ISSUE 91 /

A BULLETIN FOR
BIG IDEAS AND
BETTER BUSINESS.

We’re hosting a Business of Creativity Live Event on Wednesday, November 12th in London - and we’ve reserved 8 complimentary places exclusively for our newsletter subscribers.

Join us for an evening of creativity, conversation, and networking with creative leaders, featuring Sir John Hegarty and Orlando Wood.

Reply to this email ASAP to secure your place - only 8 spots available!

OPINION / Ambition

The Audacity of Ambition

💬 Sir John Hegarty

In 1986, four years into building BBH, a journalist came to interview us. Just before he arrived, we gave ourselves five minutes to answer a simple question: what’s our ambition? 

The line we’d say out loud. The one we’d be held to. We could’ve said something safe - best agency in the UK, most awarded at Cannes, biggest in Britain. All achievable, respectable and all completely forgettable.

Instead, we said, “We want to be the most creative company in the world.”

Now, to some, that sounded ridiculous. A young agency in London with global pretensions? But that’s exactly the point. Ambition shouldn’t make you feel comfortable. It should make you sit up. It should scare you a little and thrill you a lot. Creativity, and indeed growth, don’t thrive in the familiar. They have to feed on ambition. The right ambition doesn’t just describe where you want to go. It defines who you are. And it gives everyone in the building something to rise to.

We never claimed to be the most creative company in the world. That wasn’t the point. The point was to behave like a company that believed it could be. It changed how we talked, hired, pitched, and created. It sharpened our standards. It kept us uncomfortable. It kept us moving.

Even in apparel, where purpose is often bolted on rather than built in, Patagonia stands out. “We’re in business to save our home planet.” Not to sell outerwear. Not to grow 12% year on year. But to rewire business itself as an act of environmental activism. And while that ambition might be extreme, it’s also extremely effective. It shapes everything - from what they make to what they won’t.

The ambition you set at the start becomes the culture you live with later. Too many companies write theirs in the passive voice, with no edge or truth or friction. A paragraph of platitudes, forgotten before the ink dries. 

But the ones that last are often the ones that began with something audacious, maybe even absurd. A provocation. When you aim high, you won’t always hit. But you’ll move faster. Think bigger. Work harder. You’ll attract better people. And more importantly, you’ll give them something worth building toward.

You need something that makes everyone sit up and realise: “We’d better get to work.”

So next time you’re asked what you want to be - as a company, a brand, a creative, a leader - try saying something you’re not yet sure you can do. Something bold. Maybe even a little bit ridiculous. And mean it.

You don’t need to hit the target. You just need to set one that matters.

Unlock your creativity.

Has this newsletter
been forwarded to you by a friend?
Sign up to The Business of Creativity 
to receive your own weekly dose
of creativity news.