The Importance Of Unleashing Creativity & Innovation In Your Team

Why can’t a service-based industry dive into out-of-the-box thinking? Fitzgerald Power has with our street-art collaboration with Waterford Walls.

There are countless airport fridge magnets, badly written coffee table books and MySpace blogs waxing
lyrical about the importance, nay, cruciality one must link with the largely-thrown-around buzzword that
is creativity. It strokes at the obvious, in the way that we finally remember we are human while still
claiming to poke subordinates just enough that their boss can return to their blank computer screen and
feel they’ve done an honest day’s work.

Of course, creativity means a number of things. You can have a creative accountant (most organised
criminals do), a creative dating profile (by saying you’re ‘outdoorsy’ when you really mean you like
getting drunk on patios) or finally, you can be creative with your PR (like Trump waiting for Queen
Elizabeth to die to reveal that she knighted him, in private). Though a word loosely tied to masts when an
unknown solution is needed, creativity is the lifeblood of the world’s most successful organisations –
and the avoidance of such may as well be thought of in a similar vein to a Love Island elimination
process; drawn out, uncomfortable and about as elegant as Garth Brooks fans descent into Copper Face
Jacks.

“You can’t use up creativity, according to Maya Angelou. “The more you use, the more you have.” It’s a
mantra we’ve been leaning into in recent times here at Fitzgerald Power; with the addition of beautiful
street art to our Waterford buildings, or reading into the recent Lionesses’ win as a punt for gender
equality. We believe this industry needs it – why can’t a service-based industry break the mould and dive
into out-of-box thinking? And why shouldn’t we? That’s the reason we’re always looking for more. It’s
the reason we brought qualified pharmacist and TED Talk speaker Jack Kavanagh in to chat with us about
motivation. Creativity and storytelling are in our blood. Look no further than our Catherine Street
building’s depiction of the Children of Lír –– a story which inspired Swan Lake, arguably one of the
bigger brands available to anyone who pretends to like ballet.

According to McKinsey & Company’s award creativity score (ACS), there’s a direct link between an
organisation’s financial performance and its penchant for creativity (or at least, winning awards for
creativity). Of the firms deemed creative by McKinsey’s metrics, 67% showed above-average revenue
growth, 70% exhibited above-average returns to shareholders and 74% scored above-average net
enterprise values. Simply put––and going along the same vein as Angelou––creativity yields innovation,
boosting performance and employee happiness at every step.

Creative endeavours can also induce a soothing effect within your brain, similar to what many experience
in meditation. That is if you do them well. Simply ‘forgetting’ one owns 11+ properties may not work in
your favour, but creatively announcing yourself as someone who knows first-hand the difficulties faced
by renters, might. Similarly, announcing yourself as ground zero for monarchy abolition and then swiftly
changing your mind when you find it more personally convenient to revere is an excellent use of
creativity at the last minute.

Indeed, creativity might be the only investment that never fails. According to psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, creativity is a central source of meaning in our lives. Most of the things that are interesting, important and human, he argues, are the result of creativity. In Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention, he writes that when we are involved in creativity, “we feel that we are living more fully than during the rest of life.” This rings true for most professionals, whose humdrum desk job only sparks joy when their own imagination runs wild. But as John Cleese once said, “If you want creative workers, give them enough time to play.” So go forth and do what the Monty Pythons did – spend time encouraging your staff, create an environment that might spark the sharing or exchanging of ideas and finally act on the good ideas, while also rewarding your team’s creative acumen. And always look on the bright side of life, it’s what Robert Troy would have wanted.

We at Fitzgerald Power have spent thirty years offering creative solutions to a diverse range of clients across Ireland, and the UK, and we’re pretty proud of what we’ve helped our clients to achieve. We enable and empower businesses to reach any and every goal. Whatever the job, we don’t offer anything less than the best. We work across a range of sectors, including pharmacy, food & beverage, SME and retail. Please get in touch today if you would like to speak to any of our experts.