Getting Intimate with Creativity

I happened upon a television program today called Power Networking: How the Biz does Business. It was sponsored by American Express Open, its small business division, and featured Hollywood producers Nancy Meyers, Lawrence Bender and Sydney Pollack talking about the importance of collaboration in getting movies made. Pollack observed that creativity is ultimately an act of intimacy and it's a lot easier to be intimate with people you know. Meyers agreed saying "It's a great relief to work with people you know." Great insight about the benefits of working with people who trust each other enough to be open and honest in the pursuit of excellence. This is the richest kind of collaboration that comes from winning and losing together and building an understanding of how to get the best out of each other. My question for you is can this kind of creative intimacy be trained or mandated? Or can it only happen by working closely together and gaining trust over time?


In another telling remark, Pollack said "if everybody had unlimited resources, I promise you the films would be worse." His point, of course, was that working on a tight budget gets everyone thinking creatively to solve problems and get things done.



I'll just bet you've got a great story about this.