Creative Collapse: Lessons from Companies that Failed to Innovate - I Will Not Lose Podcast - #0012

Transcript

[00:00:05.710] What's up? What's up? Mic check. One, two, one, two. Good morning. Good evening. Good night. Good afternoon. Whatever time you're listening from, wherever you're listening. I appreciate you. Shout out to my Spotify listeners, Apple Podcasts, Audible, Amazon Music, Podchaser, GeoSavant. If you're on Google Podcasts, big shout out if you're on Stitcher and YouTube, if you're watching in. Thanks for giving me a reason to get dressed and invest in these cameras.
[00:00:31.430] Coming live from my voice to your phone, computer, headphones, TV, car stereo, still no smartwatches, Bluetooth speaker.
[00:00:40.250] You could be anywhere in the world, but you're here right now.
[00:00:44.330] Let's take a moment to be present and recognize that it's now.
[00:00:47.670] Right now.
[00:00:48.690] Whether you're working, running, exercising, cleaning, laying down, flying, driving, doing the dishes, let's be grateful we're alive.
[00:00:58.190] Failure can be frightening.
[00:00:59.350] However, as Winston Churchill reminds us, success is all about going from failure to
[00:01:03.250] failure without losing enthusiasm.
[00:01:05.730] This is I Will Not Lose Podcast.
[00:01:07.710] Let's jump right in.
[00:01:10.150] Listen, when I do that intro, it's very calculated.
[00:01:14.250] The reason why I have to remind myself every week about going from failure to failure without
[00:01:19.550] losing enthusiasm is there's ups and downs, man.
[00:01:23.010] and motivation is all about having that feeling you had when you started a year, six months,
[00:01:31.210] three months, five years down the road. It's a constant struggle. So reminding myself
[00:01:37.890] why we got into this, the fact that not everything is going to be a banger, not everything is going
[00:01:45.310] to come across the greatest. So I appreciate all the feedback, negative and positive.
[00:01:51.710] And as I'm sitting here coming up with stories of success for failures for this week, I'm
[00:01:57.750] thinking about creativity and I'm thinking, man, you know, I've got some really cool stuff
[00:02:02.470] that I would love to drop, but I just don't know that it's ready yet.
[00:02:06.330] So I want to take more time, let that incubate.
[00:02:08.510] And it got me thinking about creativity in general and specifically creative block.
[00:02:15.310] So if you're listening in today, we are welcome to I Will Not Lose Podcast, where we explore
[00:02:21.450] the ups and downs of failure.
[00:02:23.450] Today we're going to be talking about the times where you're feeling stuck and can't
[00:02:26.910] come up with any new ideas.
[00:02:28.590] We'll be discussing some strategies for overcoming creative blocks, finding some inspiration
[00:02:33.510] where it's nowhere to be found.
[00:02:35.710] We're going to be going through some stories of companies and how, look, if you're feeling
[00:02:41.010] down with creativity personally, just know there's companies that invest tens of thousands,
[00:02:46.670] if not millions of dollars in innovation. You know, I've done marketing for companies who
[00:02:51.910] literally all they do is create code-a-thons and incubate creativity because companies have such a
[00:02:58.610] hard time nailing this down. You know, they say pinning creativity to the wall is like pinning
[00:03:04.590] jelly. You know, it's a fluid thing. So if we can agree on what creativity is, and this is what I'm
[00:03:13.130] going with this podcast based off of, creativity is the ability to come up with new and original
[00:03:18.630] ideas. It's the process of taking something that already exists and transforming it into something
[00:03:23.970] new or unique. This can be implied into many areas like art, science, music, design, writing,
[00:03:31.470] photography, even podcasting. So everybody wants to get good at it. And in the light of things like
[00:03:40.590] AI being able to do the tedious process of creating, if you want to call it creation,
[00:03:46.510] don't kill me for calling AI image synthesis, I think they're calling it. Maybe that's not
[00:03:53.450] creativity, but somebody has to come up with the prompts. And so it's an interesting revolution
[00:04:00.130] we're about to move into where creativity comes to the top of the bucket. It becomes the most
[00:04:06.910] sought out thing because the execution has moved east for a while. A lot of the creative arts,
[00:04:13.610] even if you look at Netflix, most of their filming is done in Europe. It's just less than
[00:04:18.750] Hollywood prices. You can get things done a lot cheaper and that's the way the industries are
[00:04:24.350] moving. So as a career creative, this is constantly something that I've worked on getting
[00:04:30.570] better at, worked on training. So part of this is going to be anecdotal. It's going to be part of
[00:04:36.070] my experience. Some of it is going to be things like studies that I've looked at because this is
[00:04:41.790] a really interesting topic. So how do we train it? It's worth noting that creativity is not a
[00:04:48.270] fixed trait. It can be nurtured and developed through consistent practice and effort. So the
[00:04:53.670] more you create, the more creative you become, in theory. To train creativity, there are several
[00:05:00.450] things that can be used. So I'm going to go into a few of these. One of them is brainstorming.
