Becoming entrepreneurs of change

All people want to have some impact; virtually any kind. Most of us want our daily work to have some effect for the better. Just a few of us actually tried this and know how difficult this is in our day to day responsibilities. I believe that in our line of business, change for the better should be our most significant driver. I am lucky enough that my day to day responsibility in Publicis Groupe is to build conditions and teams that deliver change through creativity.

Creativity is one of those magical ambivalent words. Each one of us will create a unique picture of the meaning in our head. A lot of us in marketing accepted two meanings. We got used to accepting creativity as some skill used in creative departments. A privilege of creative minds that often use specific methodologies to "create" ideas, visuals, solutions. Forget that!

Let us go back to the general understanding, where creativity is an approach with which we may tackle any topic. It is a surge of positive energy that enables us to restructure the set meaning, the set corridors of thought, and to "create" something new. Do not get me wrong; I am not a fan of inviting an IT or HR Manager to create campaign ideas. I don’t believe that everyone should get a voice in everything. I believe we need creative designers, idea makers as well as strategist, data scientists, developers, and HR Managers. Creativity is a character trait which says; "I am willing and able to invest more energy than necessary. I am willing to think beyond the mere task fulfilment. I am willing to forget my ego and ways in which I am set", and yes, there is a lot of uncreative creative directors and designers and there is a lot of highly creative analysts and developers. 

Creativity 4 Change is the only creativity. It is the power that drives us, who want to change things for the better. We need to become real entrepreneurs; entrepreneurs of change and to be able to approach all marketing fields and know-how with this spirit. Leaving your ego behind and opening for change will lead to combining know-how from various fields and to think holistically about our clients' business. This will allow us to leave the limitations set upon us by definition of "marketing"; it will enable our teams and us to change the world.

Martin Ježek, Strategic Director, MSL Prague, Czech Republic