“Truly I tell you, unless you become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

The Bible, The Book of Matthew Chapter 18, Verse 4

I do not think I have ever started a blog post with a Bible verse before. But do not worry. I am not going to preach at you. What I am going to suggest is that if Jesus said it, and if it is in the best-selling book on the planet, there might be something to it. I believe it applies to small business, and to the world. Letmeexplain.

We have been talking all this month about the things that enable a small business to bloom and flourish. I have saved the best for last. There are at least a gazillion blog posts about the importance of creativity. What makes me think I can add anything to all the talented voices? I believe there may be one source for this precious commodity that we have overlooked. 

We may have overlooked it because it comes, like all good things, in a small package. And maybe we have discounted the teacher because she just happens to be the shortest teacher we have ever had. This is a recipe for something so good, that if we learn how to make it, it would be like bringing heaven to earth. Evenforyourbusiness. Bearwithme.

The child entering Kindergarten this September will graduate in 2029. Few of us can imagine what the world will be like then. By 2029, the wildest predictions delivered by the most esteemed experts will slither away from sheer embarrassment. They will be wrong again.

Schools today were designed to supply laborers for the industrial age. Anyone reading this post has learned to follow the rules, and to pass the standardized tests. Making a mistake was about the worst thing you can do. The ultimate goal is productivity, and adding to the GDP like good little lemmings.

But what would today’s diploma mean in 2029? Enter the current age of disruption. No education can prepare you for it. We all face the disruption and even the disappearance of our jobs. Even lawyers. On May 15th, the Law firm Baker & Hostetler hired the world’s first artificial intelligence bankruptcy attorney. The robot is named Al Ross. Al does the work of 50 persons. IBM conducted a worldwide survey to ask CEO’s in 60 countries what they needed from the future labor force. The vote was unanimous.

I am sure you can guess what it is. Of course. It is Creativity.

Creativity is no longer an occupation. It is no longer optional. It is a fundamental skill and a way of life. You need it no matter what industry you are in, whether accounting, or medicine, or farming. We desperately need more people who can connect random bits information and combine it together in new ways. Creativity by its very nature demands mistakes. It is a series of whoops, followed by an occasional hurrah.

Creativity cannot be manufactured. What we can do is create an environment where it can grow. As our age goes up, our creativity levels go down. As expertise increases, creativity decreases. Why? Becausewethinkweknow, andweshutourselvesofftonewideas. And so as we lose our serendipity, we also lose our ability to innovate. So where can we find the best education in creativity? You guessed it! A most surprising place. Not MIT. Not Stanford. But from short people. They are the resident experts. 

Here are some important things we can learn from these little profs:

We entrepreneurs need to learn to think more like a kid. Children are the world’s greatest scientists. They challenge everything known to man and ask why, why, why until we adults are beside ourselves. It takes the questions of a child to show us how little we really know. 

Kids never doubt that the impossible is possible. They do not over analyze how it could be. They trust their gut intuition that it can exist.

Kids cannot let prior knowledge get in the way because they do not have any. Researchers at UC Berkeley found that preschoolers were faster at figuring out electronic devices than college students. Because they did not know how the thing was supposed to work in the first place, they did not rule out any possible solution. Therefore, they found the correct answer faster than those almost four times their age.

Children are completely at home with randomness and things that do not make sense. They are never sure, but it never stops them from moving forward.

Children are always making things, and they are never afraid they will make something wrong. Whatever they make, they have confidence it will be wonderful. They always have a side project going.

Kids are unaware of social ranking and care little for status or power. They are not worried about what anyone thinks of them. Trying to be famous is the last thing on their minds.

Kids know how to play. They go outside. They run around a bit. They give their brain a break. Structure in the day is important, but so also is a deviation from structure.  Many entrepreneurs have forgotten how to disconnect from the day to day pressure.

Children express their emotions honestly. They know how they feel. Their heads and their hearts are connected. (Emotional intelligence, of course, comes later). It is hard for adults to know how they feel. 

Lastly, they take frequent naps. (I really like this last one. We cannot ignore our bodies as entrepreneurs and get away with it!)

Imagine if every entrepreneur were as observant as a child? Imagine if every entrepreneur used their full capacity to create with abandon? Imagine everyone in an atmosphere of inclusion? Imagine leaders learning to ask more questions instead of assuming we were right all the time? Imagine if we learned to trust our intuition, and were less afraid of doing it wrong? 

Creativity is as important as literacy, and we should treat it with the same status. How can you get more creativity in your own business? Who knew you could deal in precious commodities simply by trading recipes for mud pies in the park? Sign up for a lesson from a really short prof. It may be just the recipe you need to get your business to bloom. 

I wish you many hurrahs.

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Why do we at etc!graphicsinc, a graphic design company, care about your business strategies?  Because no matter how beautiful your graphics, they will never make more sense than the clarity of your own vision. The clearer your vision, the more lucid your marketing will be, and the better connection you will make with your target customer. We want to help you find the gold in your business. Join us all this month as we share ways to help your small business sustain and grow in a crowded marketplace. Etc!Graphics is devoted to helping you, the small business owner, think like a marketer.