What model of opportunity was this venture following and what was creative and innovative about their actions? 2. What would define the creativity in this case as lateral thinking? 3. What arenas of creativity are exhibited in this case? 4. Is this case creative or just plain deceptive? Justify your answer and discuss any ethical dilemma.
Serial Entrepreneur, author and founder of the Entreprenaissance Movement, Creel Price,
recounts a time when creativity was needed to fake it to make it. Within months of opening our
marketing business, yet without a client, we secured the opportunity to pitch to one of the major
Australian banks. After a well-received presentation in their office, they indicated we could have their
business but first they wanted to check out our operation. We had 18 hours to miraculously convert our
exhausted, disheveled office into something that could even remotely back up our loose-lipped
assertion of ‘state of the art’. We needed a makeover. . .fast!
A plan that has since been dubbed ‘Operation Hollywood Set’ was swung into action. We
couldn’t pass up the opportunity for our two-bit company to achieve a major bank as a client, so we
decided to roll the dice and spend every last remaining dollar to hire all the furniture and technology we
needed to look huge. We’d either get rich, or go broke. Delegating the tasks, we sent someone to buy
second-hand computer monitors for all the desks. This way we’d at least look like we had a technology-
enabled business, albeit we hoped they wouldn’t notice there were no hard drives attached.
Someone else started hiring enough temporary staff to create the buzzing atmosphere of a
thriving business. Next, we had to make the place look less drab and dingy. Someone was assigned to
hire plants and paintings to take the bank team’s eyes away from the holes in the carpet and the tangle
of cables dangling down everywhere. Our masterstroke was commandeering the vacant office next door
and turning it into ‘our boardroom’. A huge, shiny new mahogany-colored table and plush black leather
chairs were ordered for the day and my grandfather’s battered old dining table was relegated to the
scrap heap.
The next day, our adrenalin levels were off the charts. You could smell the electric excitement in
the air. Van after van after van arrived to deliver our props and we felt like the directors of a blockbuster
movie about to start filming. With our set ready and our extras in place, all we needed now were the
stars – our prospective client team. Welcoming them into our ‘call centre’, the illusion looked perfect.
And with the confidence it gave us, we secured the deal. It took us a few years to fess up to our client
that we had conducted ‘Operation Hollywood Set’ in their honor. He responded without surprise: ‘I
figured as much because the next time I turned up to your office the cool furniture had disappeared!’
Yet, putting our best foot forward had worked for both of us. We helped our client build a significant
client segment over a decade and they morphed into a twenty-million-dollar-a-year client for us.
In business, it’s times like these – when you back yourself and gamble everything on one roll of
the dice – that become your fondest memories. Yes, we used a hell of a lot of front to win a client, but
we had complete confidence in our ability to deliver a fantastic job providing they didn’t judge us merely
on our looks. Now with more grey hair than youthful enthusiasm, I think the key to ‘faking it until you
make it’ is much more than staying within the lines of the law. There is a moral code in business that
must be obeyed so that you can build a brand and culture that has lasting integrity. For me, the key is to
satisfy the self-mirror test. If you are confronted with an opportunity to express some overzealous front,
first look yourself in the mirror and only proceed if you can be sure that you will have respect for the
person who looks back at you now, as well as in the future.
1. What model of opportunity was this venture following and what was creative and innovative
about their actions?
2. What would define the creativity in this case as lateral thinking?
3. What arenas of creativity are exhibited in this case?
4. Is this case creative or just plain deceptive? Justify your answer and discuss any ethical dilemma.
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