Stop confusing serious with smart: Why clarity and creativity win every time

Last week, I was in an important meeting. One that would chart the course of an organisation for the next few years, covering a very heavy topic.  

I walked in and around the room were some animal figurines, bright printed images, colourful hand-drawn posters, music playing and some bells.  I was a bit taken aback but also intrigued.  

The facilitator simply looked at me and said, “This is too important to take seriously.”

And he was so right.  Why do we think serious equals credible?

As you get older, more experienced, more entrenched in the depths of the corporate jungle, it’s easy to get swept up in this belief that you need to always show up as serious – or you won’t be taken seriously.  

Use big words. Make your PowerPoint slides look complex. Wear that blazer. Deal with uncomfortable shoes, because professionalism. 

What I’ve learnt is that this is the exact opposite of what you should do. Not just in how you show up or run meetings, but how you communicate as a business. 

Simplicity and creativity are like two secret keys that unlock many doors, but not enough people reach for them. 

Let’s break each one down.  

The Power of Simplicity  

Here’s a fun fact: Your brain is lazy. It doesn’t want to work harder than it has to. So, when you throw a bunch of complex information at it – jargon, long sentences, confusing graphs – it tunes out fast. 

Research by psychologist Daniel Kahneman (yes, the Nobel Prize-winning author of Thinking, Fast and Slow) found that when something feels simple, we’re more likely to believe it’s true. The opposite also applies, complexity makes us sceptical, disengaged or just plain tired. 

But simplicity isn’t about dumbing things down; it’s about making them clear. It’s about cutting through the noise, so people actually get what you’re saying. 

Think about it: What’s easier to remember? 

A) A mission statement that says, “Our goal is to leverage innovative solutions to drive customer-centric outcomes”?

B) Nike’s “Just Do It”?

In business, and especially in advertising, simplicity is everything. It’s why Apple doesn’t bombard you with specs and tech jargon in their ads. Instead, they show you a sleek iPhone and three simple words: “Shot on iPhone.” That’s it. And it works. 

Takeaway Tips: 

• Stop trying to sound smart. Start trying to sound clear. 

• Before you present something, ask yourself: “Would a 10-year-old understand this?”  If not, simplify it. 

• Use fewer words. Say more, with less.  

• Embrace white space. In presentations, emails or reports, less clutter = more clarity. Give the point you’re trying to make room to breathe. 

Dani Chadinha

The Power of Creativity  

In the 1960s, NASA ran a study to test creativity in kids. At age 5, 98% of them were classed as creative geniuses. By age 10, only 30% still had that spark. By 15, it dropped to 12%. And as adults? Just 2%.

What happened? Life happened. School taught us to colour inside the lines. Work taught us to follow processes. Society taught us that creativity is cute for kids but impractical for grown-ups. 

Creativity isn’t just a buzzword – it’s directly tied to business performance. According to McKinsey, companies identified as “highly creative” consistently outperform their peers, delivering up to twice the revenue growth of less creative competitors. These companies also tend to have happier employees.

And it doesn’t stop there. Research from Kantar shows that creativity is the second biggest driver of marketing effectiveness, with a profitability multiplier of up to 12 times, second only to brand size. In other words, creativity isn’t just nice to have – it’s one of the most powerful tools a business can use to stand out and succeed.

Take Telstra’s “Better on a Better Network” campaign featuring talking animals in stop-motion style. Sure, it could’ve felt too kid-like for a “serious” telecom brand, but that’s exactly why it worked. After all, no one wants to hear about wires and connection speeds.

Then there’s the recent campaign ”Make New Zealand The Best Place In The World To Have Herpes” – a clever effort to tackle a serious and heavily stigmatised topic. Using comedy to address the issue, the campaign has already proven its impact, winning three D&AD Pencils in London and four Spikes in Asia.

These weren’t safe ideas – they were bold, unexpected and incredibly effective. They worked because they broke the rules, took risks and trusted that standing out is always better than blending in.

Takeaway Tips: 

• Start meetings with something unexpected. A weird question, a silly icebreaker, whatever gets people out of their heads.

• Encourage bad ideas. Sometimes the worst idea in the room leads to the best one.

• Change your scenery. Creativity thrives when you’re out of your usual space.
• Don’t take yourself so seriously. Humour and playfulness aren’t distractions, they’re tools.

We’ve been conditioned to think that being serious creates an aura of credibility, but this belief is holding us back.  Here’s the truth: Simplicity gets you heard. Creativity gets you remembered.

The best ideas or way of doing things aren’t born from furrowed brows and stiff boardrooms – they come from taking risks, having fun and letting yourself think differently.

Got a tip?

topics creativity simplicity

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