Driving the Business Forward with Disciplined Creativity: Interview with: Josh Linkner, New York Times Bestselling Author, a speaker at the marcus evans CMO Summit 2012, on unleashing structured creativity in the workplace.

1. Driving the Business Forward
with
Disciplined Creativity
many ideas going around but nothing Winning today requires people at all
getting done. Large bureaucratic levels of the organisation to unleash
companies on the other hand may have their creative potential.
too much “Discipline” but no
“Dreaming”, which means they are not Any final thoughts?
harnessing the creativity of their
employees. Many companies are fighting today’s
war with yesterday’s equipment. It is
“Disciplined Dreaming” is a combination the same as going to war with cannons
of the two forces, the artistic creative when your opponent has laser guided
side with the pragmatic organised side, missiles. They are relying on top-down
allowing creativity to come to life and be decision-making and committees, when
put to practical use. they need to empower people and
Interview with: Josh Linkner, New innovate in real time.
York Times Bestselling Author How can CMOs jump-start
creativity? CMOs have to resist the temptation of
following the pack and do the opposite.
Organisations today can no longer rely Marketers need to create a culture of Success is about being original,
on the models of the past in order to be creativity. If they tell people to be remarkable and noteworthy.
successful, says John Linkner, the New creative but criticise them for making
York Times Best Selling Author of mistakes, it will not work. They must
Disciplined Dreaming: A Proven System create an environment where it is safe
to Drive Breakthrough Creativity. Chief to be creative, with a structure around
Marketing Officers (CMOs) must the act of creativity.
unleash the only remaining source of
truly competitive advantage, creativity, What is your five step process: Ask,
Many
but in a disciplined and structured way, Prepare, Discover, Ignite and
he adds. Launch?
companies
A speaker at the upcoming marcus The steps provide a flexible framework
evans CMO Summit 2012 in the Gold for CMOs, whether they need structure
Coast, Queensland, Australia, 26 - 28 for big projects or just a few techniques.
are fighting
September, Linkner discusses the key When I interviewed 200 thought leaders
concepts in his book, one of the top 30 around the world to de-code the
business books in 2011. creative process, I found curiosity to be
today’s war
the building block of creativity. The
What does the title of your book more CMOs awaken curiosity in people,
“Disciplined Dreaming” mean? the more creative they will become.
In today’s complex business world,
many of the advantages organisations
What are the myths and barriers in
marketing?
with
yesterday’s
used to offer have become
commoditised. Creativity is the only One is that people are either born with
source of truly sustainable competitive creativity or they are not, whereas
equipment
advantage that cannot be outsourced. research shows that 85 per cent of
creativity is learnt behaviour. This
What I refer to as “Dreaming” is raw means that everyone has an enormous
creativity, imagination and wonder, that potential.
allows people to come up with ideas.
However, the “Disciplined” part is Another myth is that job title equates to
essential, as structure around creativity level of creativity, that musicians are
actually enables creativity. more creative than statisticians. Today,
no matter what you do, it is imperative
Some organisations do the “Dreaming” that you are also creative. We can no
without the “Discipline”, where there are longer follow manuals and hope to win.

2. About the CMO Summit 2012
The Marketing Network –
marcus evans Summits group This unique forum will take place at the RACV Royal Pines Resort, Gold Coast,
delivers peer-to-peer information Queensland, Australia, 26 - 28 September 2012. Offering much more than any
on strategic matters, professional conference, exhibition or trade show, this exclusive meeting will bring together
trends and breakthrough esteemed marketing professionals and solution providers to a highly focused and
innovations. interactive networking event. The Summit includes presentations on innovation,
fuelling creativity, supercharging the potential of social media and tapping into
consumer insights.
www.cmoanzsummit.com
Please note that the Summit is a Contact
closed business event and the
number of participants strictly Sarin Kouyoumdjian-Gurunlian, Press Manager, marcus evans, Summits
limited. Division
Tel: + 357 22 849 313
Email: press@marcusevanscy.com
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About marcus evans Summits
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To view the web version of this interview, please click here: www.cmoanzsummit.com/JoshLinkner