Interview with: Josh Linkner, New York Times Bestselling Author

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Interview with: Josh Linkner, New
York Times Bestselling Author
Organisations today can no longer rely
on the models of the past in order to be
successful, says John Linkner, the New
York Times Best Selling Author of
Disciplined Dreaming: A Proven System
to Drive Breakthrough Creativity. Chief
Marketing Officers (CMOs) must
unleash the only remaining source of
truly competitive advantage, creativity,
but in a disciplined and structured way,
he adds.
A speaker at a past marcus evans
CMO Summit 2012, Linkner discusses
the key concepts in his book, one of the
top 30 business books in 2011.
What does the title of your book
“Disciplined Dreaming” mean?
In today’s complex business world,
many of the advantages organisations
u s e d t o o f f e r h a v e b e c o m e
commoditised. Creativity is the only
source of truly sustainable competitive
advantage that cannot be outsourced.
What I refer to as “Dreaming” is raw
creativity, imagination and wonder, that
allows people to come up with ideas.
However, the “Disciplined” part is
essential, as structure around creativity
actually enables creativity.
Some organisations do the “Dreaming”
without the “Discipline”, where there are
many ideas going around but nothing
getting done. Large bureaucratic
companies on the other hand may have
too much “Discipline” but no
“Dreaming”, which means they are not
harnessing the creativity of their
employees.
“Disciplined Dreaming” is a combination
of the two forces, the artistic creative
side with the pragmatic organised side,
allowing creativity to come to life and be
put to practical use.
How can CMOs jump -start
creativity?
Marketers need to create a culture of
creativity. If they tell people to be
creative but criticise them for making
mistakes, it will not work. They must
create an environment where it is safe
to be creative, with a structure around
the act of creativity.
What is your five step process: Ask,
Prepare, Discover, Ignite and
Launch?
The steps provide a flexible framework
for CMOs, whether they need structure
for big projects or just a few techniques.
When I interviewed 200 thought leaders
around the world to de-code the
creative process, I found curiosity to be
the building block of creativity. The
more CMOs awaken curiosity in people,
the more creative they will become.
What are the myths and barriers in
marketing?
One is that people are either born with
creativity or they are not, whereas
research shows that 85 per cent of
creativity is learnt behaviour. This
means that everyone has an enormous
potential.
Another myth is that job title equates to
level of creativity, that musicians are
more creative than statisticians. Today,
no matter what you do, it is imperative
that you are also creative. We can no
longer follow manuals and hope to win.
Winning today requires people at all
levels of the organisation to unleash
their creative potential.
Any final thoughts?
Many companies are fighting today’s
war with yesterday’s equipment. It is
the same as going to war with cannons
when your opponent has laser guided
missiles. They are relying on top-down
decision-making and committees, when
they need to empower people and
innovate in real time.
CMOs have to resist the temptation of
following the pack and do the opposite.
Success is about being original,
remarkable and noteworthy.
Driving the Business Forward
Disciplined Creativity
Many
companies
are fighting
today’s war
with
yesterday’s
equipment
Summit.Direct@marcusevanscy.com
CMO Summit 2015 Fact Sheet