Hello all,
Felt the need to write this post after a few things came to light in the last few days that I was completely unaware of. I'm quite shocked at what I have read and I'm also interested to find out if any other people have been affected by the same thing.
Firstly, one of our valued and ever-improving followers (OMBLE) recently tweeted that he had been banned from entering One Minute Briefs by his employer.
Of course, myself and the other followers were shocked by this, especially after finding out he isn't even allowed to enter in his own time of lunch, breaks or after work. In my personal opinion, this is completely unfair and a real shame for someone who has created some great ideas, won prizes and become a respected member of this vibrant OMB community.
To deny someone the opportunity to be creative and part of something is something I really cannot comprehend. You only need to look at a few of the testimonials here http://oneminutebriefs.blogspot.co.uk/p/testimonials.html to see how entering One Minute Briefs has improved people's confidence and creativity, which they have been able to implement into their everyday work as well as push themselves to enter awards. To stunt that enthusiasm and creativity is something I never thought would happen in a 'creative' industry. We all have to do the day-to-day stuff which makes OMB an outlet to flex our creative muscles. That should never be frowned upon.
Since this story, I have received a couple of messages about similar stories of negativity towards OMB. One person who entered OMB was told "not to use up all his creativity" What a ridiculous comment... creativity is what we do, it doesn't run out. And, if anything, OMB makes you more and more creative.
Another person told me how they experienced negativity whilst proudly telling people about OMB and it's benefits. They received sarcastic comments about their involvement and now have to enter in secret (if ever) which is to the detriment of their creative development, as well as denying them the chance of prizes.
Of course, it is the prerogative of bosses to choose what their creatives are and aren't involved in, but I am strongly against taking away someone's involvement. The very nature of One Minute Briefs is to send a quick idea in every now and then. It has improved creatives without a doubt and has massively improved my own creative thinking and output as a result of entering the briefs myself.
Overall, I'm shocked that certain people are frowning upon people having a few minutes of complete creative freedom each day and improving their thinking whilst being a part of a very friendly community. If you are doing this, I'd advise you to rethink as you are restricting people's creativity and their potential improvement as an employee.
It's called a creative industry for a reason. Give people the freedom to be creative.
Thanks for reading,
Nick,
OMB
p.s. I'm very keen to hear of any more situations like the ones I have mentioned so please e-mail/tweet me to let me know your experiences and if you are against the idea of OMB then please let me know your reasons why: interest@bankofcreativity.co.uk