What do Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People of 2009 have in common?

06 Jul What do Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People of 2009 have in common?

Customers are a reoccurring theme among the world’s most creative people. Those who have made the list seem like they knew what to do to make customers happy. However, they merely listened to the customers and gave them what they wanted.

Once these key features of a product or service were identified, they were used to their full potential. For example, how many times a day do you hear about the Disney super-hits such as Hannah Montana, High School Musical, or the Cheetah Girls? Rich Ross found his key to success after he realized how untapped the market of young girls was. Catchy songs and friendly faces were all he needed to create some of the biggest franchises today. He took these things and expanded them from television shows to music, movies, and even books. In other words, if it’s not broken, don´t fix it.

Dave Morin has taken Facebook, an idea which was golden from the start, and applied it to everything possible. Nearly every website that you visit will have Facebook related media somewhere on the page. Expansion like this keeps old ideas seeming new and fresh. One of the common principles on this list is the combination of simplicity and daring ideas.

Jonathan Ive is the head of design for Apple. One of his biggest accreditations so far has been the iMac. It came in a time when Apple was just recovering from near death, and it was a very innovative idea. A brightly colored computer whose inner parts were visible was something revolutionary. Its sleek design combined with the simplicity of Apple´s operating system made this computer the highest selling of its time.

Another example is Jil Sander , a German minimalist fashion designer. Her aliases include Queen of Less, Master of Minimalism, and Fashion Reductionist. She created a new look for professional women, but kept it simple, and has proven herself to be an integral part of the fashion world because of it.

Often times, what has propelled peoples careers to the point where they appear on this list, is the realization of applying their talents to other fields.

Pharrell Williams started as a drummer. He then started making beats, and became a producer for huge acts such as Britney Spears and Madonna. This led him to create his own group, N.E.R.D. But he wasn’t done yet. He then created his own clothing line. Most recently he co-created Limelight, a recreation of Fame.

Ed Leonard was originally a flight simulation software designer. He now works for Dreamworks on movies such as Shrek, Kung Fu Panda, and Monsters vs. Aliens. On his latest project he created a whole new way to make movies by designing a way to make 3-D movies, by programming the left and right eyes separately. His beginnings with flight simulation took a surprising turn when he went to Dreamworks, but clearly his array of abilities helped to propel him. Both Leonard and Williams took very unexpected career paths. The fact that they kept learning and applied their previous experience allowed them to excel and create new things that no one else could have done.

Another great example of this is number 100 on the list, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson . Although he has a PhD in Computer Science from UCLA, he used those skills to become one of the world´s best poker players, and to win the first tournament prize of over $1 Million. However, he knew he had room to grow, and used his knowledge of poker and computers to create Full Tilt Poker, one of the largest online poker sites today.

If there was one underlying factor with all of the members of Fast Company´s 100 Most Creative People of 2009 , it would be their ability to change. Many people have unique skills and new ideas, and the ability to adapt to new trends. However, the best of the best are those who create the new trends, the leaders in change.