With the world in its current volatile state, the question we’re all asking is how the hell are we going to get out of it?

While none of us can predict the future - especially when the planet is in the grip of a global pandemic - what we do know for certain, is that skills like teamwork, problem solving and creativity are exactly what we’re going to need to get us out of the ongoing challenges facing business, society - and humanity.

And of those skills, according to the World Economic Forum, creativity is right up there - listed as the third-most-important skill for employees in 2020, just behind complex problem-solving and critical thinking.

Recent research by LinkedIn also lists creativity as the top skill companies need, and are increasingly hiring for in the new labour market.

Why? Because companies need to generate innovation to develop new products and services, improve processes and take advantage of opportunities in the market. And to do that they need creative thinkers and idea creators to dream up out of the box solutions.

But how do you develop creativity as a skill? Is it something you are born with? Or can you learn it?

Here’s how you cultivate creativity

We asked creative and cultural leadership expert Mykel Dixon, who knows better than anyone how thinking and acting outside the box can lead to amazing career opportunities.

Dixon is an award-winning speaker, event curator, musician and author. Self-described as a “musician by trade, gypsy by nature, fierce non-conformist and prolific anti-perfectionist”, he spends much of his working life showing Fortune 500 and ASX 200 listed companies how to unlock breakthrough creativity and equip teams with the skills needed to solve complex 21st century business challenges. 

Dixon says in the current economic climate, creativity isn’t just a key driver to future-proof careers. Instead, it’s the critical foundation of a meaningful, successful and fulfilling life.

“Creativity is vital for anyone beginning or thinking about their career. Your ability to think outside the box, to find and form new value, to reinvent yourself in order to stay relevant - these are the defining factors for your success. No matter what industry, department or level you work at, creativity is the missing link hidden in plain sight. And now is the time to double down on your unique brand of innovative thinking,” he says.

“Creativity is a tangible skill. It underpins absolutely everything we do. From how we imagine possible futures, how we get to a meeting on time when our train is delayed, how we adjust and adapt in conversation with a client, or even choose what outfit to wear to a pitch.”

Take measured risks and try new things

“Think about it. If you’re a potential employer who would you rather hire? Someone who never takes a risk, never tries anything new, never thinks about ways to change or improve their circumstances. Or someone who puts their personality into their work, who is always testing and tweaking new ways of doing things, who is courageous enough to set fire to what was in order to start building what could be.”

Dixon says he was inspired to write his latest book,  Everyday Creative: A Dangerous Guide To Making Magic At Work , after working with hundreds of talented, insightful and creative people who believed wholeheartedly that they were not.

“Whether it’s a multinational monolith or a scrappy startup, a government department or a small regional business, almost everyone I meet has a dysfunctional relationship with creativity,” he says.

“They love it, value it and want more of it, but have a deeply ingrained story that creativity is for artists, that it’s fluffy and esoteric and most of all, that they weren’t born with any of it. This of course is not true. And given the state of the world, we need as many people as possible accessing and acting on their natural creative capability.”

So how can you start flexing your creative muscle today? Scroll to the end of this article for Dixon’s TOP TIPS!

“The future belongs to a different kind of person with a different kind of mind: Artists, inventors, storytellers - creative and holistic ‘right-brain’ thinkers.” - Daniel Pink, Author

With the current global disruption across economies, industry sectors and education, it can be hard for most of us to think beyond the daily basics of simply functioning - let alone planning next career steps, progressing innovation or predicting just where the markets might land when the world jumpstarts into ‘normalcy’ again (whatever that looks like and whenever that might be). 

But against the backdrop of the economic, education and health sector challenges playing out across the planet right now, an unexpected upside to the imposed COVID-19 regulatory, economic hibernation strategies and societal isolation constraints just might be the welcome rebirth of CREATIVITY as a skill.

Necessity is indeed the mother of invention, and creative thinkers across the globe are coming up with incredible and innovative ways to reimagine the way we can work, learn, create value and interact at lightning speed, catalysed by COVID-19 contraction measures.

But what exactly is creativity?
And why is it so important in the future of work?

To answer that question our team reached out to multi-award winning advertising director and Chief Creative Thinker Adam Ferrier to understand more about the role of creativity in these uncertain times, why creativity is a critical skill for workplaces of the future, and why creativity needs to be exercised like a muscle.

Ferrier is actually a living case in point for creative reinvention - and an inspiration to individuals and businesses who are looking to do the same when they need to most.

