Leading creativity – Finland’s lifeline for the future

If we want to survive, we must learn not just to live efficiently, but creatively.

Creativity is not an abstract idea; it’s the essence of being human: the ability to imagine and create a reality that does not yet exist. My background as an artist, entrepreneur, and coach has taught me what courage, uncertainty, and renewal truly mean.

Projects such as Hairy Underwear, Monokini 2.0, and Social Portrait – Women Only have all been acts of bringing something entirely new into existence. They have shown that creativity does not belong solely to art; it’s a force that can transform culture, thinking, and society.

Creativity is not just about ideas or inspiration. It is the ability to stand in front of the unknown, to move without a map, and to trust that the direction will reveal itself along the way. Above all, it is the courage to experiment, fail, and begin again, to dare to do things differently even when success is not guaranteed.

For companies, this is not a metaphor; it’s a condition for survival. In a world where change is constant, only organizations that dare to think and act creatively will remain vital.

Creativity is an organization’s lifeblood: its breath, its pulse, its capacity to renew itself. Without creativity, there are no innovations. Without innovation, there is no growth. And without growth, there are no jobs, no wellbeing, and no future.

Leadership defines whether creativity flourishes or fades. You cannot lead creativity by commanding or controlling, but you can enable it. It begins with creating psychological safety: a culture where questions are more valuable than answers and where failed experiments are not punished but learned from.

A leader’s task is becoming less about control and more about inspiring, encouraging, and trusting. A creativity-driven leader understands that uncertainty is not the enemy, but the space where growth happens. And when leadership becomes more permissive toward creativity, organizations begin to breathe, react, and evolve more sensitively than ever before.

Finland has built its success on education, expertise, and technology. But the competitive advantage of the future will no longer come from efficiency; it will come from the courage to think differently.

Future competitiveness will emerge from organizations that lead creativity as systematically as they lead strategy or finance. We must build workplaces where mistakes are part of learning and where people can use their full human capacity, not just the part that fits inside an Excel sheet.

If we cling to a culture of certainty, we risk losing what once made Finland unique: the ability to create what has never existed before.

Leading creativity is not a “soft” value – it’s a strategic choice. Companies can begin with three steps:

1. Build a culture of experimentation. Create an environment where failure is part of learning.
2. Lead creativity like strategy. Make visible where creativity is needed and how it’s measured.
3. Connect people and ideas. Creativity happens at the intersections — foster collaboration across teams and disciplines.

At Miltton, we help organizations lead creativity strategically: to build cultures where people and ideas thrive, and where courage becomes part of everyday life.