Loosen up, and be creative…

“Ideas don't happen in the boardroom, they happen in corridors” - Steve Jobs. My sister just sent me this quote because she knows it echoes my take that innovation and creativity cannot be brainstormed by sitting at some round table feeling so tense, and having everyone asserting weight that they don’t have. The truth is, you cannot be creative without casting off your inhibitions, and you cannot loosen up like that if your thoughts are fettered by stiff protocols.

Even world changing decisions are informally made. I am sure if you ask Ban-Ki Moon, he’ll tell you that in practice, United Nations Resolutions are issued and adopted by the United Nations Security Council or the United Nations General Assembly, but believe me, that’s just the impression, because I know the powerful ones must have already swayed the opinion of the members that count over coffee tables, where they’ll be free from strain. My distant cousin Barack Obama will talk you to his side while having free throws with you on the basketball court

Unfortunately, some of us think our ideas won’t matter if we aren’t dressed in suits and Tuxedos like penguins, sitting at some conference table and talking with style. But how can you come up with something imaginative if you don’t even have the courage to look different. The thing is like a formal party and the after party; you tend to be more open and have more fun at the latter because it is open, natural and livelier - and this is why if truth be told, the streets do it better.