Weird, huh? A creativity expert saying, "Creativity is Worthless!" But fear not—there's something else that's PRICELESS!
If you're a video person, I lay it all out in the video below. If reading is more your thing, skip the video and hop straight to the transcript below!
Hey there, Bill Stainton here with Turning Creativity into Money™, and today I've got startling news for you, and it's this:
Creativity is worthless!
Yeah, yeah, I said it, I said it. Creativity is worthless.
Now why would I say something like that? It's because it's true. Creativity, in and of itself, has no inherent marketplace value, it has no inherent marketplace worth. Creativity is worthless.
Now, does that mean that creativity is unimportant?
No, it's vitally important.
See, creativity is all about coming up with ideas, lots and lots of ideas. But until you turn those ideas into something of marketplace value, they're worthless. That's why creativity is worthless.
Innovation is priceless.
See, innovation is when you take that, those raw materials, those raw ideas and turn them into something of value. That's why I call this Turning Creativity—there it is right there—Turning Creativity into Money™. Taking creative ideas and turning them into something of value.
Think of it this way. Think of somebody who's just learning piano. And they're sitting there, day after day, hour after hour, just doing finger exercises, playing their scales, and their arpeggios, and their, and again, you know, their finger exercises. And it's mind-numbingly dull.
Now, would you pay to go see a concert of that piano player playing finger exercises and scales non-stop? Of course not. No, no sane person would.
But jump forward a few years and that piano player, that person learning piano is now a highly paid concert pianist. How much would you pay for that? Right?
Now, would you pay to see that highly paid concert pianist do a concert of nothing but scales and finger exercises? No. Those are the building blocks. But they were necessary, they were important, because now that concert pianist can take what he or she learned doing those exercises, and turn them into a constant of etudes by Chopin, or sonatas by Beethoven. Now you've got something of value. Now you've got something that's, that's priceless.
So creativity, in and of itself, is worthless. Creativity is the finger exercises, the scales you need them. The ideas, those are the raw ideas. You need those, but don't be fooled into thinking that that's the finish line.
That's the problem that a lot of people think of, the, "Oh, look, we came up with all these ideas, look how creative we are. That's the finish line." No, no, no. That's the starting block.
The finish line is when you take those ideas, and you turn them into something of value. You turn them into something of worth. You turn them into something that's priceless.
And that's innovation.
I'm Bill Stainton, and I'll talk to you next time when I help you Turn Your Creativity into Money™.
Creativity is worthless!
Yeah, yeah, I said it, I said it. Creativity is worthless.
Now why would I say something like that? It's because it's true. Creativity, in and of itself, has no inherent marketplace value, it has no inherent marketplace worth. Creativity is worthless.
Now, does that mean that creativity is unimportant?
No, it's vitally important.
See, creativity is all about coming up with ideas, lots and lots of ideas. But until you turn those ideas into something of marketplace value, they're worthless. That's why creativity is worthless.
Innovation is priceless.
See, innovation is when you take that, those raw materials, those raw ideas and turn them into something of value. That's why I call this Turning Creativity—there it is right there—Turning Creativity into Money™. Taking creative ideas and turning them into something of value.
Think of it this way. Think of somebody who's just learning piano. And they're sitting there, day after day, hour after hour, just doing finger exercises, playing their scales, and their arpeggios, and their, and again, you know, their finger exercises. And it's mind-numbingly dull.
Now, would you pay to go see a concert of that piano player playing finger exercises and scales non-stop? Of course not. No, no sane person would.
But jump forward a few years and that piano player, that person learning piano is now a highly paid concert pianist. How much would you pay for that? Right?
Now, would you pay to see that highly paid concert pianist do a concert of nothing but scales and finger exercises? No. Those are the building blocks. But they were necessary, they were important, because now that concert pianist can take what he or she learned doing those exercises, and turn them into a constant of etudes by Chopin, or sonatas by Beethoven. Now you've got something of value. Now you've got something that's, that's priceless.
So creativity, in and of itself, is worthless. Creativity is the finger exercises, the scales you need them. The ideas, those are the raw ideas. You need those, but don't be fooled into thinking that that's the finish line.
That's the problem that a lot of people think of, the, "Oh, look, we came up with all these ideas, look how creative we are. That's the finish line." No, no, no. That's the starting block.
The finish line is when you take those ideas, and you turn them into something of value. You turn them into something of worth. You turn them into something that's priceless.
And that's innovation.
I'm Bill Stainton, and I'll talk to you next time when I help you Turn Your Creativity into Money™.
23
APR
2021
APR
2021
About the Author:
29-time Emmy Award winner and Hall of Fame keynote speaker Bill Stainton, CSP is an expert on Innovation, Creativity, and Breakthrough Thinking. He helps leaders and their teams come up with innovative solutions — on demand — to their most challenging problems.