As an innovation and creativity speaker, and also as an entrepreneur, I spend a lot of time observing and exchanging with managers of ETI, SMEs, but also start-ups and very young companies.
If there is one constant that I remember from all these encounters, it is that in difficult times, those who do best are always those who dare to take a step aside. Or a sudden leap forward: it's the same thing.
They are the ones who “get creative” — and we'll come back to what that really means — to come up with unexpected solutions to very real problems. Those who, despite the difficulties and the urgency of daily life, succeed in extricating themselves from the immediate pressure to take a step back. To think differently.
Easier said than done, of course. Because it is necessary to manage the emergency and the essential perspective simultaneously...
Creativity as an ally in times of crisis, really?
Yes. Because in times of crisis, our usual points of reference fall apart.
And the methods that worked before don't work anymore. We find ourselves forced to think differently. It is very uncomfortable. And often long.
This is precisely where the opportunity lies: rethink your business, improve your products, review your commercial strategy. It is because it is uncomfortable that few will do it.
The greatest danger in the face of today's turbulence is not the turbulence: it is to approach it with the same logic as in the past. — Peter Drucker
What start-ups call making a pivot and that they have raised to the very level of a strategy to find their market.
In times of crisis, use reframing
I personally experienced these difficulties with one of my previous companies, during the health crisis of 2020 in particular, and just as much during other complicated economic periods — crises there are always crises!
Looking back, he realizes that each time, what saved us was our desire to get out of our usual patterns, to dare to pose problems flat out with sincerity. Put all the cards on the table to try to see the situation from a new angle: a very definition of creativity, that is to change the way you look at the problem. What designers call the Reframing.
Example of reframing: what if instead of improving the comfort of the waiting room for an increasing number of our complaining customers, we simply eliminated this waiting time? What creative and innovative solution could therefore be imagined to eliminate this expectation and not improve the comfort of the chairs?
Another concrete example: digitalization during the Covid crisis. Many businesses started digitizing their business almost overnight. Because forced to do it — the “good brutal one forward” that I mentioned above. And I often have the opportunity to speak today as a creativity speaker or innovation speaker for these same companies.
And there are plenty of other examples of innovative and creative mobilization, especially under the impact of Covid: restaurant owners have launched online offers, retailers have created ultra-fast click & collect systems, industrial SMEs have reviewed their production to adapt to new markets.
It's not just adjustments: it's creativity in action. What we now also call agility.
The best known case: that of Kodak
Kodak was a world leader in film photography for decades. However, in the 1970s, the company invented, along with all the others, one of the first digital cameras. What does she do? Instead of banking on this innovation, management pushed it away for fear of annibalizing its historical film business...
We know what happens next — this is an example very often cited at creativity conferences or innovation conferences: in the 1990s and 2000s, the market switched massively to digital but Kodak remained focused on film. Rigid The crisis is gradually emerging.
A good crisis should never be ruined. - Winston Churchill
And instead of taking a step aside, the company is stuck in its old models of thinking... and continues to invest heavily in its old production chains.
The result is well known: no transformation of the business model, no change in the offer. And filed for bankruptcy in 2012.
So how can creativity be activated in practice even during a crisis?
Here are some practical tips that have been tried and tested in the field:
-> Forget habits : regularly take a step back from your practices. Ask yourself, “Why do we do it like this? What if we did it differently?
-> Focus on fast action : don't spend weeks planning. Quickly try a new idea, even a small one, to test its impact.
-> Listen to your team : the crisis is an ideal time to collect ideas directly from your employees. They are often in direct contact with customers or problems, so their perspective is valuable.
-> Make it simple : the simpler a solution is, the easier it is to implement. In times of crisis, choose pragmatic and effective solutions rather than major complex revolutions — which will in any case be too expensive.
Turn crisis into opportunity
Creativity is an essential tool not only to get through difficult periods, but also - and perhaps especially more so - to allow the necessary evolution of the company.
Creativity is not a luxury or a simple thing.” Nice to Have ”: it is a necessity during difficulties. And in a storm, you will therefore have to know how to both shake up your thought patterns and manage rigorously. Steer the wheel and see farther.
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