10 Tips to Prove the Value of Creativity to People Who "Don't Get It"

How to prove the value of creativity to people who “don’t get it”? You might know the overall idea is to prove how creativity and design move the bottom line, but what about specific tactics to show it? This is one of those complicated questions that sooner or later a creative who’s been promoted (specially in an non-agency position) needs to answer. Unfortunately, there’s no silver bullet for designers to get a seat at the table, but there are several tactics you can use to achieve this goal. And yes, some of them you might personally think are lame (and some involve a lot of reading), but they could be the very thing that get your coworkers to see things your way.

10 Creative Tactics & Reading Sources:

Tip 1. Weaponize: Don Norman

Don Norman is the author of “Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things” and “The Design of Everyday Things.” He is the cofounder of the Nielsen Norman Group (NNG) and considered one of the fathers of contemporary design theory. Pretty much the reason he can be “weaponized” is because he’s held execute positions in some of the world’s most prestigious and profitable organizations (he was a VP at Apple and a faculty member at Harvard) and his organization publishes countless of data-driven studies about design and usability. He can be quoted saying: “Attractive things work better” and he cites plenty of examples/studies of this concept in “Emotional Design.”

Tip 2. Weaponize: Simon Sinek

Simon Sinek is a motivational speaker who somehow is like honey to CEOs and stakeholders who “don’t get it.” He is the author of the book “Start With Why” and has a TED talk that simply mesmerizes everyone with the idea that companies are more than their basic “function,” and better profits come only when they come to this realization. His target audience are not creatives, and that’s OK because you are “code-switching” when you are speaking to your stakeholders. He is best known for promoting the idea of “The Golden Circle,” which states that successful organizations ask themselves Why they do what they do, instead of being focused in What they do and How they do it.

Tip 3. Weaponize: Social Sharing of Ideas

This one is a slow and constant drop—like waterboarding with taste. We absorb the beliefs and styles of the people around us—specially good things. Often the reason someone “doesn’t get it” or they don’t appreciate creativity is because they lack exposure to it. The minute there’s a routine of them slowly and constantly receiving Inspirado, they begin to appreciate creativity. They won’t get educated on their own because they hold no interest over it… but wrap that gift in a tortilla of friendship, and it suddenly looks more attractive. Sharing links to competitors, affinity brands, trends, and art can slowly help people be less conservative in their own points of view. The unfamiliar is scary and confusing, but once it is familiar through your link sharing, they’ll grow less scared of good design.

Tip 4. Weaponize: Testing

Enough opinions. Sure, as a creative you feel like you are one with the stream of consciousness, and you probably are. But guess what? The only constant in life is change, and if you want to remain relevant, you need to be open to the fact that consumers, businesses, technology, and design trends change. What worked in 2007 is not going to work in 2012—but maybe something similar will work in 2020. A great way to be aware of those changes and meet them head on is through research, testing, and optimizations. Make sure that design-related hypothesis make their way into those tests, so you stop wasting so much time debating “opinions.” Befriend your researcher or CRO person. There’s always room for an extra test. Providing variations for designs and posing them as a question also shows your goodwill and curiosity for improvement. It turns the process of “change” into a fun opportunity to collaborate. The scientific method is your friend! If your organizations don’t have the right talent (like a kickass UX Researcher), advocate for this type of teammate to be added to the mix. If your bosses agree, ask to be added to the interview process, to build rapport and cooperation from the very beginning. That “what if” is the very step that’s taken before a new standard is adopted… and like “improv,” teaching your team to look at the work using a “yes and” philosophy cultivates trust and the proper environment for progress.

Tip 5. Weaponize: DesignBetter (by InVision)

Regardless of your trust in InVision, they precisely have as their primary educational agenda teaching companies how beneficial it is to “bring design to the table.” They generate plenty of reports that are based on their countless of researchers that cold call and spam the mailboxes of every company in the world. They reports and podcast can give you the exact tools and language to help “design thinking” penetrate all aspects of a company. A noteworthy one is their Design Maturity Report, which quantifies the role of designers in an organization. They rank designers as: producers, connectors, architects, scientists, and visionaries. The companies with the designers in the “deeper” levels are the ones that do better, while the other ones are companies that are leaving money at the table for not fully embracing designers. A good episode of their DesignBetter podcast is TS Balaji’s (season 2), it focuses on representing “design” at a deeper level in larger organizations and how we can use the stakeholders language to help them believe in your cause. More code-switching!

