ISSUE 100/

A BULLETIN FOR
BIG IDEAS AND
BETTER BUSINESS.

A Creativity Carol

To mark our 100th edition, a nod to Dickens feels appropriate: creativity past, present and yet to come.

The Ghost of Creativity Yet to Come

💬 Sir John Hegarty

At this time of year, it’s natural to look ahead and wonder what the future might hold. I’ve always been wary of predictions - they tend to say more about the predictor than the future itself. But every so often, you can sense a shift in what people begin to value, and that’s worth paying attention to.

For a long time, business has been preoccupied with process, efficiency and systems. All of them matter, of course. But none of them create difference on their own. Optimisation has never been the source of innovation. Ideas have.

What feels encouraging, as we close out 2025, is a renewed seriousness about creativity as a genuine driver of growth. Recent McKinsey research suggests that European CMOs now see creativity and uniqueness as their top areas of investment for the years ahead. That’s significant. In markets crowded with near-identical products and services, innovation becomes essential.

Alongside this sits a growing recognition of the importance of storytelling. As a way of thinking and communicating. In complex organisations, ideas only matter if they can be understood, shared and believed. It’s the stories that persuade. They give ideas shape, help them travel, and connect strategy to people.

This is why storytelling is becoming so hard to replace. It requires judgement, empathy and point of view - qualities that can’t be automated or reduced to process. In other words, it requires creativity.

So as this final thought of 2025 comes to an end, there’s reason to be optimistic. There are no guarantees, but the direction feels right. And as we look ahead to 2026, organisations that value ideas - and the craft of communicating them - will always be better placed to make progress.

The Ghost of Creativity Present

A gift for being here.

To mark our 100th edition, we wanted to give something back.

The first 100 readers to refer 2 readers will receive a Christmas gift from The Business of Creativity - a small creative thank-you to start 2026.

🥇 1 winner, chosen at random: a FREE Business of Creativity course (worth £1,895)
🥈 99 winners: £500 voucher towards a course of your choice

We’ll reveal the winners in the New Year!

The Ghost of Creativity Past

A favourite story from last year…

Issue 49: Stories make the seasons

💬 Sir John Hegarty

Holidays are about stories. Personal ones. Popular ones. Traditional ones. They’re how we make sense of time, memory and meaning.

Perhaps the greatest creative work associated with this season is A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Driven by a looming deadline and a growing family, Dickens wrote the story in just six weeks. Inspired by the poverty he witnessed in the north of England, the tale of redemption became an instant success - and helped shape how we understand Christmas to this day.

Stories endure because they express truth. And the more truth they contain, the more powerful they become.

More stories. More ideas. More creativity. From top voices in the industry.

Follow us on Instagram to stay inspired between issues.

Wishing our readers a very happy Christmas and see you back in 2026!

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