“It’s not where you take things from, it’s where you take them to.”

This Jean-Luc Godard quote may well be one of the best and most honest explanations of creativity that I’ve ever heard.

As I explore ‘creativity’, what it really means, where it comes from, where it can take us, and how to harness it, through my work as a creative coach and author, I’m starting to realise that absolutely everything owes something to someone else, either consciously or subconsciously. Although, the deeper I go, the more I’m leaning toward consciously.

David Bowie was even more open when asked if he considered himself an original thinker. “More like a tasteful thief. The only art I’ll ever study is stuff that I can steal from. I do think that my plagiarism is effective… The more I get ripped off, the more flattered I get. But I’ve caused a lot of discontent, because I’ve expressed my admiration for other artists by saying, ‘Yes, I’ll use that,’ or, ‘Yes, I took this from him and this from her.’ Mick Jagger, for example, is scared to walk into the same room as me even thinking any new idea. He knows I’ll snatch it.”

William S. Burroughs once declared: “All writing is in fact cut ups. A collage of words read, heard, overheard.” Hard to argue when in the writing of this article I’ve borrowed from two books and three articles for reference material.

Henry Ford was also quite happy to share the credit for his quantum creative leap. “I invented nothing new. I simply combined the inventions of others into a car.”

But here’s the crucial narrative pivot to this article delivered by Albert Einstein, no less, who said: “Creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.”

The point being that great creative thinking happily and openly steals but shows no signs of its sources and inspirations. It takes what it needs from existing ideas or observations and elevates them to such heights that the start point is no longer visible or even matters. It effectively transcends them. Then almost seems to take a mischievous pleasure in telling us what they were when we can’t guess.

And even after reading their earlier admissions of creative theft it doesn’t stop you thinking of Godard, Bowie, Burroughs or Ford as anything other than true originals, who have changed how we view the world, such is the power of their creativity.

Gangsta’s Paradise, the song that arguably changed the course of hip-hip, is no less iconic when you discover that Coolio and producer Doug Rasheed lifted the instrumentation and chorus of ‘Pastime Paradise,’ from Stevie Wonder’s best (in my opinion) album, Songs In The Key Of Life.

And this is line in the sand. The line that anyone who wants to create something brilliant and transcendent should never cross, or even consider crossing. You can’t just nick an idea, make a couple of tweaks and call it your own. Let’s be clear. That isn’t being creative. Clever, maybe, but not creative.

Picasso, one of the most prodigious plagiarists of all, adds clarity to my point. (And, yes, I know that Picasso is said to have even stolen this quote.) ‘The bad artists imitate, the great artists steal.” Creativity isn’t crossing your fingers and hoping that your thievery doesn’t get spotted as a poor copy.

I heard recently of an award-winning advertising creative team in NZ talking openly about their ‘5 years or 5000 miles’ rule. Basically, if something was created longer than 5 years ago or was created more than 5000 miles from NZ then it was fair game to be ripped off. Their argument was that what difference did it make how close their reworking was if most people didn’t know where it came from.

Fair enough if that’s the extent of their ambition. They are answering the brief and getting the job done for the client. Good for them. Looking around, it’s obvious that a few other teams are happy to take a similar approach. And given the budget and timing restraints on briefs these days it’s not that surprising. But let’s not confuse this with creativity. It’s just analogue AI. And that way of thinking is a creative race to the bottom. It won’t end well.

So, channel your inner Raffles, get thieving. Fill your creative boots. But, if you want to avoid getting caught, make sure that whatever you steal, you take the time and trouble to make it your own. And who knows, in the process you might just make something truly brilliant.