"Why is creativity treated like a hobby? Optional. Cute. Nice to have. And yet, it is the very center of every business, startup, and team." In this manifesto, I challenge...
Why is creativity treated like a hobby? Optional. Cute. Nice to have.
And yet, as adults, creative ideas, problem-solving, and innovation are at the very center of every business, startup, and team. This is something that came to me in a dream recently, but truly, I’ve been sitting with it for years. We are born creative. Every single one of us. It’s not a power—it’s a natural gift.
Have you ever watched a child under five build entire worlds from nothing? Planets. Cities. Characters. Complex stories spun from air. That’s where we begin. And then, the shift happens.
For centuries, creative subjects have been treated like second-class citizens. The "extras." Meanwhile, we glorify logic. Math. Grammar. Structure. Exams. I studied them all—Finance and Accounting, in French, no less. I even cried more than once over them. We are obsessed with logic as a society.
But let me ask you: Did I retain anything useful from my advanced macroeconomics class? Did I ever use those fancy Excel macros we drilled? Not once. I became a designer. An artist. A creator. I’ve spent the past 8 years consulting on brand, design, UX, and innovation with zero need for those spreadsheet power skills. I managed just fine.
The things that made me successful—the things that gave me joy, clarity, and purpose? They were born from creativity.
Creativity isn’t just something you turn on like a switch. It’s a muscle. A rhythm. I believe it serves two vital roles in our lives:
So why is it that when kids show an early love for art, they’re told it’s a "nice hobby"? We bury students under rigid rules, and then we enter the workplace and expect them to suddenly "think outside the box." Well, what if you’ve never been allowed to look outside that box? Creativity doesn’t just arrive. It’s a process.
I was fortunate to attend a Montessori school in Sweden. There, I learned through play. I was allowed to dream. From age 3 to 13, I lived in a space of imagination—no pressure, just nurturing and trust. Later, I experienced the other extreme: strict French schools and Japanese universities. I’ve seen the full spectrum.
Even as a design consultant, I watched creativity missing in adults and had to help them recover it. I ran workshops for grown-ups who hadn’t "played" in decades. Some of those creative ideas led to 400% increases in revenue. So no, I don’t think creativity is "just a cute skill." Logic is useful, but creativity is the spark.
We live in a fast, high-data world. Always scrolling. Always comparing. Many of us feel lost, with AI rewriting entire industries overnight. I believe the antidote is simple: step out of "consumer mode" and start to create again.
Not for a masterpiece. Not for MoMA. But just because it’s good for your mental health. When we create, we exit the "loop of lack." Whether it’s cooking a curry, building a fence, or painting, you are making something that didn’t exist before. That moment of pride? That’s the real medicine. It pulls us out of the fog and brings us into the present.
You don’t need to earn your creativity. You just need to return to it. Not for profit or praise, but because creating anything is a rebellion against numbness. It is a return to aliveness.
Creativity isn’t a luxury—it’s part of being human. And it’s time we stopped placing it on the sideline. That’s exactly why I’ve written a book about this very journey.
What vision is asking for your attention, your commitment, and your courage today?