[00:05:05.670] And if you've ever been a part of a group brainstorming, I've been in different groups of
[00:05:10.830] different walks of life with brainstorms. I want to focus specifically on engineers.
[00:05:16.430] One of the things with brainstorming, so this technique involves generating as many ideas as
[00:05:21.010] possible without judging or censoring them. This is the most important part. If you try to think
[00:05:26.930] the entire idea through and think about every way that it can fail, you're never going to get it to
[00:05:32.430] the point where somebody else could bounce a perspective off it and say, hey, let's attack
[00:05:37.390] it like this. That's how the most creative things are created in groups. But this gets the creative
[00:05:44.630] juices flowing. And one thing that engineers are notorious for, and it's what makes them good at
[00:05:50.370] their job. So this is not a negative trait, but they have to see what could possibly go wrong.
[00:05:56.570] So in a group of creatives, if you have some people who are trained in their mind to look
[00:06:03.030] for what can go wrong, the second an idea comes out, it's going to instantly be shut down or,
[00:06:08.430] hey, you know, that that's not possible to work. So it's something that I have friends that have
[00:06:12.810] struggled with. It's something that I've struggled with. I consider myself very engineer minded,
[00:06:17.550] I'm very analytical, even in my art. Everything is a process, but we'll get into that later.
[00:06:23.870] How do we train it? Besides brainstorming, there's incubation, the process of letting an idea simmer
[00:06:29.050] in the back of your mind. Sometimes stepping away from the problem can help you get new perspectives
[00:06:34.170] and solutions. So I carry around a little cloud notebook. I mean, I do carry a physical pen and
[00:06:42.120] paper with me just in case I need to jot something, but from my phone or laptop or anything,
[00:06:47.160] I can access this cloud library of my notes.
[00:06:51.880] So little things that spark into my head, I'll write them down and just put notes on
[00:06:57.580] them as we go.
[00:06:58.400] Something comes up, you know, these are, whether it be jokes or stories that I've written,
[00:07:03.080] I have so many things saved that may or may not ever be created.
[00:07:06.940] But the process of putting it there, analyzing it, thinking about it, this is incubation.
[00:07:13.120] This works really well.
[00:07:14.420] When we get further into the science of it, you have to realize that creativity can't be forced.
[00:07:20.260] It's not an endurance thing like weightlifting or something where you can keep doing it.
[00:07:27.420] Yes, you do build the creative muscle, if you want to call it, but it's far from something you can just cram and do.
[00:07:35.440] So even when I have a ton of creative work to do, I split it up into breaks.
[00:07:39.540] I don't try to do everything all at once and I just let it be able to simmer in the back of my
[00:07:44.260] mind. Get inspired is another way to train creativity. So look at the work of others in
[00:07:50.220] your field, read books, listen to music, explore other forms of art. If you guys know me, I'm a
[00:07:57.240] huge gamer and it's not like a, I'm not gaming all the time. I actually should be gaming more
[00:08:04.650] for creativity, but I play games that have stories, play games that have tons of color
[00:08:10.850] that are technically sound, and it does make me more creative when I'm creating,
[00:08:17.290] whether it be a color combination that I see, but listening to science fiction. So I bounce
[00:08:23.430] back and forth from listening to a personal development to listening to stories of science
[00:08:27.830] fiction or apocalypse or worlds that I don't exist in. And that's how I keep my creative
[00:08:33.990] muscles strong. Experimentation. Play around with different techniques and mediums. Try new things
[00:08:40.730] even if they seem a bit crazy. So this is the fun part. When you get further along the creative
[00:08:47.790] field, you kind of get a look and a style that people seek out and they want that look. You run
[00:08:54.110] into it with agencies where after a while, agency puts out all work that looks the same. Even if
[00:08:59.510] it's beautiful, it's from the same creatives, from the same minds, and they're rocking with
[00:09:04.790] a template that just works. So the podcast is an area where I'm able to experiment,
[00:09:11.850] try some different things. Getting ready to announce season two. Season one was all about
[00:09:18.030] experiments, trying different things, new camera angles, different audio equipment,
[00:09:23.990] just to make sure that we could consistently put this out every week.
