Red Braces, Creativity, and Your Unfiltered Self

Choosing not to wear the labels people give us.

I cherish creativity. I always have. When I started my career, I went into advertising because I wanted to be in business and do something creative at the same time. The naive 20-something Magnus didn’t realise that any business can be a creative experience.

I write for three main reasons:

To work things out.

To express my creativity in a way that comes naturally and easily.

To share ideas, stories, and practices that I hope, at least, entertain and, at best, give you something that makes your life and your work better.

The best of my writing does all three.

In thinking about writing, I have been reflecting on the concept of creativity.

In my advertising days, we had a department that did that. Often unruly folk who, back when I started, could dress how they liked, turn up late, have long lunches, and generally be their unfiltered selves—so long as they turned out great ads that sold stuff, made the client happy, and won awards. They were my people. And, as a red-braced (they were my “thing” and for trousers, not teeth) account executive, I spent most of my time not working and hanging out with them.

A department of people called “Creatives”. Which meant I wasn’t.

We, too often, limit ourselves with the labels we give ourselves or are given and accept.
Non-Creative was an unsaid and inferred label. So that is what I was.

Except that wasn’t true. From my red braces to the ads I used to write and give to the lazier and often more regularly inebriated creatives to pass off as their work, I was creative through and through.

I’m lucky. I learned quickly in my business career that creativity can be expressed in many ways. I was able to ditch the red braces and, over time, become mostly my unfiltered self. I was happier. People kept paying and promoting people. Happy days.

I realised that one of the most creative things we can do at work is to show up as ourselves.

“Be yourself. Everyone else is taken,” said Oscar Wilde. A man so uncompromisingly himself that he was willing to go to prison for it.

There’s talk about “bringing our whole selves to work.”

This is well-intended but misguided nonsense.

If my “whole self” involves latex and dungeons at the weekend, I’m not sure that will go so well in the Monday Stand Up.

Better to think of being our unfiltered selves. This is showing up as ourselves. Being who we want to be at work, with the understanding that work isn’t a dungeon (unless, of course, it is), and working with empathy for the work culture. In this context, your unfiltered self. The person who is not afraid to speak up, who has contrary ideas, who brings passion to their life and work, and who will hold their employer responsible for both making a positive difference and cleaning up the mess we humans are making of the world.

Your unfiltered self is you at your most creative. Unfiltered doesn’t mean offensive. It means believing in something, standing for something, and making a difference.

Don’t accept the label. You are not as others see you. You know who you are, what matters to you, and what you’re capable of.

Do your job, yes, but do it in the way that only you can.

That’s creativity.

So, express yourself and bring your unique creativity to your work—just as you do to the things that matter to you outside of work.

And, as leaders, inspire and foster working cultures that are psychologically safe, creatively stimulating, and bring out the best in people. That’s being creative, too.

So, I worked things out. I feel better for expressing myself. And I hope I inspired.

And maybe, just maybe, I could dust off my red braces.

Now, that would be the unfiltered Magnus.