Risk, Flexibility and Creativity

When speaking to the whole US marketing team, our VP of marketing told us that one of the most important things she’s learned is that investing in young, passionate youth ultimately pays off in the end.  She followed the statement with something along the lines of, “and I’m not just saying that because I’m under qualified for my job.”  She is probably mid-30’s, at the VP level of a multi-billion dollar company and an inspiration in motion – she loves what she does and it shows.  The only way I can see her able to accomplish everything that she does is the Sugar Free can that is never more than four feet away.   When does she rest?

Her statement about investing in passionate youth hit me because I realized how rare it is that companies actually take such risks.  One example of what she’s referring to? This company just put me, a 25-year-old, in charge of marketing for Idaho and Western Montana – not necessarily a small territory.  For most companies, that would be unthinkable.  Those in charge would only be able to focus on the consequences instead of the possibilities.  It’s the same thing that separates professional athletes from hard-core recreational athletes.  The professional skier looks at a mountain and sees a clean line.  The recreational skier sees the line, but is blinded by the surrounding cliffs and hazards and opts for a different route.

Project X, a risk taken to earn gold in Vancouver.

This blindness in the business world always seems to come with rigidity.  Most companies and bosses lack flexibility and therefore limit themselves from being able to reach a new audience or do something that will truly make an impact.  They plug, or race depending on the type of business, along the same path and merely run in circles because they’re afraid something might break if it’s not done the same way they’ve always done it.

Creativity is the next thing to go in this cycle.  When someone accepts the cliché, “gotta pay your dues, kid” and spends years trying to attain a level of power where they can make a difference, they’ll get burnt out and stuck in a rut before they can say, “I quit.”  They’ll only produce the same thing that their predecessors have done for years beforehand.  And I would venture to guess that, that creative fire is hard to re-ignite if it’s been at a smolder for a long time.

Fearing risk yields blindness, which brings rigidity and eventually suffocates creativity.  Invest in younger generations and let their ability to burn the candle at both ends take its positive toll on your business.  Do so in a way that makes them feel valued versus disposable and you’ll have yourself a long-term employee.  Life’s too short to spend it being scared.