Guerrilla thinking

Let us GT be very clear on this.
We sick and tired of hearing about “creative couples” or “creative directors”.
And that’s because most of the times what you actually happen to deal with behind those fancy titles is people wearing a professional “creative” badge but totally unable to deliver a serious and engaging creative thought.

It’s not their fault.

For decades, creative schools and academies yearly chummed out young professional wannabes that hoped to break the rules of communication just because they had read some books and listened to some former academy student telling them a bunch of banalities. They felt so cool, they felt so creative. 

Sad to disappoint you young creative-wannabes, but you can’t learn to be a creative.
Either you are, or you are not.
And here’s why 

1)  CREATIVITY IS AN ATTITUDE

Creativity is a category of soul, a disposition. An attitude you surely can improve but cannot acquire reading no book or listening to anyone.
For hard you may try, you can’t learn to be creative.
You sure can learn to do the homework and deliver some nice and neat creativity.
You can learn to use photoshop and to speak some good creative slang.

But being creative is totally another thing. It requires intelligence and the unique ability to be able to think like consumers. To feel what they feel and to build up a message that’s right for them.

2) THERE IS NO RIGHT OR WRONG METHOD TO CREATE

You know, everything you can learn on books, working in an agency or by listening to “cool” teachers 5 to 8 years older than you in a very expensive advertising school is somehow a method, an approach that’s supposed to help you being creative.

Nothing could be so wrong. 
Because creativity is a disposition, it couldn’t be more personal. There is nothing anyone can teach you about your special and unique way to express your creativity.
Sure, you might wanna learn the tools, but when you happen to  meet people who think they can shape up your own thinking to help you grow, kick them in the face and go away.
Never in history anyone’s thoughts that have been shaped by someone else have made any difference.

Go your own sweet way. If you’ve got what it takes, creativity will spring out naturally.
If it does not, then opt for another career.

3) CREATIVITY IS NOT A CAREER, IT’S A VOCATION 

Being a category of soul, creativity is not something you abandon or reject because you can’t make a living out of it.
And viceversa. You don’t choose to become a creative director (whatever that label means) because of the money you could make. 
You choose to be creative because you have something to say to the world.
It’s like a fire within that you can’t keep inside without being burnt.
It’s a mission, a way to get rid of your inner demons and colors that would not let you sleep at night otherwise.

Don’t you ever trust someone playing a creative role in any context if you can’t see a sparkle in his eyes. Don’t you rely on his job if you can’t feel he’s doing it for mere passion and for a sort of a higher reason.
These people will stop in front of problems, visions, budgets, people… creatives will not.
Others will come to a compromise between what’s best and what’s feasible.
Because they are not really creatives, they are executors, politicians of creativity.

But if you got creativity screaming within, any obstacle, any objection won’t be able to stop you. You will keep on pushing to achieve the best.

FINAL CONSIDERATIONS

Dear clients and agencies if you are looking for 100% creativity that rocks and burst in the sky of history and market, seek for talented, passionate thinkers who do what they do not just for the money but to be proud of it. Not just to make you happy but to make themselves happy.
You will fight with them, sometimes you will not understand them and maybe regret you did not choose the same old monkeys to do the job, it’s true.
But you persist, you will touch the fire of real creativity. You will burn your fingers with passion and vibrant souls and will find out how beautiful and incredibly exciting communication can be.

Look for real creatives. They might have chosen the wrong road and now be account, staff managers, financial controllers or programmers.

After all Steve Jobs didn’t wear a creative badge, did he?
Should we look at history through the lens of simple facts, he was a nerdy guy dirtying his hands on meaningless pieces of hardware… But would you say he wasn’t born to be a creative?

Don’t be trapped by roles. Seek the right people and find them wherever they are.
That’s what we do at guerrilla thinking. And trust us. It makes a lot of difference.