Skip to main content
Commsy creative stuff straight to your inbox

Blog

Shhh…I’m having an idea – introverts and creativity

< Blog home

Shhh…I’m having an idea – introverts and creativity

‘We need a creative idea and we need it now.”

The phrase guaranteed to send chills down any introverted, internal comms pro’s spine.

But why do so many of us associate creativity with spontaneity?

We’ve all been in that meeting where a ‘creative idea’ is required and all eyes turn to you, the communications professional. It’s a true fight or flight moment; an extrovert’s dream, an introvert’s nightmare.

But does being able to come up with quick ideas and solutions make you more creative than someone who goes away and ponders all the options before coming to a conclusion? In popular culture, creative people are certainly characterised as extroverted, eccentric and spontaneous.

But does spontaneity + extroversion = creativity?

In her book Quiet, Susan Cain talks about how solitude can be the catalyst to innovation.

Having time alone to concentrate your mind on the task at hand, without distraction, can often lead to the most creative ideas. Throughout the book, Susan mentions many introverts who have changed the world – Steve Wozniak, Charles Darwin, Gandhi – it would be difficult to achieve their level of greatness with an absence of creative thought.

So how can introverted internal communicators express their creativity in a quiet thoughtful way, without having their capability or credibility brought into question?

The creative process

People often refer to the ‘creative process’, which implies there is a series of stages to generating a creative idea. This approach appeals to the more introverted among us, and is something we should capitalise on. Explaining up front that your creative process involves collecting all the information and then spending some quiet time alone, considering all the options, before suggesting solutions, sets a realistic expectation. Backing it up with examples of previous innovations you’ve dreamt up after following this process, reassures people this is a tried and tested method.

Yet giving the more introverted among us, space and time to think and reflect is often denied, in favour of an impulsive, on-the-spot, brainstorm.

It’s not uncommon for some of these wildly creative, on-the-spot ideas to never become reality. It’s a bit like the brainteaser – if a tree falls in a forest, but there’s no one there to hear it, did it still make a sound? Can the same be said of a creative idea; if no one sees it become reality, was it ever really creative at all?

Maybe. We’re not saying wild, crazy ideas are bad, just that with a bit more time, thought and even procrastination, ideas have a habit of transforming into something brilliant. So we’re putting forward a controversial idea –

could the creativity equation actually be:

Extroversion + introversion = creativity?

The chicken and the egg

It could be argued that without the big idea there’d be no need for a creative process and without the creative process there’d be no big idea (that would become a reality). So many of us can be guilty of missing the obvious; true creativity comes from a diverse mix of experiences, skills, personalities and knowledge.

We should harness the wild, crazy, ‘out there’ ideas as that’s so often where a good idea begins, even if they do end up being scaled back. But it’s important to recognise that no one person has all the answers, however ‘creative’ they are perceived to be. And don’t be too quick to dismiss the quieter team members; you could be sitting on an untapped goldmine of ideas, they’re just waiting for an opportunity to unleash them.

Top tips

To help cultivate a seamless creative process, we’ve put together our top tips for harmonious idea generation:

  1. Manage expectations 
    If you’re not an ‘on the spot’ idea type of person, set that expectation with colleagues up front. Be clear that you’re really excited to be involved in this project but you’re going to go away and consider all the options and get input from colleagues.
  2. Invite a mix of people to brainstorms 
    Resist the urge to only invite the go-to creative people to your brainstorm. That quiet IT guy may just have an idea that will transform your project.
  3. Allow everyone time to speak and be heard
    It’s tempting to get carried away with the enthusiasm of a creative idea, but remember to give everyone an opportunity to voice their opinion. The loudest idea isn’t always the best idea.
  4. Encourage crazy, wacky ideas 
    Don’t be afraid to dream big and suggest really outlandish ideas. It can be a lot of fun nurturing that seed of an idea into something great. And even perceived ‘bad ideas’ can lead to interesting places.And finally, the boring bit…
  5. Be clear on what’s achievable within the timeframe, resource and budget
    We often don’t have the luxury of endless time, warm bodies and money. People will value your ability to accurately judge a situation, as much as your creative flair. Be realistic from the get-go to avoid wasting people’s time and damaging your credibility.

Creating change

We think we’ve made our case – introverts can be just as creative as extroverts, they just take a different approach. So whether you’re an introverted internal communicator or you work with one, dare to disrupt the status quo, encourage big ideas, encourage solitude and quiet reflection – and above all encourage creativity, whatever form it comes in.

 

Learn how to cultivate creative ideas in the Academy masterclass…

6 Steps to Successful Creative Campaigns

“I feel like they own and care for the project as much as we do! I would not use anyone else for my creative work and think Alive is ahead of the game.”

Jo Hobbs — Communications Manager

“Thanks for all your help. We are delighted with the campaign, both in terms of the creativity and messaging but also the thought taken over the rollout of the materials. All looks absolutely fabulous!”

Sarah Crowdy — Campaign and Media Officer Communications, South East Water

“We went to ‘Alive’ for ideas on how to run a specific employee program in Europe. Alan and his team were brilliant in coming up with fresh, creative and practical approaches. The team took charge and executed brilliantly. We are pleased with the progress made so far and hope to have the same level of partnership and commitment going forward.”

Sobha Varghese — Tata Consultancy Services

“Alive helped us create a video of our response to the floods of winter 2019. Our Chief Officer received messages from all round the country praising us for it and was really pleased with both the video and the response to it.”

Alexander Mills, Communications Manager — South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue

“We had the privilege to work with the Alive team. It was our first time to be involved in creating an animation for our patients within paediatrics. The team were approachable, friendly, creative and very accommodating. Your vision for what you want to create, is at all times acknowledged, appreciated and accommodated by the team. They worked effectively and with great passion towards our project and worked not only alongside health professionals but also our patients who really enjoyed the experience of working with the Alive team. It has given our team the confidence and inspiration to do further projects in the future. We highly recommend Alive and their exceptional team.”