[00:09:29.130] Now that we've got the editing down to a system, we have everything scheduled,
[00:09:33.490] we have room for buffer and some things that we can put out
[00:09:37.330] in case we're not feeling super creative that week.
[00:09:40.030] But a big thing is the guests, you know, experimenting with different types of guests.
[00:09:45.730] We do have a theme with this podcast of stories created, success learned from failure,
[00:09:51.070] but not every piece of content is going to be absolutely stuck to the theme it just um
[00:09:58.270] it's great to be a thought experiment and flipping your mind state but as i work to get larger and
[00:10:05.310] more notable guests we're gonna have some people that just have a conversation about some things
[00:10:10.570] and we'll find ways to work that into the content so if you've been listening all the way thank you
[00:10:16.930] If you're new to listening and you're wondering what this is, stick tuned for season two.
[00:10:22.440] We are working on putting the processes together a little bit better based on audience feedback.
[00:10:29.050] So besides experimentation, what else can we do?
[00:10:31.310] Practice.
[00:10:32.210] Practice makes perfect.
[00:10:33.750] I mean, this goes without saying, but I know I'm going to shout her out all the time.
[00:10:39.370] Shout out to V Alvarado, tattoo artist out in Austin, Texas.
[00:10:45.450] She's constantly posting TikToks of her just practicing art, just putting together.
[00:10:51.650] I don't know tattooing, but I guess it's like paper that acts like skin.
[00:10:56.220] It looks like she inks it and does things like this.
[00:10:59.340] Super cool to watch on time lapse, but it's about practicing.
[00:11:04.040] It's about drilling.
[00:11:05.120] It's about practicing the way you would in practice, the way you would in the game.
[00:11:10.020] And that gets you really strong and on top of things.
[00:11:13.960] This is a big one that I'm going to spend some time on.
[00:11:16.800] Take breaks and take care of yourself.
[00:11:19.640] Creativity and productivity can be enhanced by taking care of your physical and mental
[00:11:24.080] well-being.
[00:11:25.600] So if I don't sleep good, if I don't eat good, if I'm stressed out, if I'm anxious, I don't
[00:11:31.300] create very well.
[00:11:33.220] There is something to be said for creating when depressed.
[00:11:37.180] I think that when your brain is wired in that different sort of way, I mean, even I think
[00:11:42.360] comedy. Not that it's a dark thing. Comedy is making you laugh, but it forces you to look at
[00:11:47.600] things in the opposite way that the normal world does. And that can be very alienating for somebody
[00:11:54.660] who is constantly seeking the approval of laughter. So understand that mental health and
[00:12:01.300] creativity go so hand in hand. I have been taking care of my mental health for the past couple of
[00:12:08.520] years, but really this past year. And I can't even fathom the amount of stuff that I've put
[00:12:16.560] out. I haven't even been able to share it on social. I've been creating at such a high level
[00:12:21.080] for quite a long time. So I appreciate it. Appreciate the taking breaks and taking care
[00:12:27.880] of yourself. I get worried about if I don't have my hair right, or I don't have a haircut,
[00:12:34.810] or I don't feel good. So as dumb as it sounds, I forced myself to do a video version of this
[00:12:42.230] podcast. Trust me, it would be way easier to just put the audio out. There would be more content.
