I Wonder
I wonder what would happen if we…
- didn’t care who got the credit.
- had enough confidence to champion others.
- encouraged each other to take risks and try the ideas that make our hearts pound.
- were more afraid of being accepted than failing.
- took a minute to realize how grateful we should be.
- stopped complaining and used that energy to be our best.
- followed our instincts as much as we follow twitter.
- promised to enjoy our jobs and the opportunity we have to create.
- refused to quit.
- refused to copy.
- refused to settle.
- were willing to face down our fear.
- would focus on hearing, not being heard.
- spent as much time dreaming as doing.
- accepted that failure is a chance to learn and grow.
- understood that being different is a gift, not a curse.
- tried new things more often.
- committed to change.
- stopped waiting.
How much could we change the world?
We All Get Lost.
We get lost.
The pace of creation and production pulls at our attention. Even our own ideas and art creation can make our vision blurry. We have a limited bandwidth from which we can navigate this terrain.
But around us – every day, every minute, every second – are important triggers.
Words, images, thoughts, books, conversations, nature, happenings…..
When we’re not alert, when we get so busy we stop paying attention, we miss what could be the trigger to some of our most important ideas.
It takes intentionality.
We have to lift our heads up and take inventory of what is around us. We have to be aware.
Our greatest creative moments may be taking place right in front of us and – because we are not intentionally breaking our stride, paying attention to our worlds, and depositing rather than always withdrawing – we risk missing some great art and opportunity.
Are you paying attention or are you focused on production?
Afraid Of Normal
As creative professionals, we understand the power of an idea executed.
Each idea requires action. Once we take action, we then have the opportunity to learn from the success or failure of that decision. What we learn from this process is that we all have the ability to identify and execute amazing creative ideas that become solutions.
So what keeps us from doing this daily…or even hourly?
“RESTING IN OUR NORMAL”
We get stuck in a certain way of thinking. We fall victim to our previous success and start to “repeat”. We become paralyzed by the fear of failing, not willing to try something totally different that could propel us to success because the risk is too high. But why?
We tend to get caught resting in our normal way of thinking. So, how do we break out of the our normal way of thinking?
- STEP BACK – Take a step back and survey the entire situation. Collect the data. Write the facts, the equation, the variable, and identify the components that we can control. Ask questions and identify the core issues or desired results.
- IMAGINE THE IMAGE – Start to create scenarios and talk them out with our team. This will help us picture possibilities and outcomes. It creates options for us. When we imagine what could be, it forces us out of our normal space and allows our creativity to contribute to the conversation.
- SEEK IDEAS – Create a list of ideas that could help us resolve the issue. Ideas are the life blood of our creative teams.
- IDENTIFY WHAT IS ACTIONABLE – What can we make “TO DO”. Delegate these to team members so the task becomes scalable.
- SEEK WISDOM – When we are needing insight or direction, we have to ask. Ask other creative people and ask people outside of our circles so that they can contribute unique angles to our project, issue, or situation.
- STUDY AND FIND INSPIRATION – Go to where you learn. Blogs, magazines, film, music, books, conversation. Allow yourself to be stimulated and break your normal thought process. Often when going to our stimulators, we need to try something different. Listen to music that you have never heard. Read a new book. Find a magazine you have never checked out. Also, changing our canvas changes our perspective.
- ONCE YOU MAKE A DECISION…GO – Don’t second guess it. Don’t listen to the voices that will chase you towards fear. Make a decision and GO WITH IT. If you fail, at least you will fail with passion, gusto, and by breaking your norm. There are just as many lessons in failure as there are in success.
Are you ready to break normal thinking?
What have you learned that helps break these traps?
How Creatives Can Gain Respect
Some of the most common conversations amongst creative people revolve around our leaders, bosses, and co-workers “not getting us”. Duh! We are creative people and that alone makes us a little freaky for the scared status quo. We truly are a “peculiar people” and that’s not a good thing, it’s a GREAT thing. God created us so that we would be able to do things that no one else can. So how do we develop leadership beyond our creative caves inside of organizations? How do we gain respect when people feel we are flakes? How do we help people in our organizations see us beyond just the odd music and trendy attire?
Here are a few traits that can earn anyone respect inside of their organizations:
1. Identify your organization’s vision and what you can contribute to executing the vision and the values…tangibly.
2. Seek the gaps between the vision and the reality. Then, fill them!
3. Demolish stereotypes. Show up on time. Think beyond just our art. Be budget and time consciences.
4. Identify one thing each day you can do or have done to escalate momentum in your department and the organization.
5. When you make a promise, keep it. At all costs. Nothing kills equity faster than over-promising and under-delivering. Start to over-promise and over-deliver.
6. Create the space to focus on what is NEXT, as well as how you can be a better resource.
7. Communicate more and more often. Help your organization avoid surprises. Over-communicate expectations, reality, and everything in-between.
8. Figure out how to delegate. Make a list what you do, then note what could be done by someone else.
9. Identify the silos and bottlenecks. Then, work diligently to break them down.
10. Ask WHY. Why do we do this? Why have we not changed? Why is this important?
11. Approach the day as if you own the organization. If you are an owner, you treat responsibility different than if you are as a worker or a renter.
13. Identify the unusual. The stuff that makes you and your organization different from anyone else in your space. Then, maximize the heck out of those unique things.
14. Understand that excellence matters, but so does shipping. Perfect and not shipped means nothing.
15. Don’t deviate from the mission. Vision and mission are your core. Feed them.
16. Reinforce your culture at every opportunity. Identify it, call it out, and make it known. Then, repeat. Use every coaching opportunity to reinforce culture and values.
17. Trust the people around you that you know share your DNA and have the desire to enhance your organization.
18. Don’t be a lone ranger. If you are doing something and it drifts from vision, quit immediately.
19. Remember it’s an honor to get to create and do ministry for a living. Never, ever take it for granted.
20. Work hard. Simple, but never out of style. A great work ethic earns respect faster than any other possible trait.
This is not for everyone. But it is for anyone who wants to continue to grow as creative leaders and contributors to their organizations.
What would you add to the list?
