“…creativity is the single-most important skill in the world for all business professionals today to master.”

This quote courtesy of LinkedIn and via its data. 

I understand what they are trying to say, but it’s incomplete. 

Creativity by itself is worthless in business. That’s because many organizations are filled with others who start from “no” and work backward to “yes.”

No is safe. Yes is risky. Your creative solution is risky.

So we need more than creativity. Luckily, LinkedIn didn’t leave us hanging. They mention the other four top “soft” skills. 

(BTW, can we drop the “soft” and “hard” skills qualifiers already? They are just skills. And they are skills that will earn you just as much in the #newwork economy.)

Here are the other four skills from LinkedIn: persuasion, collaboration, adaptability, and emotional intelligence.

Ah, now we are on to something. Notice how each of these skills complements the others. Each skill is good on its own, but you command power when you combine them.

You come up with a creative solution after collaborating with your team and you can also persuade others who are higher up the food chain to accept that solution? Now that’s magic.