[00:12:48.090] The editing of a video and syndicating the content as well to YouTube is a choice that I make
[00:12:54.130] because it helps keep me on top of it. It's very easy for me to disappear in a basement,
[00:13:00.410] have my hair start growing out, stop shaving. And all of a sudden I become the creative hermit,
[00:13:07.050] you know? Um, so having some sort of public face, tying myself to things is great. Um,
[00:13:16.970] taking care of yourself, make sure that goes, uh, top of your list if you are working on being
[00:13:22.890] creative. So in this next segment, I'm just going to flow through some company failures and just
[00:13:30.750] kind of paint the picture that look this is something that individuals struggle with even
[00:13:35.050] if you create at a high level you deal with uh oh man i'm not good enough i can't create this
[00:13:42.130] therefore i suck you slip into depression it's a terrible cycle but just know that uh professional
[00:13:48.610] creatives are going through this struggle and they find ways to manage it um and take breaks
[00:13:54.130] things like this. So companies that just didn't adapt creatively, there's Kodak. They were once
[00:14:01.750] the leader in the film and photography industry. If I ask my kids now, they think of it as an
[00:14:07.330] antique thing with Kodak and Polaroid. When digital cameras came along, Canon and Nikon
[00:14:13.170] grabbed up the market share. Kodak said, well, we're catering to the audience of people who
[00:14:19.210] deal with film and things like that. And all of a sudden, if you look at the industry now,
[00:14:26.210] a lot of those cameras are going on eBay and things like that, but they're not really being
[00:14:30.330] sold through B&H or your major retailers, things like that. You have a chain like Blockbuster,
[00:14:39.450] leading video rental chain. If you guys remember in the 90s, going to Blockbuster to pick out a
[00:14:45.350] rental that you could have for the weekend was like you had your grades good. You went
[00:14:49.610] most of the time. You didn't return it on time. And the company made so much money through late
[00:14:55.370] fees. You could take a VHS and rewind over it and return it back. Like, it's really crazy to
[00:15:02.690] try to explain to our kids that this was a successful business. But everybody. And then
[00:15:08.190] you had a Redbox, which allowed you to rent videos and DVDs. Blockbuster had a chance to
[00:15:15.030] get into doing like a Bluebox. I mean, just the brand Blockbuster, they had licensing and deals.
[00:15:20.630] They could have done really well with that. But companies, especially large companies,
[00:15:27.330] they have short-sighted deadlines. They have quarters to grow. Innovation may take time.
[00:15:33.470] It may take resources and it's just difficult to have those things, but there's tons of
[00:15:39.770] companies.
[00:15:40.370] You have Sears, largest retailer.
[00:15:42.830] You don't hear about them anymore.
[00:15:45.890] Toys R Us, leader in the toy retail industry, but you just couldn't buy anything online
[00:15:51.860] and online shopping put Toys R Us out of business.
[00:15:57.100] So not only does companies need to remain creative and innovative to stay in the global
[00:16:03.280] market, but individuals need to stay creative.
[00:16:06.700] You know, your job changes.
[00:16:07.920] If you're not taking continuing education or learning new skills, or you don't have
[00:16:12.300] a mentor that you're working with, you can find yourself stagnant and you can find yourself
[00:16:17.060] just doing the same thing.
[00:16:18.760] So when somebody comes along with a way to do it 20 times faster and you didn't adapt
[00:16:24.140] to that, you may suffer a terrible fate. So tips to make yourself more creative. I wanted to touch
[00:16:35.650] on this real quick, but a lot of people think pot and creativity are linked. I wanted to,
[00:16:43.250] I hope I cited my source here in the notes. Nope, I'll have to punch that in later. If not,
[00:16:51.060] but this is from a study. The summary is, as more and more countries and states legalize
[00:16:57.520] recreational marijuana use, organizations may increasingly find themselves tasked with
[00:17:02.320] understanding and addressing the impact of weed in the workplace. In particular,
[00:17:06.720] many celebrities have suggested that cannabis has aided their creative pursuits. But the author's
[00:17:11.980] recent research suggests that while weed can make you think your ideas are more creative,
[00:17:16.140] it doesn't have any impact on your ability to come up with objectively creative ideas.
[00:17:22.080] As such, the author argues that at least when it comes to the role that requires cleared-eyed
[00:17:28.920] evaluation of creative options, organizations may stand to benefit from implementing policies
[00:17:34.680] that respect personal freedom while encouraging employees to stay sober.
[00:17:39.100] so don't think you're going to smoke and be more creative or vape or ingest or any of the
[00:17:47.330] many ways uh you may be more jovial you may have more fun while painting or writing and creating
[00:17:53.230] but no research is uh no studies suggest that it actually makes you objectively more creative
[00:18:00.170] so to summarize creativity is not something that can be nailed against the wall and mass produced
[00:18:07.550] and manufactured. It requires a lot of rest. It requires a lot of practice. Hopefully you found
[00:18:13.530] this podcast either entertaining or informative, hopefully both, in ways to come up, be more
[00:18:20.210] creative, not hit creative blocks, and not suffer the fate of Blockbuster, Kodak, Blackberry,
[00:18:28.790] Toys R Us, the long list of companies that failed to be innovative, creative, and keep up with the
[00:18:34.490] times. This is I Will Not Lose podcast, stories of success learned from failure. To support the
[00:18:41.850] show, visit the website shows.acast.com slash I Will Not Lose and subscribe to your favorite
[00:18:47.910] podcast player. Share this episode link, leave a comment. Your contribution is appreciated.
[00:18:53.430] Thank you for listening.