideas that didn’t work that counts, but the habit of consistently creating unique ideas. As an entrepreneur, your task is to create ideas whether they work or not is left to the market to decide.
The real failure is not an idea that didn’t work, but rather not being able to come up with any idea at all. The only way to test if an idea has intrinsic usefulness is by creating it. You cannot know the eventual outcome of an idea until you commit and complete the process of creating the idea. That uncertainty will always be present. This is the joy of the entrepreneurial mindset; not knowing completely how it will turn out. That’s why it’s called magic; the joy of discovery!
Your Turn
How have you been managing the creative side of your business? How do you create? Have you ever been caught in creating something unique but didn’t turn out as useful as you had imagined? How has your creative ability helped to sustain your business?
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11 Comments
Hey Tito!
I love this:
So true. I think we have to set aside time to create. As you said it is easy to “go with the flow,” and unless you take time to slow down, think, focus, and play that force that breeds creativity is stifled. I think when you truly know who you serve and how you can best serve them, you become the most creative in your business. Meeting a very, very, very specific but shared need or desire is a great launch pad for getting creative.
Thanks Marlee,
I appreciate your contribution about how meeting a very specific need can help us to be more creative. I will add that’s because creativity requires focus. One can only be creative along the areas they choose to focus on. Without focus, we tend to be less creative. The more customer focused we can become, the more specific we can get at using our creativity to meet their needs. In the end, it’s about thinking up new ways to play a familiar game.
Thank you for your input.
Creation is a large part of our business, the importance of which cannot be understated. There is an excellent book called “Your Creative Brain” by Dr. Shelley Carson. This book is basically a how-to on creativity and has been highly influential in my work. One tool which I found useful in that book was a creativity assessment which identifies what type of creative you are – this helps with identifying your strengths and weaknesses, as well as help in recruiting the right types of creative talent to join your team.
Concerning – “An idea that is unique is an invention, but an idea that is both unique and useful is an innovation. This is a very crucial fact that must never elude you as you strive to deliver change. Efforts must be made towards integrating usefulness into every unique idea.”
Spot on. One complimentary aspect I would add is for the entrepreneur to consider the path to commercialization. An idea may be useful, but it may not be optimized for receptiveness to the market and profitability. By considering the commercialization aspects up front – the entrepreneur greatly increases their chances of hitting the market strong and attracting investors to accelerate growth.
Thank you John for another brilliant addition to the post. Commercialization is the point where creativity becomes an innovation. When the new makes the old more useable. The iPod and iPhone are one great examples of this. It wasn’t just new, they made what we were used to doing better. Looking at Google+ too, the way they are integrating it into their previous products/services to make it more acceptable [commercialization].
Hey Tito,
Great points in this post man. I really appreciated this part:
“…Form the habit of coming up with something out of nothing. Become like a child again; invent play!”
As you know I have 3 kids. There’s not a day that passes that I don’t learn something from them. They aren’t scared to create outlandish things that make very little sense…but they can speak to how much sense they make to them. They don’t limit themselves into the same boxes we limit ourselves into.
The more kid-like we can be, the genius like we can become.
I loved this post man.
Thanks
JK,
Kids are great because of their creative nature. If only we can stop focusing on how other people perceive us and just move on to do what we care about, as entrepreneurs we would be churning out great stuffs. But as we grow older, rather than get more creative, we tend to the path of conformity. Trying to belong with the pack.
In the end, I think what matters most is that we get involved in the process and forget the outcome. The outcome isn’t always for us to completely decide. And this is why kids thrive as creatives than most of we adults, they do it not to be judged, but for the love of it!
Thanks for the meaningful contribution. And keep watching those kids, you will never run out of creative ideas 🙂
Creative side of the business is huge part. Some how it cant be directly to see and understand clearly. In my part, my creative ability keep our business stable and progressive is that all the resources are usable. One thing is, lots of ideas and thought will enter your mind but you keep judging it. Thats why you cant merely focus on what ideas is the best and suitable for success.
innovation is the only solution for ‘success-headed’ organizations of this age. its one way you can go you will be sure you don’t have to look back.
Once again Jovie, thanks for the comment. Innovation is how businesses remain relevant to the market they serve. Without it, before long people will forget that you exist.
Good one Tito.
You know entrepreneurship is a craft. That is, it’s all about CREATION, the ability to create.
One of my passion is to create an idea. In fact i’m an idea creator. I have so many ideas, but there is this particular one that i have been refining. And the more i refine it, the more my passion to commit it to reality come to play. Though one of my challenge is that i do know how to create ideas but making it a reality is a challenge. And i will say it here that i do really need MADphilips and NewChild to help me out. Thanks.
How does an enterprenuer focus on creation when there is no flow of income. As you said Creativity requires focus but how do you focus when the business is not making money as expected and you have bills to pay?