Supporting stars: why creative teams need more than just a Prince

Every few months, this video pops up on social media (often via Mark Ritson, who says he watches it weekly). If you haven’t seen it before, or even if you have, please do so now – you won’t regret it.

This is a cracking tune, of course, featuring a swag of bona fide musical greats. But it’s undeniable that Prince is the star of the show – his skill, virtuosity, stage presence and what I can only describe as general ‘Princeness’ are utterly captivating. Or as someone on Twitter put it: ‘he makes some of the biggest legends in music look like a bunch of dork-ass losers’.

Quite.

Just before Prince makes his entrance in this video, you’ll notice that Dhani Harrison (son of George – and no slouch on the guitar himself) gives a wry smile, knowing what’s about to come. Indeed, all of these incredible musicians seem more than happy to play a supporting role as Prince does his Princely thing.

And that got me thinking about how creative teams function.

Now, to be clear, those of us who work in commercial creative roles are not rockstars (despite how some people on LinkedIn refer to themselves). But there is nevertheless a parallel with our industry.

Because all creative teams rely on a mix of people and skills.

At the risk of drawing the ire of the ‘everyone is creative’ crowd, I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that some people are naturally more creative than others. They still have to work at their craft, of course, but common sense (and the normal distribution) tells you that there aren’t many people lucky enough to be born with exceptional, mind-blowing, ‘holy f*** that’s good’ creative talent.

In other words, not everybody can be Prince. And that’s OK.

I’ve previously written about a guy I went to school with, who has since gone on to win the Fields Medal in mathematics (which by the way is a very, VERY big deal). And I can tell you that being around someone like that is humbling, to say the least – as my father said to me at the time: ‘just accept that you’ll never even get close to being that smart’. Cheers for the pep talk, Dad.

But he was right, of course. Sometimes, you just have to sit back and admire talent like that.

In the context of our industry, though, the key is to support it – because that’s what makes for a great creative team. And needless to say, talent rarely arrives fully formed. It has to be identified and nurtured and directed towards a common goal, which is a talent in itself.

The opposite of this, basically…

For all of Prince’s solo brilliance in that video, it wouldn’t be the same without the other musicians. Their relatively understated performance offers a perfect counterbalance: the creative yang to his yin.

For this reason – and, er, the fact that they quite clearly are – each of them is a star in their own right. Just a different kind of star.

Or to put it another way, not everybody can be Prince, but not everybody can be the Tom Petty of that video either. If it leads to great work, I think most of us would – and should – be proud of starring in a supporting role.