Do you feel like you’re working harder than ever—but the real change you want to see keeps slipping further away? You’re not alone.

Despite rapid technological advancements, most businesses still struggle to create real transformation. That’s because most business transformation isn’t actually transformation—it’s optimization. For the past decade, companies have mistaken efficiency for progress, believing that digitization, automation, and now AI would reinvent business. Instead, these tools have mostly reinforced existing structures—doing the same things, only faster and cheaper.

And that’s the real trap: mistaking speed for progress and automation for reinvention.

The mental modelholding businesses back

For decades, business leaders have been taught to trust data, efficiency, and structured decision-making above all else. But what if the very way we process information is limiting how we approach change?

Neuroscientist Iain McGilchrist argues that we live in an era of “left hemisphere tyranny”—where we prioritize logic, categorization, and short-term decision-making at the expense of broader vision, creativity, and long-term impact.

The myth of left- and right-brained people has been debunked, but our organizations are undeniably dominated by left-hemisphere thinking. The left hemisphere thrives on details, labeling, and compartmentalization. It prefers quick decisions, black-and-white conclusions, and predictable outcomes. The right hemisphere understands complexity, sees the bigger picture, connects seemingly unrelated ideas, and embraces uncertainty. The left hemisphere is an expert in what is. The right one is an expert in what could be.

And if businesses want to do more than survive the next decade, they need (way) more of the latter.

AI is accelerating the wrong kind of transformation

Optimization creates a false sense of momentum—companies believe they are advancing because there is a plan, targets, movement. Yet nothing truly changes.

AI, for all its power, is reinforcing this pattern.

AI analyzes what is, recognizes patterns, and optimizes for efficiency. But it does not imagine. It does not dream. It does not challenge assumptions.

Instead of breaking old paradigms, most AI-driven transformation is accelerating them. Businesses are using AI to cut costs and automate tasks rather than to reimagine purpose, strategy, and long-term impact.

This is where businesses face a critical choice:

Will you use AI to optimize the past?
Or to help build something new?

Creative transformation: the future of business

The future will not be optimized into existence—it must be imagined, created, and built.

That is why we need to reclaim right-hemisphere thinking: trusting intuition, encouraging dreaming as planning, and creating a culture of systematic openness to what could be.

This is where AI must be seen as a tool, not a driver. The real breakthroughs happen when human creativity leads, and AI assists—rather than the other way around.

We call this shift Creative Transformation.

"Those who dream by day
see many things which escape
those who only dream by night."

– Edgar Allan Poe

For too long, creative practices have been underestimated as a transformative force in business. This piece of brain research should wake up your boardroom: Relying solely on left-hemisphere thinking—data-driven optimization, predictive analytics, and rigid decision-making—makes leaders overconfident in their choices while limiting their ability to see new possibilities. It has led companies to place an irrational weight on what can be measured today, while undervaluing the ideas that could shape tomorrow.

AI adoption is accelerating, but many businesses are making the same mistake. If we continue treating AI as a driver rather than a collaborator, we will accelerate toward a future that looks disturbingly like the present—only more efficient at sustaining the status quo.

What does creative transformation look like in practice?

First off, it acknowledges there is no one right solution. It must be tailored to each company. But here’s a place to start:

• What if your company invested in potential, not just proven track record?
• What if you doubled down on the people you have instead of chasing the latest technology?
• What if you taught your teams how to have transformative conversations instead of how to navigate team-building software?
• What if playfulness and enjoyment weren’t seen as distractions, but as vital to innovation?
• What if alternate ways to define problems and solutions weren’t just welcomed, but required?
• What if you spent less time overplanning and more time taking action (rooted in your strategy)?
• What if you measured success differently—not just by quarterly growth, but by long-term impact?
• And what if your ultimate success metric was through the eyes of your grandchildren’s grandchildren?

Humanity faces challenges we cannot solve with business as usual—or with AI as a substitute for human creativity. Businesses face the same existential threat.

That’s why Creative Transformation isn’t just a strategy shift—it’s a cultural shift. It’s about building organizations where creativity isn’t just a department—it’s the fabric of the company.
Where purpose isn’t a mission statement—it’s how decisions get made.

Companies that embrace Creative Transformation don’t just create better products, services, or efficiencies. They build something bigger: a shared sense of purpose, a culture of imagination, and a future that people want to be part of.

That’s why Creative Transformation isn’t a luxury—it is a necessity. It is the only way we can build the kind of businesses, economies, and futures that will thrive beyond the next quarter.

This post by We Are Open and more for Creativity 2030 initiative here; https://www.mrktng.fi/luovuus/