The ROI of Creativity: Rick Rubin’s Leadership Lessons for Innovators and Teams
“The goal is not to have ideas. The goal is to allow the ideas to have you.” – Rick Rubin
I have been reflecting on a comment from a growth marketing team member that didn’t want certain execs to attend a brainstorming session to solve a key problem in accelerating our growth for the business. This person felt that the rest of our team would be too intimidated and excitable by who attended. This was such a missed opportunity to “bring others along with the team”. Were we more worried about who was “in the room” than focusing on the problem to solve? I have taken this feedback to heart and thought about our role in driving creative problem solving to build momentum for our business.
This conversation took place while I was reading The Creative Act by Rick Rubin. I didn’t expect a music producer to reshape the way I think about leadership in marketing. But Rick Rubin did and I wanted to dig deeper into how he created the most value for the artists he has worked with. By the way, Rick is not without great controversy for his musical tastes and cross genre impact. We’ll keep our focus on his book The Creative Act compiled over 8 years of written musings and thoughts. Look at his recorded legacy!
I picked up The Creative Act looking for inspiration—and found a blueprint for team leaders how to build more intentional, high-output teams who can get to the “problem to solve” even more quickly. Rubin doesn’t talk about KPIs, strategy decks, or performance reviews. He talks about Presence. Process. Stripping things back until only truth remains. It’s as close to a Buddhist field manual for creators as I’ve ever seen—and it turns out, that’s exactly what modern business leaders often need to avoid talking to our own mirrors and being tone deaf to the consumer/people who purchase our products and services.
Because the truth is, teams are simply overwhelmed. We’re drowning trying to react to Google Chat messages, too many OKRs without alignment, and way too much noise in the org. We’re checking boxes instead of tuning in to clear insights and expectations. We’re measuring short term output, but not creating value. Rubin offers something better: a path to clarity, to essence, to real creativity that drives results. Not everything Rubin has produced were jaw dropping financial successes. What I noticed in this book was his keen ability to focus on the individual artist’s potential. He’s finding their story and helping them tell it. In business we search for a number, a metric, a result and see what story that number tells for our business. It’s our job as leaders to help give the teams the space they need to be more swift, more efficient and stick to focusing on the key levers that drive the business AND there’s room to be innovative, thought provoking and bring forth the brand’s emotions to more authentically engage with people aka customers, but they’re people first.
That path isn’t just about art—it’s still about ROI. More than only the data on a page or a dashboard glance. Brands need to first immerse themselves in the market or community, take notes, gather insights and behaviors then build back to potential solutions or innovative tools to model against.
As someone who’s led account, creative, marketing, analytics, category management and sales teams across CPG, renewable energy, and nonprofit sectors, I’ve seen firsthand what happens when we confuse productivity with busyness. Rubin’s work helped me see that it’s not about doing more. It’s about doing the right things with attention, courage, and conviction.
So I translated his principles into a business-focused model—something I call the C.R.E.A.T.I.V.E. ROI Framework. Disclaimer - I was inspired by former training on the Creative Effectiveness Ladder and conversations promoted out of Cannes Lions. I pulled together this framework from these sources. It’s designed to help teams unlock focus, drive innovation, and reignite purpose. Whether you’re leading a Fortune 35 brand, building a better-for-you startup, or running a nonprofit with limited time and tighter budgets, this framework is about working smarter, deeper, and with more human resonance to get to that measurable ROI more quickly.
Because the real power move in today’s chaotic business world?
It’s not scaling faster.
It’s learning how to create with intention.
“Being an artist is not about your specific output, it's about your relationship to the world.” – Rick Rubin, The Creative Act
The C.R.E.A.T.I.V.E. ROI Framework
This framework isn’t about creativity for creativity’s sake. It’s a tool for leaders—especially those juggling growth targets, team burnout, and an ever-cluttered strategy deck that has frameworks upon frameworks upon frameworks.
Each letter reframes a principle from The Creative Act as a leadership practice that directly drives clarity, engagement, and ROI. Think of this like your creative operating system—designed to help you build more focused, resilient, and resonant teams.
C — Clarity
“Art starts before there is material to work with.” – Rick Rubin
Before the brief. Before the brainstorm. Clarity starts in stillness.
