The Most Creative People

I had to chuckle slightly after reading Fast Company's list of the 100 Most Creative People in Business.  Let me start by saying that I enjoy Fast Company as a publication and I am especially fond of their website.  If Facebook had a blog, I imagine it would look like their website.  In any case, I went through the list of creatives expecting to find some unknown talent or some up and comer that they had combed through mountains of mediocrity to find.  Unfortunately this was not the case.  The list was populated with celebrities, corporate executives, and accomplished creatives all building on their existing accomplishments.  

No disrespect to the celebrities, but if you make $20M a year, it's not that difficult to start a new project that allows you to be creative.  I have a hard time believing that Shaquille O'Neal is going to win the Pritzker.  I also don't imagine that companies like Starbucks and Amazon.com have a hard time attracting good talent, although some of their top people are on this list.

And while I am glad that Fast Company is celebrating creativity in some way, I would like to offer some alternate judging criteria for next year's list.  I would propose to celebrate the following:

1- People who are doing groundbreaking work in some field without any funding, assistance, or leverage other than their own passion and determination.

2- People who use their talents to help other people rather than prioritize fiscal gain.

3- Companies who are pursuing an impossible goal that one day may be possible.

4- People who have triumphed over ridicule and criticism to prove their critics wrong.  

I don't know about you, but these are the kinds of figures that inspire me, particularly when it comes to being creative.  Cee Lo Green 1995 is way more inspiring to me than Cee Lo Green 2012.  Food for thought.  


If you'll excuse me, I have to go look at Justin Timberlake's new home line. He's apparently partnered with a designer to start a curated web site offering daily deals.  It's a good thing as it must be difficult for him to get all that press on his own...