A coffee with… Mònica Carbonell
With a multidisciplinary background in creativity, strategy and in-depth understanding of human behavior, Mònica Carbonell calls herself a Brand & Culture Transformation Director: she firmly believes that the road to organisational transformation happens when a holistic view and a tangible alignment between companies purpose, vision, values, narrative and people's behaviour. She has an innovative mindset and a thoughtful view of the future of work, and even though we are not there yet, she thinks we are on the right path to get a life-work balance.
How and why do you move from pure creativity to strategy and planning?
It happened when I worked as a creative director in an advertising agency of the DDB group 20 years ago; the briefing used to be too concise with poor information about who our audience would be and the creative scenario was completely different from today. Yet, we had to develop a good concept and original ideas to get the attention of our targets. I remember telling myself how important it was to know the people we were trying to attract, who they were like, and what they liked or disliked. So, I started to get interested in learning more about the users of the products and acquired the skills of a strategy planner in another Branding Consultancy I worked for some years after that. At some point, I couldn't cope with the big agencies model anymore, I didn't feel alive with that, and I decided to go free and open a different agency called Sodabites, smaller and people-focused. Now, I work in a way that looks for positive impact, understanding what is good for business and for people. Getting to know the stakeholders and understanding who they are and which are their needs is how you can come up with a better solution. It's all there, and it's all connected.
What does it mean for you to be part of TCC?
I think it's a progressive way of balancing work and life. At The Carrot Collective, it is very good that priorities are focused on that and on attracting talent and making them belong to something they like.I think that today, we, as society, work too much, and I know I'm not the only one thinking this: our happiness is very important, and we all need time for ourselves. We need to be nurtured and fullfilled to be creative because otherwise, we are repeating concepts or things we've seen. We need space, oxygen, and brain nutrition.
Also, combining talent together it's vital to get that nutrition. The right people at the right time: after many years in the creative field, I realised that what makes a difference is the talent of the people you put together. This, with understanding the client and what their needs are. You can have impressive offices but what you need is talented people working together in a good way to deliver good results. That is what matters the most! This is how you grow and get better at your job and outcome. It isn't very easy to keep talent within the company, though, so I think Carrot Collective's model makes sense. If you can make the machine work together and combine these talents, you are delivering a higher value and a better project.
Is that why you joined the Carrot Collective?
I can see myself in the past, working in a poor environment, competitive and pressing: I wasn't giving the results that I am doing today. This is a supportive and collaborative group of senior professionals; creating something bigger together is the primary purpose for everyone. A competitive mindset and atmosphere simply kill the result.
What is creativity for you?
I think that creativity comes just because we are human beings. You can see it in kids trying new things and playing around, but the way we grow up sometimes cuts it out. It's an asset we have, but it can decrease either because we don’t pay attention to it or don't work in areas that stretch it. Having said that, I also believe creativity can be relearned if put in the right environment. Criticism and self-criticism are the worst enemies of creativity, so if we build a safe and friendly work environment in which anyone feels comfortable expressing their opinion or ideas, then creativity is back in action. From one idea, another may blossom. It is like an energy that connects, a way to find a new solution to any life or problem and work.
How do you see the future of work?
I truly believe that some companies will disappear in the future. We turned on that, not considering the people, the clients and the consumers. And the planet. If we are consuming all the resources, there will be no business for no one. The future is about collaborating and using our creativity to create more sustainable models. To me, the future of work is putting together talent, a high level of professionality and the brilliant attitude and originality that younger people sometimes have.
Is there a shift in the mindset, or are we not there yet?
Companies are now considering concepts like conscious leadership and they are developing a more positive corporate culture, which affect working environment. A transition is happening, but we have a long way to go. Empathising is paramount because only when we understand the people and the problem do we bring the solution.
What kind of resources do we have to reach that future?
Creativity can be one of the best resources we already have in ourselves. We just need to reconstruct and strengthen it. The right culture is equally important because it allows creativity to thrive, resulting in more innovation. But we need a different mindset to come up with new solutions. For creativity, there are two things that we need to do and learn; one is to listen to people and to observe. Suppose we are designing a methodology that will bring the result to solve the pain or problem of our client or system, listening all the stakeholders and putting all our attention to details becomes essential. The second one is asking yourself questions. Questions can make a big difference in the outcome and starting the project with good questions is crucial for finding good solutions.