DR ELENI ATHANASAKOS, Lead Paediatric Clinical Scientist — NHS Barts Health

“‘The short animation developed in co-production with clinicians and young people is outstanding! Informative, developmentally appropriate, vitally fun and engaging. We are really grateful for the expertise of the Alive with Ideas team for their innovative approach in building children’s health literacy.'”

Kath Evans — Director of Children’s Nursing at Barts Health

“Our mission was to update our brand visuals to better reflect our innovative and forward-thinking organisation. After receiving numerous pitches from different branding agencies, Alive stood out with their clear passion and understanding of our identity and goals. We thoroughly enjoyed working with the Alive Team to create an engaging new brand that we are immensely proud of.”

Lianne Springer — Communications and Engagement Lead

“Alive wowed us during the pitch process and they didn’t stop wowing us throughout the whole project. Every person we worked with at Alive were so friendly, knowledgeable and clearly passionate about what they do. They have worked with us to really understand what we do and have created a new brand and website that really stands out from our competitors. Thank you!”

Louise Burnard, Head of Marketing and Communications UK — Be | Shaping the Future

“I think the team have done such a brilliant job, particularly with responding to our requests. It's one of the best mental health videos I've ever seen. Very proud to be associated with your exemplary work. Thank you so much.”

Dr Anna Batho — Clinical Psychologist – Critical Care, UCLH

“We have worked with Alan, Caroline and the wider Alive With Ideas team for many years. In that time, they have provided a dedicated service that is second to none. We appreciate their attention to detail and creative approach to bringing our brand, communications and stories to life. And would recommend them to anyone looking for creative communications support.”

Georgia Beech — Internal Communications Specialist, Ocado Group

“This is brilliant. I wanted to give my heartfelt thanks to all of the team who worked on this. You all understood exactly what we wanted to communicate and why, and then managed to do it in a way that was far better than anything I could have imagined. I’m a bit choked up to be honest!”

Sarah Wright, Head of Communications and Campaigns — NEA

“Each time I work with the team, I am always stunned at the effort and creativity that goes into each detail and am always eager for the end result. The team is extremely accommodating and always provide a fresh approach to our projects that elevates our communications materials!”

Alana Khaytin, Communications Specialist — Braskem America

“What I really appreciate about Alive is that they work with us as partners, and care as much about getting it right for our patients as we do.”

Sara Langston, Patient Engagement & Marketing Manager — italk

“Alive are unique in how much they deeply listen and invest in you and your ideas. I have not come across a company that listens as much as they do to ensure your needs are understood and met (actually - they always exceed my needs and expectations). Everyone I recommend Alive to has an equally brilliant experience. When you work with Alive, you are not only getting some genius creativity brought into your life, you are also hanging out with some of the best examples of human beings I’ve ever known.”

Steph Tranter, Hybrid Exec Coach & Psychologist — StephTranter.com

“The (Alive) team were able to creatively pull together and document (in just over 2minutes) everything our service has achieved over the last few months, from thousands of prescriptions deliveries to hundreds of phone calls made to the vulnerable. The final product was so powerful and reflective of what our service has and continues to achieve. It couldn’t have been better received within the service – thanks Alive for once again helping us to communicate our vision!’”

Emma Wright — South Yorkshire & Rescue

“We worked with the team at Alive to create our staff recognition video.
At a time like this, its never been more important to share the amazing work that our staff have done and continue to do on a daily basis under very difficult circumstances. We wanted to shout about this and recognise that when the time came, South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue stepped up to the plate. We didn’t want an ordinary thank you post on social media or a basic email sent out internally, we wanted something special. Enter Alive. ”

Emma Wright — South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue

“Our company is fun, we have great brands, but most importantly we’re all about our people – and I wanted an agency who would understand that and help us bring it to life through our website and other comms. Straight away I felt that Alive ‘got’ us and provided the creative inspiration exactly where we needed it, as well as the technical expertise to deliver a well-functioning website.”

Keren McCarron, Head of Corporate Affairs & Communications — KP Snacks

“Boom!
Thank you so much. Incredible work done at incredible speed by incredible people.
Outstanding work as ever and what a turnaround. As for the concepts – wow. These are that good it would be an insult to describe them as just good. It’s a joke, quite frankly. This is exactly the Alive effect I was after. Right now I feel like I am living in an Alive With Ideas wonderland. Thank you!”

Jack Grasby, Campaigns Manager — SYFR

“If you are looking to improve creativity and build teamwork, I highly recommend a session like this for your team. No matter where you are in your creativity journey, a workshop like this can give your team a boost of energy and ideas to invigorate their creative thinking.”

Amy Lilja, IC Manager — Hennepin Healthcare

“Alive were there to help when we were working every hour to respond to the coronavirus outbreak. They gave us the creativity, ideas and support we needed to deliver campaigns which empowered our residents in the most difficult time most of us have ever seen, personally and professionally. The team understood what we needed, worked closely with us and delivered fast without any compromise on quality. Working with Alive has been a joy in the darkest of times and I have no doubt will have helped to save lives. Thanks team x”

Julie Odams, Assistant Director of Communications & Customers — Derbyshire County Council

“We got 'Alive' involved to help us shift mindsets across our organisation and they delivered! Using simple, clear and creative ideas the team have delivered us a campaign which has seen a dramatic increase in idea sharing and development. They’ve also played a significant role in creating a culture of shared success. I wouldn’t hesitate to work with again, in fact, we already are!”

Gavin Buckle — B&Q
Alive logo