The biggest myth about creativity is that it belongs to the lone genius. In this solo episode, keynote speaker and author James Taylor dismantles the centuries-old idea that creativity is reserved for solitary visionaries and artistic prodigies. Tracing the origins of the "lone genius" narrative back to Renaissance-era storytelling, James reveals how collaboration, not individual brilliance, has always driven breakthrough ideas.

Drawing on examples from art history, modern business, and his own experience working behind the scenes with world-class performers, James explains why creativity is a learnable skill rather than an innate talent. He explores why so many people today underestimate their creative ability, how automation is reshaping the value of human creativity, and what leaders, professionals, and teams must do to thrive in the age of artificial intelligence.

This episode is a practical call to action for anyone who wants to stop waiting for inspiration and start building creativity through collaboration, methodology, and deliberate practice.

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• The idea of the "lone creative genius" is largely a historical fiction, not a biological truth

• Many iconic creative achievements were produced by teams, not individuals working in isolation

• Believing creativity is reserved for a few creates a widespread creativity confidence crisis

• Creativity is not about being artistic but about solving problems and reframing challenges

• As automation increases, creativity becomes a core human competitive advantage

• Creativity works like a muscle and can be developed, refined, and scaled over time

• Breakthrough ideas often emerge from friction, diverse perspectives, and honest feedback

• The future belongs to those who collaborate effectively with both humans and machines

• "The biggest lie you've ever been told about creativity is that it belongs to the lone genius."

• "Creativity isn't about being the smartest person in the room. It's about making the room smarter."

• "Creativity is a team sport. It lives in the messy middle of collaboration."

• "Creativity is not a fixed trait. It's a muscle you can train."

• "Friction is often where the breakthrough lives."

• "In the age of automation, creativity is our most distinctly human advantage."

00:00 – The myth of the lone creative genius
01:10 – Renaissance storytelling and the origins of the genius narrative
02:20 – Michelangelo, teams, and the reality behind iconic art
03:35 – Why believing this myth creates a creativity crisis
05:00 – Why creativity is not about being artistic
06:15 – Automation, AI, and the rising value of human creativity
07:30 – Lessons from working backstage with world-class performers
09:10 – Why creativity is a team sport, not an individual act
10:40 – Building a "brain trust" instead of hunting for geniuses
12:10 – Creativity as a learnable, trainable skill
13:30 – A practical challenge to unlock better ideas through collaboration
15:10 – The SuperCreative age: humans plus humans, humans plus machines
16:20 – Invitation to go deeper with SuperCreativity

Buy the SuperCreativity Book at https://geni.us/QiDBu

In this solo episode, James Taylor breaks down the core idea behind his new book SuperCreativity – Accelerating Innovation in the Age of AI. He explains why the common framing of humans versus machines is outdated, and how the real competitive advantage now comes from intentional collaboration with both people and intelligent systems. Drawing on eight years of global research and work with organisations across industries, James introduces the three types of modern creativity and reveals why AI doesn't kill creativity, it exposes unpractised creativity. This episode offers a clear, practical, and optimistic explanation of what it really means to be a SuperCreative in an AI-augmented world.

• The "humans versus machines" narrative is false and dangerous. The real opportunity lies in combining human imagination with machine intelligence.

• AI doesn't replace creativity; it replaces unexamined creativity. If your value comes from judgment, imagination, curiosity, and the ability to connect ideas, AI amplifies you.

• SuperCreativity is intentional collaboration. It's the ability to enhance your creativity by working with other people and with intelligent systems.

• The three types of modern creativity:

• 1. Human creativity

  2. Human plus human creativity

  3. Human plus machine creativity

• Most organisations underinvest in human+machine creativity. Designing for this third mode is where the strategic advantage lies.

• The future belongs to orchestrators. Those who can blend people, processes, and AI will lead innovation.

• One question to start with: How can you use AI to make you more creative and more human, not less?

• "When people talk about creativity and AI, why does it always sound like a fight?"
  
  

• "SuperCreativity is not about humans versus machines. It's about humans plus machines."
  

• "AI doesn't replace creativity. It replaces unexamined, unintentional, and unpractised creativity."
  
