The Future of Creativity: How Humour Will Shape Tomorrow's Innovations

Throughout history, many of our greatest innovations have come from making non-obvious connections between seemingly unrelated things. Dynamite was created when Alfred Nobel combined his knowledge of gunpowder with the need for safer explosives in mining. One unintended side effect was that the military got involved and decided that rather than save lives this new invention could be used to eliminate them – which in turn led to another non-obvious solution – the Nobel Peace Prize. Post-it notes emerged when a scientist’s failed adhesive found new life in a totally different use case. Even Newton’s theory of gravity came from his linking the fall of an apple to universal forces. Humour follows the same process — at the centre of every good joke is an unexpected connection between two unrelated ideas. Here’s one of my favourite Jo Brand gags, “My husband does the work of two men. Unfortunately those men are Laurel and Hardy.” In both cases, creativity happens at the intersection of the unexpected.

In the express-paced world of tomorrow’s business, innovation will be more critical than ever. As technology evolves and industries change, businesses will need to continually reimagine how they create value and solve problems. Traditional thinking and incremental improvements just won’t be enough when disruption is the new normal (in fact it is already). This creates a demand for the type of innovative thinking that blossoms under humour’s benevolent gaze, as it thrives on surprising and unconventional connections. 

We’re already seeing humour shape innovation in profound ways.  For instance my Unleash Creativity for business host, Charlie Curson, uses Lego to embrace playful thinking in helping organisations develop complex strategy. Dropbox's viral marketing campaign cleverly used humour to turn cloud storage into something memorable and fun. While Slack has revolutionised workplace communication by integrating wit and light-heartedness into a productivity tool, fostering creativity in collaboration. Humour and innovation are becoming increasingly intertwined.

In the future humour will be essential for three key reasons: 

It fosters creativity by freeing us from rigid thought patterns, quickly builds team cohesion and engagement, and helps overcome fear of failure by allowing people to experiment and take risks in a safe, playful environment. In this coming age of uncertainty, businesses will need to rely more on these qualities to drive those big ideas. 

So here are three tips (I love my rule of 3). 1) Encourage a culture of playfulness where ideas flow freely. 2) Integrate humour into your brainstorming sessions to unlock fresh perspectives. 3) Create an environment where failure is seen as a learning opportunity, not a career-ender. Just doing these three things will you're your business tap into the unique power of humour-driven innovation.

But how do I get started? Well, on September 26th, Charlie Curson and I are hosting a FREE "Unleash Creativity for Business" workshop to explore these concepts and more. Sign up here: https://mandarin.mykajabi.com/creativity.  Get ready to laugh your way to breakthrough ideas.  Join us and watch your organization transform—seriously, it works!