Creativity is often associated with brands and marketing, but are creative skills valued in broader business contexts?
According to Deloitte Digital, companies that integrate creativity into their business strategy and transformation processes will stand out in the future.
“We're pretty clear that adding creativity to business transformation is a real value add when it comes to outcomes and what it can achieve. It's the process of how you embed it that is key,” Andy Sandoz, Chief Creative Officer UK at Deloitte Digital said.
What does a creative business transformation involve?
Traditionally, business transformation has focused on the commercial and technical details, often communicating changes in a top-down, one-way manner rather than through a collaborative, empathetic approach. But leaders need to rethink this traditional approach by prioritising co-creation, design thinking and storytelling just as much as the commercial metrics.
Moreover, there is a growing desire for creative thinking across organisations. Companies are seeking an advantage through transformation and recognising that creativity can give them a competitive edge if they can unlock its power.
So, how can leaders determine the ingredients for a creative transformation?
Focus on fostering a creative culture
Establishing a culture of creativity requires a combined top-down and bottom-up approach. This means creating an environment where staff and stakeholders feel encouraged to share ideas, and have a process to develop those ideas throughout the organisation.
“You have to encourage the ideas to come from anywhere in an organisation. Everyone can be creative, all organisations can be creative.
“You have to create a safe space for ideas to happen and be curated and scaled,” he said.
Creating an environment to unleash creativity sounds straightforward, but it’s challenging because organisations often focus on short-term results, and building a creative culture takes much longer. It’s important to balance the space for creativity with commercial goals in any business transformation, he stressed.
Don’t do it alone - learn from creatives
It’s important to bring in the right support to initiate and inspire your team with essential creative tools and mindsets.
“Everyone can be creative but some people are better at expressing ideas in different ways that resonate well and help achieve the goal of bringing people along the journey. That talent has to come in and it has to work into the culture and the talent in the business.”
Don’t leave it up to chance - measure results
Incorporating creative elements into business transformation will only maintain momentum if their effectiveness in overall transformation goals can be measured and demonstrated. This is a crucial part of the process and communication strategy.
However, Sandoz challenges executives to broaden their measurement criteria to include more human-focused metrics, a concept he refers to as value creation.
“There’s a commercial outcome, but there's also a cultural and societal outcome to the work. When I think about value, I consider a broader perspective than just growth. I think about financial value, but also about reframing our vision for success to include these wider impacts.”
Watch the video above to see more from the interview with Deloitte Digital.
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