The Clash of British and Brazilian Brilliance

The creative industry has understood that diversity of input enriches the output. And having people from other cultures and backgrounds helps that exponentially.

I remember that one of the early candidates for The Pipe — Ogilvy's internal program to attract people with different creative backgrounds — wondered whether she would fit in once she'd been selected.

Later, she told me that one of the reassuring factors was the profile the agency had picked as creative leader: a Brazilian - I was running the global Unilever account at the time. She found this to be a sign that Ogilvy was up for it.

Indeed, she stayed with us for many years and left a lasting positive impact: she was one of the founders of Roots, an internal network to champion greater ethnic and cultural diversity, which has expanded and now runs across all of WPP.

Culture is cumulative: you don't replace one culture with another, you add to it.

My Brazilian roots coupled with my British experience have broadened my field of vision, from how I navigate differences (of opinions, temperaments, expectations, etc.) to how I express my creativity.

From where I come from, the conditions are never perfect (if they're there at all). So you create them. From a very early age, you learn to be resourceful, to find ways around difficulties. It's a mindset. It's so prevalent in Brazil that this was the creative approach to the 2016 Olympics opening ceremony in Rio: gambiarra, which means "to improvise solutions". To create a way in when there's none.

What I've been blessed with is the opportunity to season that with its counterpart: great structure and careful planning. There's no one right way, but the combination of many. And this is what you benefit from if you're open. If the goal is to learn, not to repeat. Influence must be both ways.

As we know, the basic definition of creativity is to bring together two previously unrelated things. When you come round to it, that's probably what I've done with my own life: clashed my sun-ridden background of loud colours and unfiltered energy with the subtleties and nuanced elements of British culture. And I'm far richer for it. As a creative, and ultimately as an individual. I'm not from either of these places alone.

As my friends joke, I've become a "pernambritânico": a mix of Pernambuco, my home state in the Northeast of Brazil, and the strong British influence I love and treasure.

Andre (Dede) Laurentino is CCO at Ogilvy UK