Have You Got Street Theatre Creativity?

by Brian Clegg

A couple of days ago I was on London's Embankment by the London Eye, watching a piece of street theatre. I don't know the name of the performer, but he made a very interesting point.

Before his grand finale, he prepared the crowd to pay up at the end. He claimed that a show in a theatre in London's West End consisted of people hitting dustbin lids for an hour and a half. And people paid £35 pounds to see this. So surely he was worth a couple of pounds?

Whether or not you agree with his assessment of the show (Stomp), I think there's a big lesson for corporate creativity. We tend to throw our cash for innovation into corporate Stomps. Those with their hands on the corporate purse strings are much more likely to provide cash for the equivalent of a West End show of people hitting dustbin lids that costs a fortune than they are to provide a small amount for an individual to try something on his or her own.

Surely, like the street entertainer, we should see that we've got things wrong. It's time to set up a fund for "street theatre" creativity. If an individual has a great idea they should be able to apply for a small amount of money and time and just do it "in the street". Chances are, such an approach would generate many more great innovations for a company than all the big "West End theatre" projects - the high budget, highly planned, manpower intensive innovation that companies normally expect.

If you are the one with control, be bold. Sponsor some street theatre creativity. If you are the one with the idea, get out there on the corporate pavement with your virtual hat and collect some cash and time. You can make it happen.

(Since writing this article, I have been contacted with the information that the performer was Mat Ricardo - you can see a little of him in action at his website http://www.matricardo.com. Thanks to Camille Bensoussan for spotting this.)

Brian Clegg is a director of Creativity Unleashed Limited and an author of over 20 books on business, creativity and science.

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