When it comes to brands that really cut through the noise, one of their most striking characteristics is this: 

Strong brands are clear about who they are FOR and who they are NOT for. 

This seems counterintuitive in a lot of ways because our world conditions us to want to appeal to as many people as possible. Bigger is always better, say the shareholders. So why would you ever build a brand that didn’t have the potential to appeal to everyone? 

Well, if you build a brand that appeals to everyone, then you won’t have built a very effective brand; you will have invented a plain bagel.

Brands need a purpose, and a purpose needs a point of view. 

The same holds true for creativity. One of our favorite definitions of creativity comes from researcher Teresa Amabile who defines creativity as “the production of ideas or outcomes that are novel and appropriate to some goal.” Novelty, then, is half the battle. 

To find our way to novelty, we must simply observe the status quo around us and come up with a fresh perspective. In a similar way to how the best brands thrive on purpose, our best creative ideas thrive on an original point of view. Sure, this means that a novel idea, by its nature, will not appeal to everyone. (Sorry, shareholders.) But it will appeal to the right people. Best of all, novelty is one of the easiest entry points into some truly creative thinking because all that your novelty needs is something ordinary, baseline, and ubiquitous to react to. 

Can our novel, creative output really be as easy as zigging while everyone else zags? 

Perhaps! At the very least, things can certainly be this elemental. A creative idea can arise from looking around at the status quo and wondering how things could be just a little different. If you’ve been following our newsletter for some time now, you know the ingredients for creativity, you know that everyone is creative (yes, even you!), and you know that action, not thinking, creates clarity. 

Here’s one more tool for your toolbox: Identifying the novel is one of the best ways to find your next creative ideas. 

Here are our favorite ways to get into the novel mindset. 

Three ways to bring more novelty to your creative work

1 - A state of punk: Find inspiration in the counterculture

Punk is a state of mind, an art form, a music genre—a lot of things. But its DNA is best summed up as this: doing something a little different than everyone else, very often with a bend toward anti-establishment. I’d link you to a Wikipedia definition, but that would not be in keeping with true punk fashion. So how about a defining quote from Billie Joe Armstrong of the band Green Day: 

A guy walks up to me and asks, “What’s punk?” 

So I kick over a garbage can and say, “That’s punk!” 

So he kicks over the garbage can and says, “That’s punk?” and I say, “No, that’s trendy!”

Typically, punk is a reaction to something currently happening in the zeitgeist. Punk rock arrived as a response to the growing sameness of rock and roll in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Where rock and roll went into arenas with mainstream messages and Jock Jams aesthetic, punk rock built communities on a DIY vibe and social impact platform. 

Tips for finding a novel POV with a punk attitude: 

• Go super opposite!

• Get out your journal (or a blank Notion page), and reflect on this question: What is something I believe that not everyone else does? Your answer may be fodder for a creative project, a blog post, a new habit, etc.

• Look up a list of the most popular marketing channels, and figure out what an anti-channel campaign might look like. If everyone loves the short-form video on TikTok, then maybe your TikTok content is plain old photos with lengthy captions.

2 - A state of innovation: Look for new opportunities 

I love a good Rube Goldberg machine. You’ve probably seen versions before, often in TV and movies: They’re the complicated, chain-reaction contraptions that involve a series of unexpected—or should I say, novel—steps to accomplish a familiar task. Here’s one that Wallace and Gromit use to get dressed and make breakfast.

Machines like these are absolutely creative and certainly innovative. And they all started from a novel idea. In Wallace and Gromit’s case, the idea was how to get ready for the day much quicker and easier. (The answer didn’t necessarily have to be a Rube Goldberg machine of course. In the comic book series Calvin and Hobbes, Calvin proposed he could lay his school clothes out on the stairs the night before so he could slide into them in the morning. Mom was not a believer.)

This inventor’s mindset is behind so much of the world we see and use today. Inventors see an opportunity to solve a problem, to meet an unmet need, to help an underserved or overserved population. Their novel POV turns into some pretty cool things: new tools, new apps, new gadgets, you name it.

Innovation is inherently novel. It is all about identifying a gap in the status quo and working to fill it. 

Tips for finding a novel POV with an innovative attitude: 

• Go into problem-solve mode!

• Map out your daily routine and consider the parts that are least appealing to you. Brainstorm some fixes. For instance, I can never tell if my toast is getting too dark. Why not transparent toasters!

• Creativity is often about combining two separate ideas from two different places. Take a hobby you love and find a way to bring that hobby into your workday life. I love magazines; how cool would it be to have a Bonfire magazine?

3 - A state of militant optimism: Embrace hope

If I were ever to adopt a militant mindset, I can think of few causes more noble than optimism and hope. The intentional phrasing of “militant optimism” is designed to highlight the importance—and urgency—of being proactively hopeful: fight for what you believe in, rather than against others' beliefs, with a positive attitude and a goal of maintaining hope. 

If we think of novelty as a response to the status quo, and if we think of the status quo as having plenty of pessimism and division and dread, then you can see how there would be a plethora of opportunities for us to flex our creative muscles within the space of optimism. 

Often, this takes the form of activism. In businesses, it may show up as mission marketing, which is a marketing strategy that leans on a company’s mission as the core of its communication and campaigns. There are people doing very novel, creative things when it comes to climate change and human rights. There are companies who are making their money in order to stand up for causes like sustainability or global equality. 

Tips for finding a novel POV with an optimistic attitude: 

• Go into dream mode!

• Imagine how great things could possibly go with your next big adventure, brainstorm creative ways to get there, then write down the next step to take. For instance, I want to buy a house. What if my friends bought it with me? I can make a PPT to inspire them!

• Think of a despairing cycle that you’re stuck in at work; think of your ideal state; then find the middle. Do that middle thing! For instance, let’s say I am wallowing in my social media posting. I would love it if I never had to post on social media again. The middle ground could be me writing one long thing each week and cutting the long thing into three shorter things. (Fact: I have militant apathy for social media.)

Additional reading… 

If this topic is interesting to you, then you might enjoy these other resources: 

• This Is Not a T-Shirt by Bobby Hundreds – A microhistory of the streetwear genre told by one of the founders of a popular streetwear brand

• Hope in the Dark by Rebeccxa Solnit – A wonderful little book about radical hope in the midst of adversity

For more…

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And let us know if you’d like to go deeper with us to talk about you and creativity. We do:

• 1:1 coaching and mentorship

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Say hi anytime.

Kumbaya,Shannon & Kevan