Everyone grumbles about the lack of creativity.
But creativity is all around us if only we’d learn to see it.
In 2002, Jane White was well and truly fed up with Jehovah’s Witnesses.
For twelve years she’d been asking them to stop calling at her door every month.
Eventually she’d had enough, she waited until they were in the middle of their services then she knocked on their door.
She went in and started preaching to them, and handing out all the religious leaflets she’d collected from everywhere else.
She wouldn’t stop, and after half an hour they had to call the police.
She hasn’t had any visits from Jehova’s Witnesses since.
Jane White is an example of everyday creativity.
In 2011, Bank of America foreclosed on Warren and Maureen Nyerges’ house in Georgia.
This was a misunderstanding because they’d paid for the house in cash.
They wrote explaining this to the bank, but got no reply.
They had an attorney contact the bank on their behalf, but still got no reply.
They asked the bank to refund their legal costs, but again got no reply.
So they got a court order against the bank, for $2,534.
After five months, the bank still hadn’t replied, so they foreclosed on the bank.
They turned up with a sheriff and deputies and began removing the fixtures and fittings.
That finally got the bank’s attention.
After being forcibly shut down, the bank issued a cheque and an apology on the spot.
Mr & Mrs Nyerges is an example of everyday creativity.
Meanwhile, on Twitter, there’s an account called @LuckyBastards_.
Their rules are as follows:
1) We scour Twitter for hateful Tweets about minorities and individuals.
2) Then we turn a lucky few into donations for good causes.
Here’s an example:
@DochertyJoe – Mar 4
“Nicola Sturgeon is the most disgusting, vile, jock bastard ever”
@LuckyBastards_
“Thanks for playing LuckyBastards! We’ve turned your disgusting, vile Tweet about @Nicola Sturgeon into a £10 donation to @scotswomansaid so they can combat abuse against Scottish women”
(Another example)
@Thanks_Givens_
“There goes big nose jew bastard”
@LuckyBastards_
“Thanks for playing LuckyBastards! We’ve turned your Tweet into a £10 donation to the big hearted Jews at University of Liverpool Chabad @UniRabbi”
(Another example)
@nz_justin
“yep, Commie bastards. Greenpeace is the same. Trotskyite scum masquerading as dolphin strokers – Nuke em all.”
@LuckyBastards_
“Thanks for playing Lucky Bastards! We’ve turned your tweet into a £10 donation to @Greenpeace so they can continue protecting the environment (including those lovely dolphins).”
These are very different ways to get even, but similar in the way they creatively turn the problem back on itself, into a solution.
Creativity is all around us if we’ll only learn to see it.
Because the more we learn to spot it, the better we’ll become at it.