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Every business depends on innovation but nowhere is sustained creativity more important than in the high-pressure world of PR. So top PR professionals take every opportunity to hone their creative skills.
As a Senior Consultant at independent PR consultancy, JBP Public Relations in Bristol, Julia Brown is no stranger to creative thinking, or to the constantly renewed creative challenge of her role. With a keen professional interest in the thought process behind the development of creative ideas and how she could apply this to problem solving in other areas of her work, Julia decided to attend the pioneering programme, Releasing Creativity, at Jo Ouston & Co.
Julia says, "As an agency our philosophy is to look at helping companies differentiate themselves through the marketing communications tactics they deploy. Therefore we are always brainstorming ideas to help our clients market themselves in an innovative way which makes them stand out from the crowd.
"The course gave me a real insight into 'the creative process'. As someone working in a supposedly very creative role, it's fascinating to understand what stages your mind actually goes through when you're doing something that (usually) comes fairly naturally.
"It was also interesting to learn from other people on the course about the ways in which creativity impacts on their roles - sometimes in unexpected ways, such as being creative about administration systems or recruitment problems.
"It was telling to learn about some of the things that can hinder creativity. There are obvious ones, such as pressure and time constraints, but also things like fear of judgement and failure - where we are absolutely our worst enemy."
Julia also found the practical exercises and techniques to stimulate creative thinking on the course extremely useful.
"One technique saw us sketching a famous work of art from memory. Obviously all had varying degrees of skill with pad and pencil (my drawing was very, very average!) Our tutor then took us through a series of breathing and relaxation techniques and the sketching exercise was repeated. The second drawing I produced was not only more recognisable in terms of shape and objects I was portraying, but the detail I was able to remember was far greater. The lesson was, of course, that memory and creative ability are hugely affected by how relaxed and calm the thinker is feeling.
"Since attending the course I've also benefited from using some of the skills I acquired on how to win people over to your ideas - both internally with colleagues and in a new business pitch scenario, which is superb!"
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