where does all that creativity come from?

One of my greatest weaknesses, I'll admit, is that I assume everyone else wants to paint bigger pictures. Of course, there are times when details need to be considered -- however, my mind prefers to linger in the times when the only limit is the sky, the only deadline is ultimate satisfaction, and the only materials needed are human brains and time.

That sounds like an oversimplified recipe for disaster.

And it is. With groups of people, there needs to be a shared understanding of the goals for a project. Objectives. Whatever you want to call them. The finish line.

Establishing that picture is where things get tricky. It begs the question: If we're supposed to inspire new solutions, how do we set-up that sense of finality while also instilling an opportunity for unprecedented creativity?
This question pops into my mind everyday. Unfortunately, still don't have a solid answer. But here are some of my thoughts:

Leveraging creativity is key. At the end of the day, the end product is the measure of success. More often than not, it might be generally agreeable to think that any sort of creativity brought to the table is going to matter more than the source of the creativity. So long as an idea is creative and gets the job done (and vice versa), we can move onto the next discussion.

Ideas suck without self-efficacy. I guarantee it. If there is no solid belief in the final idea, might as well shut down shop. Not even worth forking over the idea. So, what implications does this have for intragroup motivation? I'd imagine it doesn't really matter if creative-type people are the only ones that feel positive about the project -- if someone doesn't feel quite right about what the group's doing, that's an issue. Leveraging self-efficacy is a precursor to creativity. Even for non-creative folk.

Creatively communicating thoughts inspires the first two things. Creativity is a fickle beast. That's for sure. It's sly as a fox. Hit or miss. Whatever cliche you chose to use, it's difficult to describe exactly what it is in only a few words. But it's important to gain a personal understanding of what it is and where it came come from. Incorporating creativity into every thought can lead to unbelievable outcomes . . . but only if the different forms of creativity can speak to each other. Designers, account people, verbal people, visual people, strategists, planners, clients. Everyone. Creativity at every stage of the game will always be important, but understanding how to communicate will make or break a great idea. Inspiration is a byproduct of this communciations.

So as my head is still in the clouds, I can rest assured that such levetation is fine. But everyone needs to find a way to get their head up high as well. It shouldn't be a game of Simon Says, but it most certainly should be a game of . . . well, a winning one, whatever it is.

Establishing the picture we're looking at is not something only a planner should be doing. Getting the picture right involves everyone.

But the planner should just be accounting for these necessary ingredients.

iConic

coke is clean

Cleanseat
by foxkakashi

for, to, with

For those of us with brands in front of us on a daily basis, there are three questions we stumble upon regularly in our thoughts and our interaction with consumers and clients alike:

1. What are we trying to do for those brands?
2. What are we trying to do to those brands?
3. What are we trying to do with those brands?

Whoa. One word difference. But a world of difference.

I jotted down this quick list of possible responses as I thought about what different sorts of agencies have to offer a client. Design agencies are more likely to focus on making a brand beautiful, understandable and liked, whereas a media/ad group might be brought in to focus on making a brand profitable, liked or a leader in the category.

But more importantly, I'm pretty sure any communication-type agency should be thinking about the big picture -- each of these elements is simply a cog in an ongoing cycle of success.

I'm pretty sure the best thinking for a brand keeps tabs on all of these elements -- plus others -- as an ongoing reality check.

kiss the frog

natural patterns

Patterns pop up in unexpected ways, including one mentioned in a quick column from today's NYTimes. Looking at urban planning from a mathematical perspective:

The mathematics of cities was launched in 1949 when George Zipf, a linguist working at Harvard, reported a striking regularity in the size distribution of cities. He noticed that if you tabulate the biggest cities in a given country and rank them according to their populations, the largest city is always about twice as big as the second largest, and three times as big as the third largest, and so on. In other words, the population of a city is, to a good approximation, inversely proportional to its rank. Why this should be true, no one knows.

This pattern may have been first observed when looking at cities, but it pops up also when looking at elements within those cities, as well: the infrastructure, the people, the cells.

