At TED. One of the best speeches I've ever seen from Ken Robinson. Charming, funny, modest. But also hugely powerful and thought-provoking - about the need to stop educating the creativity out of kids. I can't explain it all here. But you should probably buy his books. I've not read any of them but I intend to. I hope they're as good as he is in person.
One useful thought for planners/ad folk. He defined creativity as "the process of having original ideas that have value". I like that. You know how agencies are always going on about how creative they are, and then other people talk about them overplaying their creativity, and that creativity isn't important, it's efficacy, or whatever, and we have this bizarre tradition of some people being called 'creatives' and some not etc.
I think a lot of that could be short-circuited by asking - 'are you having original ideas that have value?'
Technorati tag: TED conference
Ken's fantastic... saw him at McCann's i:m-e conference in Berlin in '99 or '00, he made an extremely lucid speech on the need to rejig the entire educational system in order to promote the ability to think creatively from a young age. Simply super.
Posted by: Ashish Banerjee | February 25, 2006 at 07:14 PM
A nice point which kind of sums it all up!
Posted by: Rob Mortimer | February 26, 2006 at 01:14 PM
There is obviously a judgment call happening as soon as you use the word "value" -- value to whom? It actually doesn't matter what the answer is (niche, mainstream, mass etc) -- but if you can also identify the person or group or segment or company who will benefit, then your creativity becomes less about you and more part of the world.
Posted by: Servant of Chaos | February 28, 2006 at 11:19 PM
I see Jed Alger is a friend of yours and appears on the amazing number of Jennifers track.
I worked with Jed years ago on a Sun project. Any chance you have his contact information?
BTW we are looking for an account planner for a brand project. We're in Los Angeles, and if you know anyone, please feel free to let me know.
Darin
Posted by: Darin Beaman | March 01, 2006 at 03:34 AM
I love this guy - first saw him when I shared a platform with him at a bizarre insurance industry conference. Its not just what he says but the utterly extraordinary way he presents. Chased out of the UK by all accounts having got fed up with Blunkett, New Labour and their approach to education.
Posted by: Richard | March 02, 2006 at 11:30 PM