Ministry of Creative Solutions

Why isn't there a Ministry of Creative Solutions? I think there should be!

There are all kinds of government departments/ministries, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Justice, and the Department for Education to name just a few.

When given the opportunity, us humans can be incredibly creative. Think of some of the things we have invented? Airplanes, cars, telephones, the internet, electricity, penicillin and dishwashers. When we spend a moment to step away from criticising all the horrible things humans have done/are doing (of which I agree are numerous) but instead focus on all our wondrous accomplishments, you will find a plethora of evidence proves our creativity.

So I believe strongly that more time should be given over to "creative solutions" (see Google 20% time as an example).

Creating a new government department is easier than you may think. Just look at the Ministry of Silly Walks as an example ;)

Therefore, I introduce to you the "Ministry of Creative Solutions", or MCS (using abbreviations - that's another creative solution!). Hotly off the heals of the (albeit satirical) ramblingsfromakitkat election manifesto earlier this year, this new department in the world of Phil shall have the brief of;

"seeking to channel creative solutions to solving problems (both big and small problems) in order to bring about a cost effective and efficient resolution."
I first got thinking about this the other day when watching a clip of the BBC comedy show Mock The Week. The contestants had to come up with suggestions for "Commercials that never aired" (warning: contains adult humour)

One of the comedians (relating to the BP Deepwater Horizon spill) had this pearl of wisdom at 1.45;

"Have you got long dry hair? Could we stuff it down an oil well?"
Perfect! This is creative thinking....true creative thinking where it's OK to be outside the box. Makes you wonder, what if the MCS (remember, that's Ministry of Creative Solutions) had been able to reach out to all hairdressers and ask them to collect all hair left on the floor, bagged it up for the MCS's collection staff? Could this have helped? Well, in this case I don't know. But having a department which could look into these things and know it can act when it can produce something effective would be wonderful in my view!

I wonder what other examples you can come up with to offer to MCS? All ideas (remember they must be thought through so they fit in with the mission) are welcome, and indeed encouraged. Be an ambassador for creative solutions!