Would my 3-year-old make a better Creative?

From the moment she opens her eyes every morning, she quizzes us relentlessly about the shape of the moon, the purpose of bees and the right way to eat a banana.

She’s not unusual.

Harvard professor Paul Harris, who specialises in the study of child development, has made a conservative estimate of the number of questions children ask between the ages of 2 and 5.

It’s 40,000. Frankly, I’m not surprised.

And I’m starting to think that someone who asks that many questions would make a phenomenal Creative.

Because the best Creatives are never satisfied with what they’re told. They know that to deliver new, to deliver astonishing, to deliver the best in the business, we must never stop asking questions – of our clients, of each other, and of ourselves.

It may be painful. It may be annoying. But questions are the key to unlocking vast new territories of creative possibility. And my 3-year-old’s world is nothing but possibility.

Then again, it’s a two-part process. It’s not enough to ask the question – you have to listen to the answer.

Perhaps my daughter wouldn’t be such a good candidate after all. At least, not just yet.

Nigel

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