  

• "The people who thrive are the ones who know how to collaborate creatively across disciplines and increasingly with machines."
  

• "The future belongs to those who can orchestrate creativity across people and technology."
  
  

• "Creativity in the age of AI is not a competition. It is a collaboration."
  
  

00:00 – Why the creativity and AI conversation is wrongly framed as a battle.
00:38 – What James observed over eight years working with organisations worldwide.
01:12 – The birth of the concept of SuperCreativity.
01:27 – What SuperCreativity actually means.
02:06 – Why AI changes what's possible without replacing human imagination.
02:24 – The uncomfortable truth about what AI really replaces.
03:05 – The three types of modern creativity.
03:58 – Why most companies are stuck in the first two, and the opportunity in the third.
04:20 – What SuperCreativity demands from leaders and teams.
04:48 – The single takeaway James wants listeners to remember.
05:05 – A closing question to begin your own SuperCreativity journey.

Buy your copy of 'SuperCreativity - Accelerating Innovation in the Age of Artificial Intelligence' at https://www.jamestaylor.me/supercreativity/

In this episode of the SuperCreativity Podcast, James Taylor speaks with Jonathan Brill, futurist in residence at Amazon, inventor, strategist, and one of the world's top-ranked futurists according to Forbes. Jonathan is the co-author of AI and the Octopus Organization, a provocative new book arguing that most AI initiatives fail because they are deployed into broken organisational systems.

Rather than fixing dysfunction, AI often amplifies it. Jonathan explains why traditional, top-down organisations struggle in a world of accelerating change, and why the future belongs to adaptive, decentralised, biologically inspired organisations modelled on the octopus. Drawing on examples from Amazon, HP, the US Navy, and high-growth AI startups, he shows how distributed intelligence, fast feedback loops, and cultural redesign are essential for building truly super-intelligent firms.

This conversation is essential listening for leaders, executives, and innovators who want to move beyond AI pilots and build organisations that can sense, learn, and adapt at speed.

• AI is an X-ray for culture: it exposes dysfunction more than it fixes it.

• Most organisations are built for a 19th-century world of command and control, not today's ambiguity.

• The octopus is a model for modern organisations: distributed intelligence, local autonomy, and bottom-up coordination.

• Operational innovation beats strategic prediction: change how you work, not who you are.

• Junior employees with AI are radically more capable and need greater agency, not tighter control.

• The next decade will favour diamond-shaped organisations, with a strong middle layer focused on sense-making and coordination.

"Most companies are deploying AI into dysfunctional systems. All AI does is make those dysfunctions faster."

"The octopus doesn't change its DNA. It changes its operating system. That's the lesson for organisations."

"AI reveals your culture more than it changes it. If you don't redesign the organisation, the pilots will fail."

"We now have an army of Einsteins inside organisations, and we're still treating them like they need to be told what to do."

"The future of leadership is not control. It's coordination."

• 00:00 – Introduction to Jonathan Brill and AI and the Octopus Organization

• 01:20 – Why the octopus is the right metaphor for AI-era organisations

• 03:30 – Distributed intelligence vs command-and-control leadership

• 05:40 – Biomimicry, ecosystems, and learning from nature

• 07:55 – How AI collapses coordination and transaction costs

• 09:16 – Jonathan's personal story and early influences on systems thinking

• 11:25 – Efficiency vs reinvention in AI adoption

• 12:23 – Why organisations must change their "RNA," not their DNA

• 14:40 – HP vs Xerox during COVID: a case study in operational resilience

• 17:04 – AI as an X-ray for organisational culture

• 18:26 – Why 95% of AI pilots fail

• 20:25 – Lovable, the US Navy, and radically different organisational models

• 22:31 – Will AI flatten or expand middle management?

• 25:44 – Human development, leadership maturity, and decision-making

• 27:55 – Fast feedback loops over grand strategies

• 28:23 – One bold experiment leaders should run in the next 90 days

• 29:57 – Book recommendation: Scale by Geoffrey West

• 30:44 – Where to find Jonathan Brill and his work

• 31:03 – Closing reflections

• Book: AI and the Octopus Organization by Jonathan Brill & Steven Wunke

• Website: https://www.jonathanbrill.com

• Recommended Read: Scale by Geoffrey West