Perfectionism Is the Enemy of Creativity.

“Creativity comes with novelty, independently whether we talk about advertising, accounting, or research. Newness and perfection don't match. We must iterate ideas depending on what the market might tell us, moving fast and adjusting processes and products on the go.”  

Abigail Posner , Director of Creative Works at Google, Board Member at ENDI Corp., and Host of the “Human Code” podcast, shared her insights about AI, creativity, and the human factor in innovation in my latest "Leading Through Disruption" interview. Subscribe here to receive future interviews.

Lauterbach: Please describe what you do today and emphasize the moments in your biography that led you to where you are.                      

Posner: I have the privilege of living several lives simultaneously! One of my life is as the US Creative Works Director at Google. We help the largest advertisers create the most effective and powerful ads and branded content for YouTube.  

I also have a podcast called "Human Code," where I interview innovative people, trying to understand their subcultures and using technology to reveal them.

I am also a public speaker, focusing on creativity and innovation from a very humanistic lens. 

As a third child, I was born into a family of brilliant scientists. My siblings were fantastic in math, but I had none of their abilities. So I learned to rely on other talents that I combined to give me an edge which I called the 'expansiveness edge.'                          

Another thing was my fascination with social anthropology. I studied it at Harvard, focusing on economic anthropology. I realized how vital this subset of anthropology was to understanding cultures and human beings. Years later, I benefited from this knowledge and became a brand strategist. 

Finally, I have always desired to find white spaces and build my role around them. I thrive in environments that aren't necessarily structured and dominated by rules. Google's culture was perfect for shaping my own space and having a business impact. 

Lauterbach: Gillian Tett , a prominent British author and journalist, is the chair of the editorial board and U.S. editor-at-large for the Financial Times. She co-founded Moral Money, a sustainability newsletter for the FT. She has a Ph.D. in Social Anthropology! 

Could you please reverse-engineer the space you are in today and compare it to what it was like when you first started in traditional businesses?           

Posner: The most significant difference is around the attitude of openness. I remember shedding ten pounds of blood, sweat, and tears to prove my point to CEOs and executive teams in traditional businesses. The response was usually: "That's smart, but we don't have any money to champion it."

My ideas about using social anthropology in marketing might have appeared strange within Google. Still, there was openness and willingness to test and learn. Evolving without expecting perfection is ingrained into their strategic thinking. 

Feedback culture is a massive part of the equation, fostering listening and leadership based on networking. There are only a few large teams at Google, and everyone must collaborate, socialize ideas, and get buy-in.        

Lauterbach: Is perfectionism an enemy of creativity? 

Posner: Yes. Creativity comes with novelty, independently whether we talk about advertising, accounting, or research. Newness and perfection don't match. We must iterate ideas depending on what the market might tell us, moving fast and adjusting processes and products on the go.  

Lauterbach: What is the role of interdisciplinarity when it comes to creativity?

Posner: If you shed all the layers, perceptions, and biases about creativity, what is it? It combines unlike notions and concepts while delivering something new and powerful. Humans are wired to build connections between unlike concepts, skill sets, and experiences. They leverage different sides of themselves, calling on the expansiveness edge of their nature. Interdisciplinarity is simply part of the creative engine!             

Lauterbach: In many businesses, innovation and transformation fail because people are passively aggressive toward change. Neuroscientists talk about physical and emotional anxiety that comes from neuronal connections being rewired due to novel impulses. How do you coach people who are resistant to embracing something new?

Posner: It is paramount to discuss the 'why' behind a change and give people a sense of agency. What is critical is that we also translate the creative solutions into language that others understand. First, stories are universal, so turn the innovation into a transformational story. Then, put the innovation's impact into metrics or benefit language that appeals to your audience or stakeholders.  

Lauterbach: How do you address fears?   

Posner: Fear is the incredibly dominant force. To diminish angst, we must arm them with the belief that they are inherently creative and can rely on processes.

Of course, no process is linear. For this reason, whenever there are reviews, team discussions, or offsites, we must ask, "What was left unsaid?"                  

Lauterbach: What advice would you give traditional businesses regarding approaching AI for innovation and creativity?

Posner: AI is moving storytelling up on leadership agendas.

First, AI accelerates the creative process. 

Even today, people might be too focused on the technical side of projects, such as translating text and making videos. AI is stepping into these domains and removing execution barriers. Let's say you need to produce a film in Australia. AI can save resources and time while providing tools to enable local production without the necessity to travel.  

Second, AI allows us to access insights in new ways. We can personalize our messages, creating very different stories speaking to the needs and desires of audiences.  

Third, AI activates creativity. All those platforms allow us to play without fear that something might be a stupid idea. AI allows us to input many different prompts and combine different notions, which is at the heart of creativity.          

In this context, formulating good questions will be more important than anything else. We'll no longer need to do problem-solving but problem-seeking. It will be all about formulating questions.

Lauterbach: What is an aspect of business where we don't use AI to its full potential?   

Posner: Today, many things are about data and its structure. However, we need to work on the interpretive aspect, go deeper, reach the emotional level, and finally decode values.