The views expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their very own.
Creative entrepreneurship, a seemingly contradictory term, is a unique and extraordinary combination of skills. The balance between business and creativity is not only a set of skills—it is a superpower that may set someone apart in the business world.
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky the query was once asked: “How many of the 500 corporations from the Fortune 500 list are [run by] creative people?” He pushes the query even further by asking how many creatives are on these boards. Chesky noted that he could also be one of the few Fortune 500 CEOs who is a designer by trade, having studied industrial design at the Rhode Island School of Design.
His creative edge, honed through his design background, shapes the way he runs the $88 billion global home-sharing company. Chesky sees himself as a designer, not a businessman, and that identity informs how he shapes his company to value good design and experiences above all else.
Creatives think in a different way. Entrepreneurs are resilient and productive. By hiring creative entrepreneurs, you build creativity into your organization’s DNA and open up a world of tangible advantages that drive innovation and growth. Here’s what it is advisable know about these secret superheroes, how they impact your bottom line, and easy methods to harness their combined power.
Delving into the Dichotomy: Creative vs. Entrepreneur
On the one hand, creatives are often seen as free-spirited dreamers or visionary artists who challenge the norm—judged on their ability to inform stories and evoke emotion through their work. On the other hand, entrepreneurs are often portrayed as tough and fast or highly competitive executives who are hyper-focused on the bottom line. They are judged on their ability to deliver profits for investors or scale a business at any cost.
The archetypes of the creative and the entrepreneur appear to be opposites. But when an organization hires leaders who excel at each creativity and entrepreneurship, recent levels of empathy and performance are unlocked.
Creativity and the final result
AND test by global consulting firm McKinsey & Company developed a quantitative measure of creativity to look at the relationship between creativity and business outcomes. The study found that “creativity is strongly correlated with better business outcomes”—specifically, higher financial performance, innovation, and growth.
Among corporations that rank in the top quartile for creativity—as measured by the number, scope, and frequency of prestigious awards won over a 15-year period—67% of the corporations ranked highest for creativity experienced above-average organic revenue growth, and 70% of these measurably creative corporations experienced above-average total shareholder return.
In addition, the study found that “creativity is the heart of business innovation, and innovation is the engine of growth,” supporting the thesis that creativity and business growth are strong drivers that complement each other well.
An individual or organization that has each of these traits is unstoppable. So how do you bring creativity into your business? By hiring creative people.
The Best of Both Worlds: The Strengths of Creative Entrepreneurs
Creative entrepreneurs are part cloud, part number. We offer visionary leadership and have the uncanny ability to (literally) invent outcomes. We are also adept at problem solving, have the business acumen to make practical and actionable decisions, and adopt systems and frameworks to understand a broader vision.
After a successful creative profession in promoting agencies and working on the brand side, I can attest to how my business skills, knowledge and confidence have asymmetrically developed as I have explored entrepreneurship. I founded an e-commerce company which has evolved into an award-winning direct-to-consumer candle brand, now expanding into retail in domestic and international markets.
Week after week I create mood boards, sketch Brand GuidelinesFrom conceptualizing promoting campaigns and writing creative email subject lines, scripts, or longer-form content, to cross-checking costs and profit margins, reviewing trend forecasting reports, and researching customs regulations to make sure product export compliance.
My creative mind is consistently challenged, and in the process I have combined, shaped, and strengthened my business mind. It’s the kind of “combined powers” you simply hear about in motion movies, but it’s definitely achievable for any creative one who desires to grow their skilled experience.
It’s equally useful for businesses to hunt down these secret superheroes. When creative people embed themselves in a business, it offers a well-rounded view of each worlds, undoubtedly making the creative work and the business more impactful, progressive, and profitable.
3 Benefits of a Hybrid Creative and Business Mind
Businesses interested in implementing innovation and creativity into their culture, processes and organization can profit from the following three advantages of combining a creative and business mind:
- Increase empathy: Combining creative and business approaches allows for a deeper understanding of your needs or the needs of your end customer, in addition to the challenges facing your creative team. This allows for more empathetic decisions that resonate with all stakeholders.
- Performance improvement: By combining creative problem-solving with business acumen, this approach streamlines processes, reduces bottlenecks, embraces failure, and encourages progressive solutions that increase productivity and profitability.
- Better collaboration between departments: This hybrid approach helps strengthen the bond between creative and operational teams, fostering a common language and mutual respect that may result in more cohesive and effective collaboration across the organization.
Implementing creativity in business
There’s no shortage of team exercises and techniques to assist C-suite executives boost creativity in their organizations. But you may’t take a workshop to grow to be more creative.
Creativity must exist in the heart of your employees and the soul of your organization. It is not only a nice-to-have, but a necessity to support innovation and drive growth in today’s competitive business environment.
When you hire and place creative people in senior and upper management roles—and allow them to exercise their creativity—you give yourself the unfair advantage of embedding creativity into your company’s DNA, which has been proven to drive innovation and above-average revenue and ROI growth. But you have to be forward-thinking enough to take a probability on creative leadership.