Turn them into piglets

Studio 100 is not a business that survives by making deals. Studio 100 is first and foremost a business focused on content. A business that creates, day in and day out AND from a blank page. In this I think we are a model of what is called THE CREATIVE ECONOMY.

But… what is the driver of this creativity? One thing is CERTAIN. It’s not questionnaires or market research. Henry Ford, the man who was the FIRST to commercialise the CAR, once said: “If I had asked people what they needed, they would undoubtedly have said: FASTER HORSES.”

One day we were looking for an idea to give new momentum to the career of our girl band K3. One of our colleagues at the meeting table said: “turn them into piglets. We will give them the lead role in the musical the 3 Piglets.” Everybody was rolling on the floor laughing. But a year later the musical “the 3 piglets” was packed out. We’d never done so well with a musical. It’s important to understand that such ideas don’t come from an opinion survey. Imagine if we’d asked in a survey: what should K3 do in a show? The answer, I am CONVINCED of this, would have been: sing the biggest hits! In other words, faster horses and not the car...

It’s human to limit risks and prefer certainties. Also in the creative sector. Directors of TV channels, for example, often don’t like experimenting. Mostly they like to copy what has already succeeded elsewhere. Yet the person who manages that creativity has to keep on asking his staff to come up with unexpected ideas. And especially not to be nervous or hesitate to do so!

We as managers must manage creativity and detect and promote good ideas in our company, such as: “turn them into piglets”. We must ensure that everyone gets wildly enthusiastic about such ideas and is totally behind it. And... pushing their own idea aside, which isn’t easy, because artists are emotional people who like their OWN IDEAS above all. This new kind of managing we do with structures that are hardly traditional and seldom hierarchical. I invite you to visit us and have a look. You would probably be surprised. At Studio 100 creativity is the watchword.

We don’t have high-tech machines, no—ideas are our raw materials, but even more important are the people who work with these ideas. People sometimes romanticise creativity. As if it were a mysterious individual activity of one person... WHO all on his own in a little attic room is busy playing God. At our company dozens of people are involved in a creative process. “Turn them into piglets” as an idea is only a start. Each musical or film starts with a SIMPLE IDEA like that, but literally hundreds of creative choices need to be made from then on before you get to a top-class result. And for that you need exceptional people. People who can DIALOGUE, or do magic with LIGHT, or design or build the most beautiful décor. PEOPLE LIKE being instructed. AND THESE LEADERS may never be cynical. IT IS THEY who make others believe in choices. WHO MAKE OTHERS ENTHUSIASTIC.

If you give a BRILLIANT idea to a mediocre team, it will go wrong. But a brilliant team can make a beautiful show or film from a trivial idea. On our premises songs are written, programme concepts are developed, plans for new amusement parks are drawn, décor is designed. There is a department with designers and graphic artists and a BALLET SCHOOL with 800 members is part of the company. Studio 100 is bursting with activity. Often music is heard in the corridors, an orchestra is rehearsing or dancers or singers are practising. There are scale models on the tables and, in the offices, more rhyming dictionaries than calculators. Yes, there are offices in our building, but much more space is devoted to studios, rehearsal rooms, ballet rooms, décor studios and the sewing studio where costumes are made.

Lunch sometimes looks like CARNIVAL. Pirates, gnomes, piglets and mermaids sit round the table and over lunch dazzling new ideas come into existence.  

We have no trade union delegation simply because there have never been any candidates, we have flexible working hours, we do POWER YOGA twice a week, we have three quiz teams and swimming every Monday evening.

The writing itself happens in little groups and often late at night, definitely not in collar and tie. In short, the traditional 9 to 5 employee is hard to find at Studio 100.

Creative people need a home, a HOSPITABLE PLACE where they can flourish in full sunlight. They must feel that they are part of something special, and their passion will be a magnet drawing other exceptional people to want to work for our company. As employer we must create that special environment and be in the midst of it all, because creative ideas can come from anyone and arise from any department.

Managing in a creative environment is above all about detecting and recognising strong ideas and promoting them within the company in such a way that everyone is totally behind them.