Being or Becoming Creative

What does an accountant know about being creative? Plenty! That is not my opinion, but it is a fact when you examine the growth of many accounting firms that was caused by the wide range of new services that stretch beyond the traditional audit and tax services we are typically identified with. It is also borne out by the many accountants that are the most trusted advisors to their clients.

However, irrespective of whether or not you agree with me, it cannot hurt thinking in a creative way…even a little. Now, I am certainly not an expert in this, but I have done and been credited with many creative things in my career. I do not believe I was born with this talent as much as having an interest in being creative and nurturing and working at it. This goes back to as early as I could remember. I also remember some incidents where I learned by noticing and then asking questions about how some people did certain things. I also interact regularly with many clients, and that range has been expanded with the COVID lockdown since I am doing more things for more clients on ZOOM and phone meetings when previously I was restricted to just those that I could meet with in person.

I recently had a discussion with a client that was planning on selling their business in about five years on how they could increase the value of their business. I was offering some out-of-the-box suggestions that other clients have been successful with when I realized they weren’t able to visualize some of these unorthodox things I was suggesting. That got me thinking about some “exercises” they could do to perhaps “teach” or “train” them to think more creatively. I don’t know if these would work for them, but they work for me. I can offer a ton of examples of how I come up with ideas but that is not important. What is important is to try what I am suggesting. It will cost less than $150 and take about 15 minutes a month. This is not an enormous burden and might work. If it produces one idea, what might that be worth?

My suggestion is to subscribe to print versions of Fast Company and Communication Arts magazines and Advertising Age. As soon as they arrive, open them and turn and look at every page. Do not read anything. Just look at the pages, pictures, headlines and perhaps the subheads and sidebars. This won’t take more than a few minutes. One of these is a weekly, one a monthly and the other a bimonthly. If you find something you want to read, rip it out, set it aside and throw away the issue, do not keep it. Hey, if it wasn’t for me suggesting this, you would never have heard of some of these, so why would you want to save it? The ripped out articles can be read or skimmed at odd moments and then also thrown away.

I am suggesting a method to unleash your creativity and help you generate ideas. Follow my method for a year. When the year is up, you would either think I am nuts or that it was a good idea and possibly evolve into your own methods. But for the next year, try it my way. It is a pretty easy way to try to get an idea.

If you have any business or financial issues you want to discuss please do not hesitate to contact me at [email protected].