What was it?
John Cleese’s Creativity in Management was a talk given at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London on 23 January 1991. A video was produced by Video Arts — a learning video company founded in 1972 by John Cleese himself — that later appeared on Reddit in 2015. It’s 36 minutes long but rather funny. If you really don’t have the time to watch it, continue reading below.
Not a talent
Cleese says that creativity isn’t a talent, but a mode of operation in which you deliberately put yourself in a playful or childlike state of mind to solve some kind of problem. Cleese calls this state the open mode, in which you’re expansive, contemplative and playful. He contrasts it with the closed mode, in which you’re more purposeful and busy; feeling a little impatient, anxious or stressed, but not necessarily in bad way. The closed mode can be exciting and pleasurable: you’re working hard, but you’re also having a blast!
Don’t try too hard
He mentions scientist Alexander Fleming and film director Alfred Hitchcock, who both created the things that made them famous in the open mode — almost by accident — and emphasises how you shouldn’t try so hard when you want to have ideas, since it just has the opposite effect.
Alternate work and play
Cleese then emphasises that both modes are necessary: the open one is good for hatching plans; the closed one is good for executing them. Once you’ve executed the first stage of your plan in the closed mode, you should go back to the open mode to evaluate the results and make adjustments before entering the closed mode for the next stage, and so on.
Escape the world for 90 minutes
The stress of everyday life makes us prone to get stuck in the closed mode, and this hinders our creativity. In order to regain creativity, it’s important to set aside space and time, about 90 minutes or so in the morning, in which to be isolated from the outside world, where no one can disturb you and you have no other obligations. Once in there, avoid distractions such as taking care of trivial things in order to avoid the big problem you’re there to solve. Let your mind race away but don’t pay attention to your thoughts. After some time, they will quieten down, and you can begin to contemplate the problem. If your thoughts drift away too far, gently guide them back, as you would if you were meditating.
Take your time, and then some
Cleese emphasises that you shouldn’t just run with the first idea you get. The first iteration of a solution is rarely the best one. Even if you’re anxious to get the problem solved or to have the decision made right now, don’t do it until you have to. If you don’t have to do it for another week, allow yourself that week. The longer you let your brain subconsciously work on a problem, the better your ideas will be. Your ideas may not always come during the play sessions themselves, but later — in the shower or on the subway — but only if you actually did put in the playtime earlier on. No cheating!
Be a good playmate
If you’re solving problems with others, it’s important that the people you play with make you feel safe and not defensive. There is no such thing as a mistake when you are playing. Avoid shooting people down and telling them they’re wrong, and instead try to build upon their ideas. The whole idea is to experiment, laugh and get a little crazy.
Jokes are good
Humour is a good way of getting people into the open mode. Sometimes, you need to be in a playful mode to solve a serious problem, and maybe even joke a little about it. Telling jokes about serious problems is okay. It doesn’t make them any less serious. Don’t confuse seriousness with solemnity. Being serious is okay, but being solemn is nonsense. Creativity itself is like a joke: Two different frames of reference come together unexpectedly to create new meaning — a leap of thought. Humour and creativity are essentially the same thing, in other words.
How to kill all creativity
In summary, if you — the serious and responsible manager — wish to quell all uppityness and insurrection, and to be the only one who ever has any ideas at your organisation, ensure to:
Deny your subordinates humour.
Cut everybody down to size.
Expect activity all the time and accuse people of laziness or indecision if they dare to ponder anything.
Make sure to keep this up and don’t stop for one moment, or you risk permanently having happy, enthusiastic and creative staff members that can never be fully controlled again.
Be careful, and good luck!