✅ How to apply:
Host a “Start.Stop.Continue.” exercise with your team: what can we eliminate or defer? You’ll find what’s wasting their time, but were afraid to ask for change. Help clear their minds to focus looking forward!
Start strategy sessions with a few minutes of silence. Yes—actual silence.
Ask: What are we solving for, not just with?
R — Receptivity
“The artist’s job is to notice.”
✅ How to apply:
Challenge “I already know” energy with “what am I missing?” energy.
Invite observation: walk the floor, listen to a sales call, sit in CX. Observe.
Ask: What patterns are trying to speak to me? Does it line up with the data story?
E — Essence
“Reduce everything to its essence. Leave in only what is essential.”
✅ How to apply:
Before launching: can you say your strategy in one sentence?
Ask: What is the beating heart of this project—and what’s just noise? (Noise is often full of anxiety of being wrong. Look to test, solve and move on making decisions.)
A — Authenticity
“The work reveals who we are.”
✅ How to apply:
Ditch the jargon. Speak in real language. Be real with one another.
Let your team see why something matters to you—not just what. Model the strategic behavior.
Ask: Where am I signaling performance instead of authenticity?
T — Trust in Process
“Trying too hard makes it worse. Let go of outcome.”
✅ How to apply:
Timebox space for iteration before reviews or exec pressure kicks in.
Feel confident you’re going to learn at least something to better inform decisions and strategies going forward
Ask: What would change if I trusted the process one step more?
I — Iteration
“Perfection is the enemy of art.”
✅ How to apply:
Use the phrase “just for version one” or “MVP” in every kickoff.
Ship something before it’s ready, and let the audience co-create. Hmmm, this requires a lot of detailed attention and assigned ownership on the team to check performance daily if not hourly.
V — Vision Curation
“The artist is not the star. The artist is the space through which the star emerges.”
✅ How to apply:
Think like a producer: Who needs spotlight? What needs to be cut?
Ask: What’s the energy in the room—and how am I shaping it?
E — Energy Management
“Protect the sacred space.”
✅ How to apply:
Create “sacred time” in the calendar (no meetings, full flow). Get out of the office.
Don’t just budget dollars—budget for even more valuable attention.
Case Studies in Creative ROI
Johnny Cash — ROI of Radical Simplicity & Essence
Rubin stripped everything back to a man, a mic, and a guitar—resurrecting a legacy with American Recordings.
✅ Business Lesson: Simplify to amplify. When we remove overproduction, we unlock trust.
Adele — ROI of Emotional Authenticity & Energy Management
Rubin helped Adele create 21 by guiding her toward emotional truth—not chart formulas.
✅ Business Lesson: Emotion isn't a liability—it’s a differentiator.
Run-D.M.C. & Aerosmith — ROI of Vision Curation & Cultural Receptivity
Rubin produced a genre-busting moment by connecting two worlds. The result? A crossover classic.
✅ Business Lesson: Innovation often means recognizing the opportunity to combine, not just invent.
Action Steps to Lead Like a Creative Producer - Results? Work That Delivers ROI and You Are Proud Of
Clarity: Host a team “noise audit” and ask: What’s distracting us from our real goals?
Receptivity: Sit in on a call or meeting you usually skip. Ask: What am I not noticing?
Essence: Ask your team to describe a project in one sentence.
Authenticity: Share your “why” behind the work.
Trust in Process: Delay judgment. Protect early ideas.
Iteration: Use “this is version one” in your next kickoff.
Vision Curation: Ask: Who’s the real star of this idea?
Energy Management: Block deep work time and defend the flow.
Want more Rick Rubin? Then you should spend 20 minutes with Substack’s “Hey Pop” video launch and Rick’s conversation with Dan Stone. I’d also recommend you follow The School of Curiosity on Substack. I am also really digging the STEPPS model from Jonah Berger courtesy of The Paragraph Project. Insatiable curiousity for the key “problem to solve” remains one of my biggest daily drivers.
Thanks for reading this week, we enjoyed a few weeks off traveling abroad and committing to both “presence” and “awe”. Happy Father’s Day! Please like, share or comment if this work resonates with you.