Virtual Creativity Is Better Than In-Person. There, I Said It.
It’s funny. When I started the original Ideasicle in 2010 I figured if I could use technology to tap into world-class minds then the sacrifice of doing the idea generation online would surely be overwhelmed by the great minds. But what I quickly learned as we did more and more idea projects was that the virtual nature was not a sacrifice at all and, better yer, had virtues far beyond giving me access to great minds. Here’s what I learned.
Virtual creativity eliminates negative human dynamics.
I know it’s been a long time given the pandemic, but think about the last in-person brainstorm you attended at the office. A bunch of people cram into a room with a whiteboard. The leader corrals the group and explains the assignment and then it’s “No bad ideas!” and “Let the ideas flow!” But what ends up really happening when no one is looking, or even aware? Stuff that gets directly in the way of creativity.
There is always the loud guy who loves to hear himself talk and thinks he’s the smartest person in the room. There’s the quiet introvert who actually is the smartest person in the room, but you won’t know it. There’s the more subtle creativity-killers found in unconscious biases, like gender and racial bias. There’s the posturing that goes with office politics. All fo these forces work against unbridled creativity.
There’s none of that in our virtual space, as the freelancers are all literally reduced to a typeface. They are on equal footing so it’s all about the ideas, not about the shouting.
Ideas happen while you’re busy making other plans.
To have a meeting with someone or with a few people in order to come up with some ideas is to ignore how creativity works. An idea happens after your brain is infected with an inspiring creative brief and you’re out there living your life. The inspiring brief doesn’t go away. Not with idea people. Idea people get obsessed with the assignment and carry its energy one imperceptible layer beneath their consciousness at all times, ready to pounce whenever confronted with a fresh potential collision.
At the grocery store, on a train, reading a book, Zooming with a friend, taking a shower, or even just being at home. Ideas can’t be forced, but a meeting to come up with ideas suggests they can. With the virtual nature of Ideasicle X agencies can post their brief (video and pdf), invite the perfect team of four, have that perfect team be inspired by the brief, and, here’s the important part, allow their team to go live life. All the team needs is access to the Ideasicle X site on their phones and ideas can be posted from anywhere, at any time.
Because Ideasicle X is virtual, it allows creativity to happen naturally, never forced.
Always have the right people colliding.
What’s liberating about virtual creativity is that, when fielding a team of four, you are no longer limited to those in an office or even to a geography. When the entire process happens online ANYONE ON EARTH can be invited to your assignment.
Think about that.
If you need ideas for a retail promotion for a smart home product, you may or may not have the right experience in the agency. That’s ok because you can recruit exactly the right experience on the Ideasicle X platform. You may want a hardcore retail expert on the team to anchor the rest of the team in the realities of retail promotions, but you may also want a smart home expert who doubles as a social media pro. Throw two of your own creative directors on the team and look out!
Our technology allows you access to all of your favorite freelancers you already use (you can invite them from the platform), all of the freelancers already in the system including our Ideasicle Experts, and all of your employees no matter which office they reside.
I couldn’t believe it either.
Now, I’m not saying in-person creativity doesn’t work. It obviously does and I’ve seen it work magically at my agencies past. Which is why my expectations were low back in 2010 when I started the original Ideasicle. But now after all this experimenting with virtual creativity I can honestly say you will get to great ideas faster than ever before.
And there’s nothing virtual about that.
Will Burns is founder and CEO of Ideasicle X. Follow him on Twitter @WillOBurns.