Creative Philosophy.
AKA: Discovering Purpose & Joy in chaos.
How you think is how you create.
A big part of my role as a creative leader is helping the things I work on make “the magic leap” from good to great. How on earth does one do this? Read below.
Even the best strategy is not fit for consumption and must be translated with creative skill in a way that will inspire the person encountering it to think about a familiar problem in a new way.
A creative career is a pretty miserable experience until you realize that your function is to solve for dysfunction.
If you ever find yourself lacking ideas, just start to ask more questions, the ideas won’t be far behind.
Problems are valuable, give them a hi-five and a hug a split–second before you cut their miserable throats and collect the bounty.
Creative thinking that works hard to solve real world problems (aka “other people’s problems”) is resplendent in personal fulfillment and residual social value.
If the problem you’re solving is easy, the work will feel empty and lack meaning. Always look for the biggest, meanest and scariest problem you can find … then pick a fight with it. Even if it mops the floor with your carcass, you will be undeniably heroic in defeat and Dwarves will sing solemn songs about you while smoking the finest leaf the shire has to offer.
Data is utterly meaningless until you sift it for human human truth and actually do useful things with what you uncover to make life better for the people you sell stuff too (AKA the customer).
Cynicism is an ulcerous cancer of the creative stomach. Feed it and it will grow while starving you of personal enrichment and meaning.
Ideas cannot fend for themselves. If you abandon them at the first sign of trouble or starve them of love and affection you are a bad creative parent and eventually everyone will know it. Just dont be surprised when they won’t trust you with ideas anymore.
Learning to diagnose a dead-end idea early will free up more time for making good ideas even better.
If you really want someone to hear you, whisper…