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We have a complicated relationship with creativity. Intuitively, we understand its value—the ability to produce new ideas and novel innovation. Instinctively, we know that it presents opportunities for marketplace advancements. When we think of some of the most revered organizations in modern times, like the Apple’s and Disney’s of the world, we point to their creative contributions and their impact. However, although most companies revere organizations with a creative culture, there is a deep-seated misnomer that some companies are inherently creative and others just aren’t, as if creativity is a rare gene or a divine gift that is bestowed on some and coveted by others. But perhaps the mystical nature of creativity isn’t that mysterious after all? What if a culture of creativity was more obtainable than you think? Something you can build, not just be born with? As unbelievable as that may seem, Alejandro Chavetta, the Executive Creative Director at Adobe, has made a career of doing that very thing; so, we invited him onto the From The Culture podcast to discuss what it means to facilitate a culture of creativity.
What is creativity?
To start, we need to lay some groundwork. If organizational culture is the operating system by which individuals co-labor, or collaborate, then fortifying a culture of creativity requires instituting an operating system that facilitates creativity. Simple enough, right? But what is creativity? There are a host of scholarly definitions but far too many are too abstract to apply or too esoteric to operationalize. Therefore, we must first establish a working understanding of what creativity actually is if we are to integrate it into our operating system.
Dan Wieden, the renewed advertiser who cofounded the most celebrated advertising agency on the planet, Wieden+Kennedy, and came up with such legendary campaigns as “Just Do It” for Nike, once described creativity as subversion. That is to say that creativity is the act of bending, contorting, or refashioning what is into something that could be. This framing of creativity makes what has long been considered something reserved for the few something far more democratized for the many—for all of us. We may not all be able to conceive of brilliant taglines like Dan Wieden, per se, but we can all certainly subvert. In fact, we all do it, every day, unknowingly.
Subversion is merely the act of looking at something in a different way, usurping the orthodox frames by which we see a problem or situation. We all have the ability to subvert because we all bring new perspectives to the table in our organizations. We all see the world differently, and the heterogeneity of our diverse perspectives create a plethora of potential subversions that could lead to innovative solutions, new products, or new ways of work. The challenge isn’t our ability to subvert, it’s that our organizations don’t recognize this ability in its employees.
Chavetta argues that the key to facilitating a culture of creativity is to realize that everyone in the organization can be creative—because everyone can subvert. Not just the creative directors. Not just the marketing team. But everyone. The guy in finance, Chavetta illustrates as an example, might see something that the copywriter does not, or might bring a point of view that may have otherwise been missed by the “creative team” which subverts the pre-existing way by which everyone else saw the situation. This new framing might reveal blind spots or unearth unrealized opportunities for the organization that lead to new outcomes—a boon to any organization’s business, regardless of the industry. And if that be the case, then it’s the job of the organization’s leadership to facilitate an environment that invites everyone to realize this super power that lies within us and inspire them to share it freely.
Ideas come from anywhere
In the advertising industry, where I’ve spent the lion’s share of my career, there is a ubiquitous refrain: ideas can come from anywhere—from the CEO to the janitor. Although these words are repeated in the halls and pitch decks of just about every creative agency on the planet, rarely are they ever truly practiced. Instead, there is a walled-off garden where creativity dwells. In advertising, we call it the “creative department.” It might go by another name somewhere else. Whatever the nomenclature, the designation of “creativity” is relegated to a specific group of people which insinuates that creativity is only capable of and expected from a few.
But what if we thought of creativity as something we all harness within us and creation as something achieved through craft? This small, but powerful, shift in thinking could not only welcome new perspectives that lead to new outcomes but also institutionalize an operating system inside the organization where everyone feels licensed to contribute—thus, facilitating a culture of creativity.
Check our full conversation with Alejandro Chavetta as we discuss creative work and organizations on the latest episode of FROM THE CULTURE podcast.
At one point in my life, I managed a team of seven. My days consisted of 1:1 calls, performance reviews, and running interference between the team, other departments, and customers.
I thought that’s what I wanted: the perceived power and responsibility of being a manager. But in reality, it was very stressful.
Today, I have been a solopreneur for three years. The assumption is that solo businesses are a starting point. You launch alone, build momentum, hire employees, and scale. That’s the entrepreneur’s playbook, right?
But over 80% of small businesses in the U.S. have no employees, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration. For many of us, that’s not a limitation. Staying solo is a deliberate strategy that prioritizes control and flexibility over growth for growth’s sake.
Small is a strategy, not a stepping stone
The “grow or die” mentality makes sense for companies that have dreams of becoming large, enterprise organizations. And some small businesses may have that dream.
The cultural assumption is that a solo business is Phase One: something to outgrow. But many solopreneurs are choosing to stay small permanently.
Hiring employees fundamentally changes what you do every day. You stop being a practitioner and become a manager. Some people want that transition. Many don’t — and recognizing that isn’t a failure of ambition. It’s simply prioritizing a different way of working.
