When Charles Leadbeater spoke at The Big Debate in Birmingham today about the future of creative industries resting with "renegades and pirates", I really don't think he was imagining they'd be asking anyone's permission to be creative. So - as some of you have gathered - it kinda stuck my craw a little when one of the proposed actions from the round-table discussions was that we need to "allow creativity to happen without needing a business plan".
I think it's actually the thing about "allowing" creativity to happen that got me going first. Maybe it was just a poor choice of word, but that in itself is revealing, perhaps, of the underlying culture of dependency previously discussed here and in Stef Aquarone's blog for the Birmingham Post. Having a creative idea does not require permission or any form-filling - and being a renegade or a pirate certainly doesn't. In clarifiying the point, Dave Harte referenced FizzPop as an example of a wonderful creative idea that just seemed to happen. And that's exactly my point. No-one said they were - or were not - 'allowed'. As Pete Ashton rightly said, 'JFDI'. (Look it up if you need to. Family audiences here).
But - you may say - stuff like FizzPop may not be able to continue to happen, and certainly not grow, if it has to depend solely on the goodwill and energies of those involved. Nascent ideas need support, which usually means some form of funding or investment. Does this mean a business plan? Not always. But increasingly, yes. Or at least elements of one.
Do ideas need business plans?
But what if you're a not-for-profit company? Surely no business plan required there? Ummm. Actually, yes. Not-for-profit does not equal not-generating-revenue. Screen WM is a not-for-profit. Do we have a business plan? Of course we do. Heck, Channel 4 is a not-for-profit, but one which generates revenues of around £1bn per year, based on - guess what? - a business plan!
How about cultural organisations? Surely no business plan required for grants and funding? Hate to be the one to burst that bubble, but if this is what you believe you may soon be in for a nasty shock. We're in the midst of a global recession here. Public spending is under increasing pressure - and increasing scrutiny, (today's funding awards are tomorrow's Taxpayer's Alliance FOI requests). Access to awards is going to get increasingly competitive, so you're going to need to prove your creative ideas will have a real impact....which means some form of marketing and evaluation plan. You're going to need to prove you have the resources to run the project....which means a management plan. You're going to need to prove you have the financial stability to deliver the project ... which means a cashflow forecast. And, increasingly, you're going to have to demonstrate that you are taking steps to become sustainable without the need for ongoing public funding. In short .... well, you know the rest.
Does all of this mean that "we", (ie. those who would ask for business plans and the like), are not doing our bit to help encourage innovation? Only if you think you need to ask permission to get creative.
NB: As ever, I welcome your comments but please note that they require approval before appearing here so there may be slight delays. We endeavour to approve comments promptly and will not refuse approval or edit comments without extremely good reasons for doing so.