Learning how to make your creative impulses count
Mark Shayler has worked with multinationals and small businesses to improve what they do by injecting a dose of creative thinking. Sheena Hastings reports.
MARK SHAYLER says the most important thing he learned while studying environmental science at Bradford University was that “people buy people”.
He means that being clever is good, but how you are with other people is more important than anything else.
“There’s a wonderful man called Chipper Bro, who’s the receptionist you talk to on the phone at (outdoor wear company) Patagonia in the States, and he is paid way over the odds because his manner, the way he makes people feel looked after, is second to none. He is an incredible asset to the company.” Patagonia think creatively and rightly see massive value in keeping Chipper on his inflated salary.
Shayler has more than two decades’ experience in changing the way businesses think about the environment as well as design and innovation. He was head of environment at Asda-Walmart before setting up his own consultancy, Tickety Boo. He has worked with more than 1,500 businesses, inspiring changes that have led to savings of £120m.
He isn’t so keen on slogans, but if pressed then “Doing bad better isn’t enough” describes his thinking. His new book Disrupt – Change the Status Quo Or Become It is a simple, jargonfree guide to identifying your creative ideas and acting on them.
“I’m not that bright,” says the 46-year-old father of four, who is giving a talk in Harrogate this week. Modesty is good, but the facts speak for themselves: Coca-Cola used him as a consultant when they wanted new thinking around the future marketing of drinks to an ageing population.
Small clients are as interesting and important to him as giants. A homeware shop increased footfall by 300 per cent in three months after he suggested improvements to the layout of the store and displays plus evening events to bring in new customers. He led an innovation workshop for employees at sportswear giant Nike a while ago – called in “to wake them up a bit”, is how he puts it. “They’d all done brilliantly in getting a job with Nike, but then some had sat doing nothing new for three years. Getting the job is just the start.”
Staleness and waning of innovative thinking is common in large companies, says Shayler. This is why some now create a ‘rebel cell’, an edgy start-up company within the organisation, given a small budget to develop new ideas. A third are successful, and what he calls their ‘punk’ way of thinking affects the whole company.
Shayler works for free in schools, helping to focus pupils on what they really want. “So many young people are busy passing exams and don’t know who they are. It’s assumed that university is for everyone, and there seem to three reasons that people go: they need a degree to do a particular job; their friends are all off to uni; they don’t know what else to do. Only the first reason is a good one.”
He believes parents should beware of pigeonholing their children. “I was told by my dad when I was 11 that my brother was much better at art. Yes, he is brilliant – but a while ago my father looked at some of my pictures and said ‘You are the best photographer in the family’.”
The internet can be best friend to your creative ideas, he says. “Whether you bake cakes, take photos, make music or clothes or write, learning and improving are enhanced by the spread of ideas and inspiration. If you’re trying to made a business from your idea, then concentrating on what you believe in is the most important factor in success. Profit is a by-product.”
Do Disrupt– Change The Status
Quo Or Become It, published by The Do Book Co, is priced £8.99. Mark Shayler is speaking at a Salon North event on creativity at Harrogate Masonic Hall on Thursday at 7.30pm. Call 01423 562 303.