Revenue isn’t profit
A report by Gusto found that 77% of solopreneurs are profitable in their first year, compared to just 54% of businesses with employees. And 93% of solopreneurs expect to be profitable in 2025, versus 80% of employer businesses.
A company earning a million dollars per year sounds impressive until you subtract salaries, benefits, payroll taxes, equipment, and the overhead required to keep it all running. The owner of that business may take home less than a solopreneur earning a third of that revenue with almost no overhead.
When you stay solo, you can increase your effective rate by being selective. You might take on fewer, better-paying clients instead of chasing volume. In the end, revenue is a vanity metric if you’re working more hours for less take-home pay.
You don’t need permission to reinvent yourself
Staying solo means retaining total control over your business and your life. When you have employees, every pivot requires buy-in, transition planning, and often difficult conversations. You can’t just decide to raise your rates, shift your niche, or take a three-month sabbatical.
In the several years I’ve worked for myself, I’ve gone through several iterations of “Who am I? What do I do? What clients should I serve?”
I can change my entire service offering without consulting anyone. I can walk away from a client who isn’t working out without worrying about how it affects someone else’s paycheck. That flexibility is especially valuable in an uncertain economy because I can respond to market changes in days, not months.
The question solopreneurs should ask themselves isn’t necessarily, “How can I grow and scale?” It’s “What kind of business do I actually want to run?”
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Picture a jazz quartet mid-performance. The bassist anchors the rhythm with meticulous precision—years of practice evident in every note. The saxophonist, meanwhile, closes her eyes and ventures into uncharted melodic territory, responding to something she heard in the drummer’s improvised fill three bars ago. What you’re witnessing isn’t chaos, nor is it rigid execution. It’s something far more valuable: the dynamic interplay between discipline and imagination that produces work no one has ever heard before.
This is exactly the capability that distinguishes organizations that merely survive disruption from those that shape it.
In an era defined by the rapid-fire shifts of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the ubiquity of artificial intelligence, many organizations find themselves chasing the “prize” of innovation without understanding the engine that drives it: creativity. Too often, leaders mistake innovation for a purely technical or systemic process, forgetting that it is actually a human competency rooted in a dynamic tension between two seemingly opposite forces. This is where the “WonderRigor” method becomes a vital strategic tool for the modern professional.
What is “WonderRigor”?
The WonderRigor method is the ability to toggle between wonder and rigor to solve problems and deliver novel value. Rather than treating these concepts as opposites—the dreamer versus the doer—it recognizes them as a “chaordic” system: a blend of chaos and order that mirrors how creativity actually works in the real world.
Wonder is our capacity to exercise awe, to pause, and to ask audacious “blue-sky” questions like “What if?” It requires what the Italians call il dolce far niente—the sweetness of doing nothing—to allow assumptions to suspend and ideas to marinate. Wonder is the CEO who, instead of immediately optimizing the quarterly report, asks her team: “What problem would our customers pay us to solve that we haven’t even imagined yet?”
Rigor is our capacity for discipline, deep skill, and time on task for mastery. It’s the backstage machinations—the hard, sweaty work that anchors the wonder and ensures a project actually reaches completion. Rigor is the product designer who spends six months testing prototypes, the financial analyst who builds 17 iterations of a model before presenting to the board, the writer who revises the same paragraph until it finally sings.
Here’s the insight that changes everything: Rigor cannot be sustained without wonder, and wonder is often found in the midst of rigor. The designer who tests those 17 prototypes isn’t just grinding—she’s paying close enough attention to notice the unexpected behavior in prototype 12 that sparks a breakthrough. The analyst who rebuilds his model is cultivating the pattern recognition that allows him to see opportunity where others see noise.
By intentionally toggling between these two states, individuals and teams can increase their creativity quotient (CQ) and navigate the complex, “wicked” problems that lack linear solutions—which is to say, nearly every problem worth solving today.
The 4 Situational Modalities: Which problem-solving “persona” does this moment require?
Theory is useful, but leaders need tools. The WonderRigor method provides four situational modalities—or “personas”—that help teams determine how to approach a specific challenge. These are not fixed traits or personality types. They’re lenses to try on, depending on the needs of the moment, the way you might switch between different pairs of glasses, depending on whether you’re reading a contract or scanning a horizon.
1. Specialize: When precision is the priority
The Specialize modality is high on rigor, lower on wonder. You choose it when the situation demands deep expertise, proven methods, and meticulous attention to detail.
When to use it: You’re a surgical team performing a complex procedure. You’re an accounting firm closing the books on a major audit. You’re a manufacturing team where a 0.01% defect rate has real consequences. In these contexts, creativity lives in the micro-refinements, the accumulated wisdom of repetitive practice, the ability to execute flawlessly under pressure.
The risk: Specialization becomes dangerous when it’s the only mode you inhabit. The specialist who never lifts her head develops blind spots. She may be so focused on optimizing existing processes that she misses the industry shift that makes those processes obsolete.
