I have the benefit of three friends & colleagues that stimulate intense creative thought in me: a programmer, an audiovisual integrator and a tech account manager. It strikes me as funny that none of those are right brain or “creative” job titles. It also reminds me that I’ve become wholly dissatisfied with the artificial boundaries we’ve erected between “creative” and “uncreative” people.

The next time you hear a conversation involving the “creative” label, pay particular attention to how it is applied. More times than not the label is used to describe certain job titles or personal hobbies. I design things for a living, so I’m creative. My wife creates wonderful interior environments, so she’s creative. My colleague Daryl, on the other hand, is not creative because he is a programmer. Garbage.

While I understand that the common usage of “creative” helps to explain what people DO, its has nothing to do with understanding who people ARE. We miss out on a wealth of insight when we marginalize the IDEAS of people who don’t bring tangible (seeable, touchable, hearable, tastable) creativity to the table. The problem isn’t the label, it’s how we apply it. I’m afraid that many designers (myself included) feel the burden of job title justification that manifests itself as a myopic, individualistic, self-righteous approach to evaluating ideas.

We’re trying something at TRUE. Our “creatives” (designers, creative directors) are shedding the burden of job title justification and incorporating the insights of our “uncreatives” (programmers, managers) in evaluating concepts. This has been a painful process for me personally. It’s hard for me to admit that as a “creative” my ideas are not always right, but experience has proven that my best work is the result of openness to the criticism and insights of others.