Well in a TV wars style battle, Creativity Lab 2 was pitted against Dominic Cummings’s explosive testimony evidence to MPs. But 120 comms pros tuned in to the second Lab and there was a tonne of learning on tap.

by Darren Caveney

Creativity Lab 2 was a cracking £free learning session for anyone who wanted to hear from creative and advertising agencies about everything from being creative in and amongst massive demands, through to top tips for regaining that creative spark which may have been lost during the pandemic.

Here are 10 of my favourite tips to emerge from the session…

1. The biggest killer of creativity is the people who just say no all the time. Say yes more often.

2. Fear stops creativity. We need to remove fear to create great work.

3. Even creative agencies use planning tools like Slack.

4. Work on the things that mean most to you – the things you care about most will help focus your creativity.

5. Leave your comfort zones – we have to try and experiment with new things. Watch a new TV show or film, read a book, take in something you know nothing about. Creative ideas can have many sources.

6. We must have honesty. So if we don’t think an idea hits the brief then we need to be able to speak honestly and without fear.

7. You don’t need to wear wacky clothes to be a creative. In fact sometimes it might help to mirror the clothes of those you are trying to sell an idea to.

8. Always, always have a pen and note book handy. Sketch your ideas out – getting them down on paper can really help us visualise them.

9. Where do you do your best work? Seek out what suits you best, from the quiet and inspiring gallery to a bustling coffee shop and recreate it whenever you can.

And, finally…

10. Don’t be afraid of a crap idea. From a crap or daft idea good things can emerge.

I was so pleased to hear this last tip – I have always said that there are no such things as bad ideas, just bad decisions.

Thanks to the panel of One Black Bear, DigiKind and Alive with Ideas for a brilliant session.

Creativity Lab 3 will take place on 25 June at 12noon – more on comms2point0.co.uk and @comms2point0 very soon

Darren Caveney is the creator and owner of comms2point0 and specialist consultancy Creative Communicators Ltd. You can say hello on Twitter at @darrencaveney and connect on LinkedIn.

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Image via Wikimedia Commons