15 Lessons Of Creativity For 2016
What we can learn
from the 2016 Most Creative People.
The Richard Rodgers Theatre, on West
46th Street in Manhattan, has 1,321 seats. But you can’t sit in any of them—not
unless you wait a really long time, or pay an extortionate amount of money.
That’s because the theater is home to Hamilton, the hottest
Broadway musical in modern memory. Despite eight shows per week—which amounts
to more than 10,000 seats—demand is wildly stripping supply, with performances
selling out as fast as the tickets go on sale. Those who carped that Broadway
was dying, that craven movie adaptations had robbed the stage of its character,
are eating their words. By injecting artful new energy into the story of the
founding fathers, Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda has
rewritten the script, launching a global brand that is animating students,
musicians, marketers, and politicos across the spectrum.
Creativity of this sort is neither easy
nor common. It is special, which is why Miranda tops our list of the 100 Most Creative People in Business for 2016. Our 99 other
honorees are no less inspiring.
Although we write about groundbreaking businesspeople in every
issue, our annual Most Creative People list highlights 100 all-new subjects who
have never before been profiled in the magazine. That forces us to be creative
as journalists, to look in new areas, to find new initiatives, to challenge our
own assumptions. Could the funeral industry be harboring any standouts? (Yep,
see Nos. 45 and 46, as well as No. 72.) What about the refugee crisis? (See
Nos. 56 and 57, and No. 79.) Or prison reform? (See Nos. 11 and 77.) Who are
the emerging leaders in entertainment, social networking, and digital security?
And who is hiding in plain sight at large institutions like Apple and Nike and
Starbucks?
Our reporting led us to the crown princess in Norway and a TV host
in the Middle East, a coffee-bean hacker and a DNA magician, a populist men’s
wear designer and a hockey-league founder. We discovered innovators everywhere
from fashion to education, material science to behavioral design. Our honorees
hail from 13 countries and half are women. They are modern-business
superheroes, and their examples can serve to inspire our own creativity. Here
are 15 lessons drawn from among this year’s Most Creative People.
Lin-Manuel Miranda first tested his idea for a hip-hop musical
about American history at the White House . . . in front of the Obamas. Jean
Liu (No. 4), the president of Chinese ride-sharing pioneer Didi Chuxing, made
her initial leadership move at the helm . . . by buying her biggest competitor.
These high-stakes initiatives are typical of our honorees. It’s not that they
don’t fear failure; rather, they believe that if one idea doesn’t pan out as
planned, they’ll be able to devise another one.
If you need reassurance that the status quo isn’t tenable, talk to
Dawn Shaughnessy (No. 9), who led the team that discovered new elements that
have been added to the periodic table. Or Karin Strauss (No. 16), whose group
at Microsoft is unlocking how to store information on DNA, which could
radically alter our assumptions about data. The physical world is not as fixed
as we were taught in school, and our dreams needn’t be fixed either.
By coming up with a vision first, and then creating it, designers
Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli (Nos. 5 and 6) at Valentino are
commanding attention in the fashion world. Asako Shimazaki (No. 80) is bringing
Muji’s vision of order to U.S. retail, while Jeff Turnas (No. 51) is
reimagining what Whole Foods might be. Nike designer Martin Lotti (No. 28) has
created socklike soccer cleats and has integrated secret messages into Olympic
gear to inspire athletes.
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Rather than shy away from confronting
cultural norms, Jill Soloway (No. 3) has been exploding them through
breakthrough shows like Amazon’s Transparent—and by welcoming
diverse talent both in front of the screen and behind it. Zainab Salbi’s (No.
44) TV show is breaking down barriers in the Middle East, raising cultural
topics—how politics affects home life—that others shy away from.
Anna Young (No. 22) has empowered nurses to solve health care
dilemmas, and, in turn, they’re helping patients and doctors and saving money.
Sarah Snow (No. 36) has tilted video-texting app Glide to ease mobile
communication for the deaf. Kakul Srivastava (No. 25) is widening the GitHub
audience and inviting more people into tech.
Corporate bureaucracies need not rule the workplace, as REI’s
Jerry Stritzke (No. 85), Slack’s Diógenes Brito (No. 86), and PwC’s Shannon
Schuyler and Michael Fenlon (Nos. 87 and 88) have each distinctively
illustrated. At Northrop Grumman, the FabLab launched by Tony Long (No. 59) has
unleashed a new kind of play—and productivity—that is now being expanded to
company offices around the U.S.
YouTube star Lilly Singh (No. 100) keeps her videos fresh by
taking time to explore how others are creating. Nicole Van Der Tuin (No. 84) at
First Access was aware enough to notice that mobile-phone registrations could
provide credit histories for those without other options.
Katrine Bosley (No. 34) at Editas Medicine isn’t dissuaded by the
many obstacles facing genetic editing. Instead, they increased her urgency for
action. Katie Nolan (No. 12) may be a rare woman fronting a sports TV show, but
that’s prompted her to take risks—and try formats—that have helped her build a
devoted audience.
Who pays attention to fungus? At Starbucks, Carlos Mario Rodriguez
(No. 15) had to—it was threatening the world’s coffee crop—and not only did he
find a solution, the way he deployed it empowered under-protected coffee
growers. John McDonough’s (No. 8) team at T2 Biosystems took aim at a different
kind of fungus, the sepsis-causing candida, and their remedy—using
magnetics—promises to apply to a far wider group of ailments.
Off-White designer Virgil Abloh (No. 75) may be the talk of Milan
and a close ally of Kanye West, but he makes an extra effort to share his
learnings with kids. Markus Kressler (No. 79) is bringing education to
refugees, while Brian Bannon (No. 54) is turning Chicago’s libraries into
high-tech hubs for those without access to digital tools.
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The Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway and Kate Roberts (Nos. 92
and 93) have pressed members of their Maverick Collective to help poor girls
around the world. Yasmin Belo-Osagie (No. 26) of She Leads Africa is helping
women-led businesses blossom in Africa.
Green Mountain Power CEO Mary Powell (No. 32) is trying to get
customers of her own energy firm to need less energy, while H&M’s Sara
Wallander (No. 35) found a way to embrace nontoxic materials and sustainable
packaging in the brand’s new makeup line—without jacking up prices.
With marijuana becoming a growing legal business, Colorado’s
director of marijuana coordination, Andrew Freedman (No. 99), is putting
regulations in place to balance societal concerns and financial viability. When
Snoop Dogg introduced his branded marijuana line, Pentagram’s Emily Oberman
(No. 63) constructed a visual design motif that could appeal to a more
sophisticated marketplace.
Apple’s ResearchKit and CareKit, led by Divya Nag (No. 2), open
the way for new medical solutions with broader information. Ida Tin (No. 70) at
Clue is among those tapping into the opportunity, allowing women new freedom
and understanding of their menstrual cycles.
Chance the Rapper (No. 40) gives away
his music to fans, which allows him to stay independent—and endears him to his
audience. Miranda has made Hamiltontickets, which can go for
upwards of $3,000 each on the resale market, available for some high schoolers
for only $10. It’s almost enough to make you want to be a teenager again.
ROBERT SAFIAN
http://www.fastcompany.com/3059442/most-creative-people/15-lessons-of-creativity-for-2016?utm_source=mailchimp&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=fast-company-daily-newsletter&position=2&partner=newsletter&campaign_date=05212016
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