In practice: A global logistics company had spent years perfecting its warehouse operations. Its specialists could move products with stunning efficiency—and they were completely blindsided when a competitor introduced drone delivery. They had specialized themselves into strategic irrelevance. The solution wasn’t to abandon specialization, but to create deliberate moments where specialists stepped out of their expertise to explore adjacent possibilities.
2. Hack: When speed trumps perfection
The Hack modality prioritizes expediency over polish. You’re working with what you have, moving fast, and tolerating imperfection in the service of momentum.
When to use it: Your startup needs a minimum viable product by next week. Your team faces an unexpected crisis that requires immediate work-arounds. The market window is closing, and “good enough” today beats “perfect” in six months.
The risk: Hack mode can become an addiction. Teams that never leave it accumulate technical debt, cut corners that eventually collapse, and mistake activity for achievement. The quick fix becomes the permanent solution, which becomes the source of next year’s crisis.
In practice: During the early days of the COVID pandemic, restaurants had 48 hours to pivot to takeout-only models. This was hack mode at its best: owners repurposing parking lots, creating menu items that traveled well, cobbling together delivery partnerships. The restaurants that thrived, however, were those who eventually transitioned out of hack mode—who took what they learned during the scramble and systematized it through specialization, or reimagined it entirely through invention.
3. Provoke: When you need to blow up the status quo
The Provoke modality sits high on wonder, lower on rigor. It’s characterized by audacious, imaginative thinking that shakes others out of their assumptions.
When to use it: The team is stuck in groupthink. Everyone is optimizing a business model that may not deserve to exist. The organization has been asking the same questions for so long that no one notices they’re the wrong questions.
The risk: Without rigor to ground it, provocation becomes “loosey-goosey”—exciting conversations that never translate into action. The perpetual provocateur can damage his credibility if he’s always seen as someone who loves to challenge but never builds.
In practice: When streaming was still a radical concept, the provocateurs inside Netflix asked: “What if we put ourselves out of business before someone else does?” That question—which seemed absurd to a company making billions from DVD rentals—created the space for transformation. But the provocation only mattered because Netflix also had the rigor to execute on what the question revealed.
4. Invent: The synthesis that creates new markets
The Invent modality is where wonder and rigor achieve balance. It’s the space of the true thought leader, the market creator, the person who shapes categories rather than competing within them.
When to use it: You’re not solving an existing problem—you’re defining a new one. You’re creating a product that customers don’t yet know they need. You’re building something that will make your current offerings obsolete.
The requirement: Invention demands that you’ve spent equal time “in the trenches,” working out kinks, and “in the clouds,” dreaming audaciously. You cannot skip directly to this modality. The inventor has done the reps; she has the intuition that only comes from deep practice combined with broad curiosity.
In practice: When Apple introduced the iPhone, the company wasn’t improving existing phones—it was inventing a new category. But that invention was only possible because Apple had spent years both specializing (obsessive attention to industrial design, user interface) and provoking (asking what a “computer in your pocket” really meant). The iPhone felt “right” because it balanced high expertise with sharp intuition—the hallmark of the Invent modality.
Putting it together: The art of situational toggle
The power of WonderRigor lies not in finding the “right” modality and staying there, but in developing the situational awareness to know which lens the current moment requires—and the agility to shift when circumstances change.
Consider a product development team working on a major launch. In the early ideation phase, the team members might operate primarily in Provoke mode: challenging assumptions, asking heretical questions, exploring possibilities that seem impractical. As concepts solidify, they shift toward Hack mode: quickly prototyping, testing rough versions, building momentum through iteration. As the launch approaches, Specialize mode takes over: refining details, ensuring quality, executing with precision. And throughout the process, the best teams maintain awareness of when they might be ready for an Invention—a leap that transcends iteration.
The trap that most organizations fall into is getting stuck. They specialize forever, never questioning their approach until disruption forces them to. They hack indefinitely, accumulating shortcuts that eventually collapse. They provoke without building, mistaking critique for contribution. Or they attempt invention without earning it—trying to leapfrog into thought leadership without the rigor foundation that makes real invention possible.
Think like a jazz musician
Let’s return to that jazz quartet. What makes their performance compelling isn’t just the technical skill (though they have it) or the bold improvisation (though they do that, too). It’s the toggling—the bassist who knows when to lock into a steady groove and when to take a melodic risk, the saxophonist who has practiced scales for thousands of hours precisely so she can forget them in the moment of creation.
This is what WonderRigor offers the modern professional: not a rigid framework, but a practiced flexibility. The ability to move between discipline and imagination, between execution and exploration, between the known and the possible. In a business landscape where yesterday’s expertise can become tomorrow’s liability, this capacity to toggle isn’t a nice-to-have—it’s the fundamental skill that separates those who shape the future from those who merely react to it.
The next time you face a complex challenge, don’t ask: “What’s the solution?” First ask: “Which modality does this moment require?” Then be prepared to shift as the music changes.
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