A registered psychologist, Ferrier obtained degrees in commerce and clinical psychology before beginning his career in forensic psychology, which saw him work in maximum security prisons and private practice, before switching his focus (very creatively!) from criminal to consumer behaviour - and joining the Saatchi & Saatchi marketing consultancy. While there, Ferrier invented a board game called The Analyst, which was translated into three languages. More recently Ferrier has Cofounded MSIX and the Space conference (a new model for collaboration curating out-of-the-box thinkers to reimagine the Australia of the future).

But most of his creative days are spent at Thinkerbell, a creative agency he Cofounded in 2017 which recently took out Adnews Agency of the Year, Mumbrella Emerging Agency of the Year as well as B&T Emerging Agency of the Year, and - according to Ferrier - “represents the coming together of scientific enquiry and brilliant creativity”. Or as he likes to call it - “measured magic”.

Creativity is everything. it solves all the problems in the world.

“Creativity is everything. The ability to connect information and ideas that hasn't been done before is the single thing that creates all the wonder, and solves all the problems in the world.  

“Right now creativity will get us through COVID-19, be it at a local level when a mum decides to make a boat with her kids out of cushions, or at a global level when someone develops the vaccine by appropriating what they know and applying it slightly differently - it's all creativity,” he says.

“With the avalanche of new products, new technologies, and new ways of working, workers are going to have to become more creative in order to benefit from these changes,” the report said.

In fact, additional research by LinkedIn also found that creativity is the top skill companies will need to take businesses forward in the next horizon of Industry 5.0, because businesses seeking growth must tap creative problem-solving to enable teams to generate innovation and out-of-the-box value-creation ideas in the workplace - whether that’s finding new approaches to problems in the business, developing new products or services to fill a hole in the market, or improving existing processes.

There are multiple companies that have been harnessing creativity for a while to create new engines for growth. But it’s taken a global pandemic to create a seismic shift for the BAU status quo that would quite possibly have evolved only incrementally over the next decade without the COVID-19 jolt. The attitude of ‘If it ain’t broke, why fix it?’ no longer holds because it can’t. 

Think outside the box

According to Ferrier, companies and employees need to start thinking creatively and well and truly outside the box because it’s in situations of extreme constraint and adversity that we can be at our most creative and ingenious.

“Right now we are seeing innovations that are rising out of consumer problems driven from our changed living environment. 

Old el Paso has turned its cardboard box into a fun board game for people to play together. 

13cabs has pivoted to launch 13things - a courier business aimed to redeploy 40,000 drivers to deliver parcels via the app. Billy Care is providing in home monitoring solutions for older people. And nearly every gin manufacturer in town is now making hand sanitiser. 

This (innovation) will continue as new circumstances allow people to express their creativity in different ways. However, what's more exciting is the creativity being shown by the world’s leading scientists as they try to save lives and work on a vaccine.”

But once the intensity of the current COVID-19 crisis subsides and life returns to some semblance of ‘normalcy’, it’s those who have harnessed creativity and put it into business practice that are best placed to get ahead.

Find courage to unleash your inner creative!

So Ferrier encourages businesses, students, the young, the (not-so) old and everyone who’s moving through these uncertain times to have the courage to unleash their innate creativity.

“Creativity is a skill born from memory, confidence and audacity. Put things together in new ways, and if you think there is magic in what you've developed, then have the confidence to express it and see what happens.

“Give your creativity away and be generous with it. Let other people build on it, steal it, and make it their own - then creativity will thrive,” he says.

“Fill your brain with stuff, but go deep. Understand niche areas of society and culture and understand those areas better than anyone. Have a few of those things and learn them deeply. You won’t believe how much of a well of creative inspiration they will become in years to come. 

“And don't be superficial (or if you're going to be then be deeply superficial, if you know what I mean!). Get your feet grounded in really understanding a few things. Then forget about it - and just let creativity join the dots.”

Thanks to Adam Ferrier for his insights, ideas - and creativity in spades!

1. Stay curious.

“Never accept the only options as the only options.
Always go a little further, stay a little longer, question a little more.
Follow and fuel what fascinates you.”

2. Feel more.

“Trust your instincts and honour your emotions.
There is a great wisdom and intelligence in your body.
Learn to access and leverage it.”

3. Always be making.

“Develop a bias for action.
Always start before you're ready.
You'll learn more about yourself in one hour of making than a year of theory.”

4. Give it all away.

“Don't be stingy with your ideas or expressions. Nothing is original, we are all building on the ideas of others.
Remember that creativity thrives in generosity. Share as much as you can as often as you can and it will come back to you tenfold.”