In the rush to be creative, we often forget the most crucial step.

The real creative process starts much earlier than you think with the right kind of analysis.

Two of us come from ad agencies. One of us is a scientist. And when we compared how creatives and businesses approach problem-solving, we spotted a massive gap: most companies aren’t doing enough observation and analysis before they start to craft solutions.

Artists, designers and creatives spend time deeply analysing their subject, studying form, structure, colour and context before they even think about starting to create something. Detailed observation helps us understand the subject and context to be able to choose the best approach that will get the intended message across. In other words, the creative process starts with gathering relevant information before new ideas can be generated.

We found that marketers often skip this step entirely. And even when they do analyse, they rely too heavily on quantitative data while neglecting qualitative insights. Qualitative information is seen as less relevant and too difficult to measure.

Christian Madsbjerg calls this missing piece “thick data”. It’s the cultural and emotional depth that shape human experiences and decision-making processes. Without it, businesses are making decisions based on only half the picture.

Because the problem starts earlier in the process, during observation and analysis, we can have a positive impact on creativity by focusing on improving these steps.

That’s why we developed a six-step framework (problem statement, observation, narrative, insights, challenge and solution) that ensures that teams work through each step systematically. The two most critical steps are observation and narrative creation. When businesses get these right, their marketing, product development and strategy become much more effective.