Five Creativity Tips from Comedian John Cleese

John Cleese is one of the most recognized and popular comic performers in England, known for his work as a writer and comedian in shows like 'Monty Python' and 'Fawlty Towers.' 

He’s also a huge advocate for Creativity, and has a new book (aptly titled ‘Creativity’).

Here are five messages I took away from a recent talk he gave about Creativity with the How-To Academy:

1. Embrace play

Cleese quoted research from the 1970s that compared ‘creative’ architects with ‘non-creative’ architects. The researchers found no difference in intelligence between the two groups, but noted the creative architects ‘knew how to play.’

And if they were interested in the problem, they developed a ‘child-like’ play.

“Why can children play and adults can’t?” he asked.

2. Make time for creativity

Interruptions are terrible for creativity, so create a boundary of time for creative thinking. 

“Go somewhere you won’t be interrupted,” John said. “And for an hour and a quarter or an hour and a half, sit quietly, and play. Don’t be critical – just relax and play.”

3. Silence your inner critic

When you’re coming up with new ideas, don’t be too quick to get into critical mode.

“When you’re being creative, there’s no such thing as a mistake, because when you get an idea, you have to follow it through to see if it’s any use or not. You just have to try everything and be very uncritical.

“New ideas are like babies,” he added. “Easily strangled.”

4. Build trust and embrace diversity

John spoke about how important trust is for creativity in groups – as people are often frightened of making a mistake.

He also said that ‘diversity is key’ to creativity in groups, particularly the diversity of ideas. 

If you want creative ideas, bring together people who think differently, and create an environment where they feel safe to share their ideas and experiment.

5. Accept rejection as part of the creative process

Even comedy legends get rejected.

John mentioned he pitched six ideas to Netflix – and they didn’t even call his agent back. 

“They don’t give feedback,” he said. “I thought three of the ideas were great, but I couldn’t sell them. I have a 67-minute show from the Acropolis that is great, but I can’t sell it.”

So if your idea is rejected, know that you’re in good company. 

It doesn’t mean you aren’t creative. 

Be resilient, and keep going.