Hello, and happy July! I returned last week from the two weeks of travel/(unpaid) vacation time to the Netherlands (Haarlem and Amsterdam), London and Dublin. I believe this was the first time in 18 years that I took off two straight weeks to travel and not work at all (the last being my honeymoon). I have to say it was pretty glorious being out in the world. It’s also good to be back home, sleeping in my own bed, cranking the air conditioning when necessary, and enjoying summer in Minneapolis while we have it. 

So, I was recently offered the opportunity to speak to a group about my thoughts on creativity. 

I’ve always considered myself the creative type. I commit and have always committed lots of random acts of creativity. I play music on a few instruments, write songs, make up rhymes, write stories, doodle and sketch, cook using only the ingredients in the refrigerator, write newsletters that probably often only please myself, express strong opinions about fashion and film and design, and although I’m no Iris Apfel, I tend to dress fairly creatively (you’ve certainly seen the sequins!). 

But the assignment I was given (which was to teach a 15-minute lesson on the topic, “What is Creativity?” in the context of strategic communication) was really challenging. I’ve spent a lot of time over the past several weeks trying to figure out why. 

My first thought when I struggled to prepare: Maybe I’m not actually creative. 

I enjoyed Rick Rubin’s book The Creative Act: A Way of Being. Rick (who you might know as the record producer who pared down arrangements from Johnny Cash and The Chicks or the producer of the Beastie Boys — you know, the dude with the super-long beard and sunglasses) posits that everyone is creative. Creativity belongs to everyone. It’s a way of living and state of being, man. (Please hear that last sentence in the voice of Cheech or Chong.) 

But in marketing and PR, is that true? Does it belong to everyone? I thought about how creativity can manifest itself in our profession. Established processes, systems and workflows exist to enable the creativity. Rooms of people brainstorm ideas. They use specific thought starters (“only bad ideas,” etc.). Someone (most often a man, white, wearing cool glasses) leads the brainstorm, throws out his own wacky thoughts based on his own tastes and experiences. Sometimes the junior folks, women and people of color come up with such cool creative ideas that make their way into campaigns. Sometimes the creative director just goes with the favorite of his own ideas. So, does creativity belong to everyone in that case? 

In 2014, only 3 percent of the creative directors at major creative agencies were women. I remember learning that sad fact back then, and wondered if 10 years later – and after outcry of that 2014 study, the formation of advocacy organizations for women in advertising, Me Too, and so many other things – it had improved. Yes, the number is now up, but only to 12-13 percent. One percent per year.(Sigh.) 

In my last fulltime job, I asked to have creative director added to my title when I was promoted because I felt it reflected my role in shepherding creative ideas and working with creative partners on content. I also was doing a lot of the work that our department’s previous creative director did before he left the company and wasn’t replaced. Instead of getting one of the titles I suggested — either “Senior Director of Content & Creative” or “Senior Director of Content & Creative Strategy” — I was made “Senior Director of Content Strategy & Creative,” Fine, but not exactly the same and I didn’t get a satisfying answer for why. I didn’t include this story in my 15-minute talk/lesson, but I feel like it’s somehow related to my inability to answer the question, “What is creativity?” 

It does lead me now to amend Rick Rubin’s thesis: Everyone is creative, but not everyone gets to be called creative (or to direct creative decisions for a salary). Add this to the ever-growing list of things I think we should all keep fighting for. 

— Shayla Thiel-Stern, Uncommon Teal
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