Creativity as Revolution

By Jonathan Halls

A revolution occurs when you try something altogether different and ‘out of the box.’ We can see this across the media.

Creative radicals have produced many films that have shocked and confronted public opinion. Often these ideas have changed public ideas and perceptions.

The same stands for literature. Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels was a revolutionary book in that it challenged the typical travel writing of his time and made satirical social comments about politics and humanity.

Surrender traditions and conventions

Radical thinking often involves surrendering the conventions you are used to and almost starting from scratch. It’s like reframing a concept.

I often make bold predictions in my seminars. About 5 years ago I used to forecast that the internet will exist largely on mobile phones. I argued that once bandwidth problems are sorted out they’ll be the best technology to use because of their mobility.

However, when I asked people to imagine having mobile or cell telephones that play music via MP3 and on which they can listen to a radio station in Chicago, as they walk down Tottenham Court Road in London, they laughed at the idea.

However, when I asked them to imagine a Walkman that was also a mobile phone they stopped laughing. These people were comfortable with one perspective but not the other.

Radically looking for a new perspective

Revolutionary creativity is about suspending your perspective and being radical in finding a new one.  Thinking about something in a radically different way.

Of course, this doesn't seem too radical now.  This year we're talking about multi-play technology that will do this and more.

To be imaginative, you need to surrender your preconceived ideas, ways of thinking and mental models, and accept any new idea as a possibility.