Creativity is the New Currency

by Nico De Bruyn

Can a single item change the world? After an extensive search on a little tool that was created back in 1867, that item is the paperclip.

Traditionally it would have had one main purpose, hold my papers together. That’s pretty much all we use it for, right? But how many other things can we use a paperclip for? Well if we look at the science, if you were to ask an adult the most likely answer they would come up with is between 15 ideas. However, if you asked a child the average would be 200 ideas. So why is that, why can a child come up with such a significantly higher number than that of an adult? That is exactly the question a researcher called George Land asked.

He conducted a longitudinal study that assessed the creativity factor and what he uncovered was astounding.  Creativity significantly goes down over the period between age 5 and 15. And continues to dwindle until adulthood. This is so critical because today, in 2018 we are living in a time where imagination and creativity have become the new currency. In the present ecosystem, with help from the internet, most countries and companies have access to roughly the same resources, means of distribution and ways to reach potential customers. So why does company’s like Uber or Amazon have such massive disruptions? The answer I will argue is the creativity factor. Creativity means totally different things to each generation and ultimately each individual person. I define creativity as constantly coming up with innovative solutions to problems. This is something I think my generation has taken to heart and its evidence with the massive shifts that are happening in each industry.

Whether that be in the hospitality business like Airbnb or the transportation industry like Uber or Lyft. Take Airbnb, a 10-year-old company that was founded in 2008. It was started because three friends who were unable to afford their rent. So they set up a simple website and hosted three people in their first weekend, making around $1,000. Today, the company owns zero properties but is one of the worlds for most powerful hospitality companies. It is valued at roughly 30 billion dollars. The closest competitor is that of the Hilton company which has been around since 1919, almost 1 hundred years. Yet its only at 23 billion. And these aren’t one-off instances. These are just the beginnings. In the next decade we will see more companies be established that will challenge the status quo of all industries, are you ready for that?

I get it the picture I paint might not be the prettiest but it’s the reality. The only factor now that will ensure success will be the creativity factor.