NOT EVERYBODY IS CREATIVE.
(And that’s okay — because not everyone should be.)
One of the most repeated phrases in business today is:
“Everyone in our company is creative.”
It sounds democratic. Uplifting, even. But if you work in commercial creativity — and by that, we mean creating ideas that actually build brands and sell things — you’ll know it’s not quite true.
Yes, people can have good ideas.
Yes, contributions can come from anywhere.
But that’s not the same thing as being a creative.
You wouldn’t say everyone in the company is a CFO.
People can care about numbers. Ask smart questions. Offer input. But when it comes to building a financial model or presenting to the board — you want a qualified professional doing it.
Creativity is no different.
Just because someone once painted a mural in Shoreditch, or “has ideas all the time,” doesn’t mean they’re delivering commercially valuable creative work.
True creativity is hard. And rare.
We’re talking about the ability to:
• Solve complex brand problems
• Generate fresh, relevant ideas under pressure
• Create work that moves people emotionally and commercially
• Deliver it on time, on budget, on brief
It’s not just mood boards and vibes.
It’s not just being quirky in a brainstorm.
It’s pressure-tested, insight-driven, audience-aware thinking — turned into something useful and compelling.
The issue is confusion, not inclusion.
Of course, ideas can come from anywhere.
That’s good culture.
But the idea that everyone is creative leads to one of two things:
Diluted work — when too many people, with too little craft, steer the ship
Disillusioned teams — when real creatives are undervalued or constantly second-guessed
This isn’t about gatekeeping. It’s about respecting expertise.
When you flatten the creative process, you don’t make it better — you just make it blurrier.
Protect the thinkers. Back the craft.
Want better creative outcomes?
Give your creative teams space to think, challenge, and lead.
You wouldn’t run your strategy department by open mic.
Don’t treat creativity like it’s crowdsourced either.
If everyone’s in charge of the idea, no one is.
And that’s when the work starts to look, feel, and perform like everything else.
Creativity isn’t for everyone.
But the results?
That’s something everyone gets to enjoy.
Let’s raise the standard, respect the skill — and stop pretending it’s a group hobby.
SHA. is a strategic advertising agency, creating brand strategy, advertising, design for print and content for web and social. If you want to know more, get in touch with nigelh@sha-agency.com or visit our contacts page.
“The opinions in this article are that of the author alone and in no way, reflect the opinions or viewpoint of the agency. Unless of course we happen to agree with those opinions completely, in which case they might, but otherwise they don’t”
