On Authentic Creativity
Hello, Again - an update, a reset and a new direction
Welcome to Issue One of The Soup is Getting Cold relaunch.
Apologies for the silence.
Now, I’m back. With a slight change in direction. You can read about it here and how I’ve decided to move towards exploring some longer form ideas. If you can’t remember who I am, you can check out my Linkedin here, or read about my early career, here.
But in very brief summary I’m an ex-journalist and editor, turned advertising entrepreneur.
The Soup is Getting Cold Newsletter will drop every week, towards the end of the week - Thursday or Friday, probably. I have no intention of clogging up your inbox. Each issue will be a well researched long-form opinion piece in the broad arena of marketing, advertising, start-ups, technology, brands, creativity, and culture. I will also continue to do exclusive interviews, too. I’m particularly interested in how technology is changing us, and society.
Since the last issue I sent in 2022 I have been busy: I successfully exited the adtech business where I was a co-founder. I stayed on for two years to integrate the team into the new entity, but also relocated back to Wales, from London/South East.
I’m now dedicated to writing, learning and working with inspirational founders as an investor-operator, launching and scaling businesses at the intersection of branded content, marketing, media, technology, AI, and advertising.
But in this issue I want to explain the over-arching purpose of The Soup, or rather the thread of thought that will connect each issue.
In less than a generation the technology we use each day has transformed our lives. And these changes ring ever more true for those at the cutting edge of the digital economy. To work in technology, media, marketing and advertising in the 21st century is to be disruptor and disrupted; to be constantly challenged while forced to be constantly challenging.
I want to explore what this means for everyone at the sharp end of culture, launching and grappling with innovative technology and continued, relentless, disruption.
Modern life demands momentum, we are told we cannot slow down; because as we scurry and strive ‘the soup is getting cold’. And if your soup gets cold, you are obsolete. Leftovers.
This is the connecting thread I hope to weave into this Substack; a theme that will link posts such as “What the Hotdog Can Teach Us About Creativity”, to what it means to society when “Death becomes Optional”, to the importance of the role of the “COO in your Tech Startup”.
At it’s heart I want to build a community via this newsletter that explores what I term authentic creativity.
What is authentic creativity?
Authentic Creativity is the ability to think and create independently, guided by genuine curiosity and belief, rather than chasing the approval of algorithms, trends or hollow metrics of success.
To define more clearly:
What do I mean by authentic? I mean real-to-you. I mean being exactly who you say you are. I mean knowing yourself. Everyone’s authentic self is different. We are not copycat clones of one another; we are not mirages of other people.
What do we mean by creativity? Creativity means inventiveness. It means having original ideas. It’s not about having the cleverest ideas, the biggest ideas or ‘the best’. It’s about allowing yourself to think creatively.
And all of us are creative. Even if you think you aren’t, you are. Whether it’s a new meal-prep, a short-cut you’ve imagined on the commute to work, or the inventive way you’ve managed to use the last of your mascara: we create every day.
Why is Authentic Creativity becoming so important?
Authentic Creativity will become ever more important as the realms of fake and real, digital and in-person, begin to blur. As our options to ‘rebel’ against the conformity of technology grow, and as our ability to decipher ‘what good actually is’ becomes challenged, too.
Authentic creativity matters because in a world shaped by platforms, optimisation, and imitation, we are at risk of losing the ability to be both authentic and creative. Anything that isn’t rooted in genuine thinking becomes forgettable fast.
Businesses lose trust, culture becomes hollow, and individuals lose their voice. It’s how organisations build work that lasts, how new ideas develop, new businesses launch, and how all of us can feel good about not just the work we do, but the lives we live, too.
How we can all look through the noise and see the unique humanity we add, to work, to life, to society. To find meaning.
Business Coach and ex-creative agency staffer Matt Essam, who asked Are You Being Authentically Creative? on Medium in 2017, summed it up well when he wrote that creativity without a sense of purpose and meaning, was essentially driven by ‘ego and other superficial concepts.’
“It was creativity that had little significance because it didn’t connect with people and make them think or feel in a way that was personal to me.”
Choosing to think and create independently does have challenges, though. It means slowing down at times, resisting shortcuts and more often than not sitting with uncertainty longer. But that is the point.
If being creative costs nothing, risks nothing, and challenges nothing, it is unlikely to be authentic and even less likely to last.
But The Soup is not about building a community for creatives or artists; the most authentically creative people I know would never think of themselves as such. Yet they invent and lead authentic lives, unique to them. You can probably think of some examples, too.
On a personal level Authentic Creativity comes from cultivating an ever-curious approach to life. It means questioning why, always, and giving yourself the freedom not to conform; to carve out an approach to life that works for you. It means tapping into your body, too, and understanding that it is connected with your mind.
It’s the freedom to not feel bad about ignoring the playbook, the pressures, the recipe guide, the fitness routine, the prompts, alerts and reminders, should you wish, at times, too.
That’s the Authentic Creativity approach.
Agnes Martin, the Canadian abstract painter summed up Authentic Creativity best; “My paintings are not about what is seen. They are about what is known forever in the mind.”
It’s a journey I’m attempting to embark on myself. I do hope you’ll join me.
Thanks for reading.
Dale
PS. I don’t yet know exactly where this newsletter will go. But I do know it’ll be shaped by the people who reply, so if this sparked a thought I’d genuinely love to hear it.
I wholly subscribe that you don't have to be an artist, designer or creative director to be creative. A creative mind is the best at solving problems, and when you look at it through that lens, you recognise that there's always a place for creativity. Congrats on the re-launch!