Creativity and innovation are key factors in the success of any business. So how do you generate the best ideas? The first step is looking at the creative process, and how in most cases it is completely broken. No matter what our position, title or responsibility, inside of a company or at an outside agency, we all likely live under some form of a “creative dictatorship.” So what is the best way around that? This is the first in a series of SlideShares that re-evaluates creative thinking in business -- all the way from defining the problem, to generating ideas, to collaborating with others, to pitching ideas. After 30+ years in the advertising business, dealing with clients of all shapes and sizes, I thought there must be a better way. There is. I call it a “Creative Democracy.”

1. Q:WHY DO
THE BEST
IDEAS
ALWAYS
SEEM TO
DIE?
CREATIVE
DEMOCRACY
TM
A path to better creative thinking
in business by Tracy Wong
1.THE
CREATIVE
DILEMMA
© 2017 Tracy Wong. All rights reserved.

2. RIGHT?
THE BEST
IDEAS DIE
A HORRIBLE
DEATH.

3. And the shitty ones survive. Why?

4. A:THE CREATIVE
PROCESS IS
COMPLETELY
F*CKING
BROKEN.

5. BECAUSE
IT IS RULED
BYONE
PERSON:

6. HAIL,
THE
KING!The ultimate decider.
The boss of all bosses.
The head honcho. The creative
director. The CEO. Without his
royal approval, nothing matters.
Nothing.

7. KINGS DON’T
GIVE A SHIT
WHAT YOU
OR I THINK.

8. Ever heard a king say:
I HATE THAT IDEA,
BUT IF YOU LOVE IT,
HERE’S $10,000,000
TO GO DO IT.

9. KINGS
RULE BY
EGO.
Kings generally have little
experience in judging
creative ideas. When they
say, “I‘ll know it when I
see it,” that means they
really have no clue.

10. EGO
AND
IS THE MOST
DESTRUCTIVE
FORCE IN
THE CREATIVE
PROCESS.
What the king‘s ego
actually looks like!

11. THE PROCESS
IS BROKEN
BECAUSE IT’S
EGO-CENTRIC.
NOT
IDEA-CENTRIC.

12. IT’S A CREATIVE
DICTATORSHIP.
(DICK-TATORSHIP)

13. THE CREATIVE PROCESS LOOKS LIKE:

14. The king sits alone at the top.
We, the commoners, are left
trying to mind-read what
the king wants so we don't
end up beheaded!
”FEED
MY
ROYAL
EGO!”

15. BUT THE PROCESS FEELS LIKE:

16. OH
THEHUMAN
ITY!!!!!!

17. CREATIVE
PROBLEMS
REQUIRE
SOLUTIONS
GREATER THAN
THE KING’S EGO.

18. Q: SO WHAT’S
A BETTER
PROCESS?

19. A:
A CREATIVE
DEMOCRACY.

20. CREATIVE
PROBLEM
SOLVING IS LIKE
A DEMOCRACY.

21. HUH? HOW?

22. BECAUSE IT’S ALL
ABOUT CONFLICT,
DIPLOMACY AND
A SHARED GOAL.

23. THINK
DEMOCRACY:
HONEST ABE.
THINK
DIPLOMACY:
A TEAM OF RIVALS
THINK
SHARED GOAL:
UNIFYING
A NATION

24. Secretary of State
William Seward
Secretary of The Treasury
Salmon P. Chase
Secretary of War
Edwin M. Stanton
President
Honest Abe
Attorney General
Edward Bates
Lincoln built a cabinet with
his biggest political rivals
because it wasn’t about
serving his ego, but about
winning the war, ending
slavery and uniting a nation.
ABE’S
PROCESS
NEEDED THE
VERY BEST
OUT OF
EVERYONE.

25. THE PROCESS
SHOULD BE
IDEA-CENTRIC.
NOT
EGO-CENTRIC.

26. THE CREATIVE PROCESS
SHOULDLOOKLIKE:

27. ABE
WOULD
BE SO
PROUD!Everything is built around
solving the problem.
Everything is about the idea.
Everyone has a seat at
the table and is free
to contribute.

28. THE CREATIVE PROCESS
SHOULD FEEL LIKE:

29. THE
F*CKING
4TH OF
JULY!

30. A CREATIVE
DEMOCRACY
KICKS A
DICTATORSHIP’S
ASS.

31. WHY?

32. BECAUSE
IT HARNESSES
THE CREATIVE
ENERGYOF
EVERYONE IN
THE PROCESS.

33. IT BELIEVES
THAT ANYONE
CAN HAVE
A GREAT IDEA.

34. ANYONE.

35. THE PROCESS
BECOMES
EGOLESS.

36. AND ANYTHING
IS POSSIBLE
WHEN NO ONE
CARES WHO
GETS THE CREDIT.

37. > me

38. THE KING
IS DEAD.

39. LONG LIVE
THE
DEMOCRACY.

40. Tracy Wong is executive creative director/chairman and founding partner of
WONGDOODY, an independent advertising agency with offices in Seattle
and Los Angeles. The agency has created campaigns for clients such as
Amazon, T-Mobile, ESPN, Papa Murphy’s Pizza, Alaska Airlines and The
Center for Disease Control. Their work has been featured in The New York
Times, TIME Magazine, USA Today and the Wall Street Journal.
Throughout his career, Tracy has frequently been named among advertising’s
creative elite. Winner of over 350 national and international creative awards,
he has taken top prizes at every major award show multiple times with work
that spans three decades.
His groundbreaking TV campaign for Chevys Restaurants was inducted
into The Clio Hall of Fame in 2006. Other notable honors include being
named an Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year, Marketer of the Year
for the American Marketing Association/Northwest and being awarded the
American Advertising Federation’s Silver Medal for Lifetime Achievement.
However, he is most recognized for his appearance on AMC’s The Pitch a
show about the real “Mad Men.”
Tracy’s prior agency experience includes iconic Ogilvy/New York and
legendary Goodby, Silverstein & Partners/San Francisco. He is a graduate
of Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, and the University of Oregon,
Eugene.
Tracy is currently working on a book entitled CREATIVE DEMOCRACY™
which details a path to better creative thinking in business - through an
understanding of the creative process and developing a culture of egoless,
consensus-based collaboration.
Lastly, Tracy is male, not female.
http://www.wongdoody.com/
http://www.creativedemocracy.com/
TRACY WONG