“The person who doesn’t make mistakes is unlikely to make anything.” Paul Arden

Lovely quote, isn’t it? Inspiring. Tweetable. The kind of thing you’d find on a poster in a university corridor or stitched onto a throw pillow in a startup founder’s office.

But let’s be honest – it’s easier said than done. Because while the creative industries love to say they celebrate risk-taking, experimentation, and ‘thinking outside the box’, the reality is that many students don’t even feel free to take the lid off the box, let alone climb out.

At the start of my creative advertising course, I ask students to do something most briefs avoid entirely: look inward. Not for the sake of a client, or a campaign, or a mark scheme – but for themselves. I ask them to identify what’s getting in the way of their creativity. And let me tell you, the list is long.