Fletcher is a rare hybrid: trained as both a neuroscientist and a professor of literature, he teaches at Ohio State's Project Narrative, the world's leading academic center for the study of story. His previous titles - Wonderworks and Storythinking - earned him a reputation as a boundary-breaking thinker who blends science, history, and art to explain why stories matter and how they shape human creativity.
Marketers' days are still filled with content creation, switching between far too many tools and balancing software and human partnerships, but AI has now entered the chat. Marketers charged with driving growth now spend a significant amount of time prompting, training, and cajoling artificial intelligence. There have been breakthroughs and AI is starting to fulfill on the long-awaited promise of turning loyal marketers into department heroes.
While 2023 research from Visier demonstrated that 83% of workers admit to " productivity theater"-performing busy work that creates the appearance of output without meaningful results-that same year, the World Economic Forum declared creativity to be the second most critical skill for our workforce by 2027. The collision of these realities signals a fundamental shift that smart organizations can no longer ignore.
If you want the creative process to work, you must accept that it is messy. Instead of inching your way, step by step, from data to solution in a logical progression, it's best to generate a chaotic array of possibilities and test them out on the problem until something clicks. Jump to conclusions without worrying about how you cross the intervening gap.
Sam sits in his noisy apartment, surrounded by the distractions of his digital life. His research is scattered across a dozen tabs. He writes a sentence, then deletes it. Doubt creeps in: "Is this the right way to start?" Before long, he's scrolling through social media, half-heartedly checking his email, and staring at his chaotic desk-a mirror of his cluttered mind. After two hours, he has little to show for it but frustration and dread.
I'm an introvert. Actually, I'm one of those extroverted introverts. Once I force myself to get out there and talk with people, I really enjoy it. But the thought of it beforehand can be overwhelming. I also consider myself a creative person. I do a lot of wondering and mulling and some occasional stewing and brewing and dwelling. It's solitary and sometimes lonely up there inside my head.
The constraints imposed by the limited materials create a tension between predictability and variation, between system and spontaneity. Much like a cartographer's grid, these compositions are born of both discipline and play.
Cloud's Memoir is a multimedia stage installation that merges poetic narrative with environmental data systems, exploring how Earth's atmosphere is shaped by historical forces.
"Life can be a pretty rough raisin," he says, "so if I manage to distract someone from whatever they're going through or brighten up their day or remind them that it's okay to do what you like doing and have fun, even for a moment, then my job is done."
Returning to the old manuscript brings back memories of doubt and obsession, reflecting on a journey that started in advertising in pursuit of creative expression.
"We lived in the country, so there was plenty of room to run around and play. That let my imagination run free. I had lots of friends nearby, and I played with my older siblings..."