Tip 6. Weaponize: A Poker Face & Repetition

Externalizing your mood and desires gives your stakeholder the idea that you aren’t being leveled, which immediately makes them go deaf to your suggestions. It gives them the upper hand. Pretend you don’t care as much. Position your thoughts as “two cents” or “considerations.” Caring too much will very likely get them to ignore you. A lot of people often don’t evaluate the merit of the idea, but place a lot of weight on who’s communicating it. If you find incapable of holding that poker face, find an ally who can communicate these or at least advice you on how to best get buy-in. Often times, getting several individuals to repeat the same thing over and over will let your thought reach critical mass without you having to hold a single conference call yourself. Ideas are often planted, and the grow through repetition. Don’t be discouraged if at first you don’t feel heard.

Tip 7. Weaponize: Criticism

As you find yourself “socializing” your ideas, it is good to start with open-ended comments or questions. Start fishing around for the sentiment of something before getting on your white horse and beginning your crusade. It is through gauging sentiment for your idea and casually facing criticism that you can tweak your presentation and make it foolproof. Unfortunately this requires a lot of patience, so watch a lot of cute animal videos to keep yourself even. Having your idea improve through criticism is key to eventually shipping something worthwhile out the door. Remember, it takes a team to make it work. Being flexible is often what tips the scales in your favor. Don’t get hung up on every detail.

Tip 8. Weaponize: Other Companies’ Failures

This one is one of my favorite tactics. Many companies see themselves with such high profits for a while, that they decide to postpone upgrading infrastructure, processes, and designs with plenty of excuses. These excuses often produce really big public failures you can draw from in a “non-emotional” way. You can advocate for certain changes through a “non-design” angle. You don’t have to reveal your heart only cares about the typeface display, when you can give the company more tangible reasons to change, better design can often be a side effect of that improvement. Your bosses don’t have to care about it, in order for you to get what you want: a better and more creative output.

Tip 9. Weaponize: Your Personal Super Power

You are born with your own unique super power. You are always growing it, even when you don’t realize it. You will not do yourself any favors by not using it. Don’t be jealous of other people’s power. Not everyone can get away with the same thing. Don’t get caught in the “Well, why can’t I seem to get the same reaction X person gets for the same behavior?” If you spend your time sad that you don’t seem to have a specific skill your contemporary seems to effortlessly enjoy, you will waste precious energy you can spend developing the power that comes easy to you. Don’t try to focus on getting orange juice out of an apple tree. It is OK if you aren’t good at everything, you are definitely good at many things, specially being part of a good team. And trust me, people are as jealous of your special power as you are of theirs. Be grateful for what’s yours and watch it elevate you and take you places you never even dreamed of. You’ll look back and discover you accidentally have continued acquiring additional skills as you do you.

Tip 10. Weaponize: Thought Leadership

You have any learnings from your last project? Write a report. You use a special technique to create your artwork? Make a tutorial about it. You lack a local chapter of your favorite design community? Found it. You go on a rabbit hole learning about a particular aspect of your industry? Write a blog post about it. If you want people to trust you, external signifiers beyond your specific role can help them want to work closer with you. At certain levels, it is common for folks to spend part of their time sharing ideas, mentoring, and helping educate their community. Not only is it good to pay it forward, but it is that extracurricular work executives are more likely to notice.

It is worth saying the grass is always greener on the other side. You might think having a seat at the table is important for your career. You might let what others think of you and your path shame you into a job you don’t want. Maybe you don’t want to listen to people make the wrong choices. Maybe you don’t want to argue. Maybe you like your team and prefer to ride the “wave” with them. Maybe you don’t care about money. Maybe you would prefer to work at a studio. Whatever your mindset is, don’t trick yourself into thinking you want something you truly don’t want or value. And no, this is not a call to stop self-improvement, but let’s remember that business seniority doesn’t equate to happiness. It is OK if your day job doesn’t consume you, because it can give you more time to pursue other projects or to be yourself, and yourself is good enough :)