We talk a lot about AI, data, and disruption. But nobody tells you this frankly: you can be excellent at your job and yet become useless tomorrow. Why? Because you lack creativity.
It's the cash — and healthy — message delivered in a short video by Manuel Sosa, professor at INSEAD and innovation speaker. Program director Mastering Creative Thinking, he asks an inconvenient question: Do you have to master creative thinking to succeed at work today?
His answer is unquestionable (otherwise I won't tell you about it 😄): yes. And not only if you are a designer, communicator, or inventor. All professions are concerned. Creativity has become a hard soft skill. One Must-Have, not one Nice-to-Have.
The end of experts? Make way for creatives.
We have long been taught that to succeed, you have to accumulate knowledge, become an expert, and execute quickly. That model is dead. Too slow. Too rigid. Too vulnerable to the unexpected.
Today, the real “performers” are those who know Improvising intelligently, Think side by side, find another way when procedures fail.
“In an unstable world, logic is no longer enough. Mental plasticity is needed.”
In my job as a creativity speaker or innovation speaker, what does that mean for example? Maybe the speaker is becoming more of an enlightener than an expert who shares. On this subject, he reveals skills that are invisible but vital to last in a world where the unknown is the norm.
Three superpowers to keep from disappearing
In his program, Manuel Sosa identifies three fundamental skills to make you a real Innovative Problem Solver. In other words: someone who does not just execute, but who invents answers where no one saw a solution.
1. The user's obsession
That is the base. Before you have a good idea, you have to ask a good question. And it starts by getting out of your ivory tower to understand the real needs of users.
User-centricity, active listening, field observation: this is what makes it possible to create value. Not your perfect presentations or your internal KPIs.
“A brilliant idea that is misaligned with the user experience is a false good idea.”
In other words: learn to like the problem and not the product, to put yourself in the other person's shoes, and to dig where it scratches.
2. Applied creative thinking
This is where the magic happens — but also where many fail. Because thinking differently is not “brainstorming” in a room with fluorescent post-it notes. It's allowing yourself to disobey the obvious, to question routines, to combine incompatible elements.
It is an art, yes. But also a discipline. There are methods, tools, frameworks for that. And it is also my role as a creative speaker to transmit them in an active, concrete, liberating way.
Creating ideas can be learned. It's not innate. And that's the good news.
3. Radical agility
Once you have an idea, you have to take action. And quickly. Agility is this ability to test, iterate, correct. To launch an imperfect prototype rather than dreaming of a perfect product that was never delivered.
Creative professionals are also enlightened implementers. They know that in the blur, only action produces useful feedback. They love the land. They listen to feedback. They adjust without ego.
Innovation is not a “stroke of genius.” It's a combat sport, one of trial, error, bounce — and mental stamina.
Creatives + strategists = the leaders of tomorrow
What Manuel Sosa proposes in this video is a real manifesto for a new type of leadership: creative, agile, lucid, and deeply human. Going against models of control and cold expertise.
And it's not a luxury. It is a strategic investment.
✏️ This article is loosely based on the intervention of Professor Manuel Sosa in the video “Mastering Creative Thinking” (INSEAD). To be seen on YouTube if you want to question some certainties.