Absolutely astonishing, and very well written article. Definitely worth a few minutes of your time. Steven Strogatz finishes up by noting, "There may be deep laws of collective organization at work here."

mr. and mrs. human head

completely caught up with my google reader

ah, the sense of accomplishment.

voice be taketh away

There's a point in The Little Mermaid where the screen creates a frame around Ursula's mouth as she utters "your voice" with possibly the creepiest and most sinister tone in cinematic history. It was awful. Yet awesome, even all these years later.

An important theme that keeps running through my head is the reality that your voice doesn't have to be sacrificed to get where you want to go. However, arguably, we all eventually seem to lose our voice -- knowingly or unknowingly -- at some point in our lives in order to get something (or somewhere) we want to be.

Does this have to be the case? And let's take inventory: where is my voice right now? Where has it been over the past few months? And where do I want it to be?

And my blog. My poor, poor blog. You'll notice there was a substantial gap in my entries, and a number of events have transpired since that last entry in February. Apologies. This manifestation of my voice as a brand thinker seemed to take a hit as I worked in real time on brand-like things. A few really spectacular things have happened over that time, including finding out about my future plans at Saatchi & Saatchi and our group's win in NYC earlier this month. (Quick celebratory party. Okay, now it's over. Thanks for coming.)

But, unfortunately, my writing has been lousy. More importantly, my quick thoughts have not left my head. And that, I've discovered, is the most beautiful part of keeping a blog. Yes, it's nice to read/see/observe/celebrate what other people have to say. But a lot of the time, the most impactful role that this blog can play is the same as a journal -- not with the "dear diary" shenanigins, of course, but for me to showcase unedited, quick tidbits.

I've been trying my darndest to keep up with my ever-growing google reader during this hiatis, though. Russell had a lovely entry on jottings a while back that really got me thinking (as his entries typically do). Living an increasingly busy life, which will most certainly be exacerbated by a move to new york, there is little time to feel overwhelmed. Quick little thoughts are equally important as big, mammoth ideas -- both have a place at the table. My voice is perfectly well suited to produce either, so why really focus on the latter within this blog?

And blogs ought not fulfill just one role.

If this here blog is really going to be an accurate representation of my voice as a plannerly person, it's high time I realize that big, little, medium, grandiose, puny, awkward, intelligent and different thoughts are allowed time in the exhibit. In fact, it breaks up the monotony I've discovered in a lot of other blogs out there in the "sphere" of blogs.

So, come listen to me sing. I've cracked open the seashell necklace. And destroyed the evil octopus. We all should start singing more.

And showcasing different sorts of ideas.

Just a thought.

thinking about brands

Read a very refreshing book yesterday -- I ordered it a few months ago, but haven't had a chance to really sit down and give it an appropriate amount of time.

Brand New Brand Thinking: Brought to Light by 11 Experts Who Do

Absolutely great read. Any person who works in the general proximity of brands ought to give it some attention.

A number of really great essayists here, all of which offered a unique perspective. Some of them contradicted others' thoughts, so I'd be intrigued to see them in the same room to duke it out. Because they're such brilliant thinkers, though, they'd probably strike some sort of truce before even sitting down.

The book itself is practically oozing advice, wisdom, insight, inspiration and the sort. But two very important points stood out to me:

• Planning is like being cool: one cannot simply call him/herself a planner without the actual creative brand thinking to back it up.
• And planners need to get out of their heads to make a real difference in group-based thinking and strategy.

Delightfully refreshing and will most assuredly be revisited in the coming months.

i'm a sucker for these sorts of things

A SHORT LOVE STORY IN STOP MOTION from Carlos Lascano on Vimeo.

things i believe but cannot prove

A great planner/blogger/inspiration recently listed 10 things he believes, but cannot prove. Good for him, I say.

And to commend his brave and honest efforts, I will do the same. Here's my list:

(1) Colleges actually have a thin layer of film surrounding them thus creating a bio-dome or physical bubble; there is not simply a metaphorical bubble, actually.

(2) Everyone has something very closely related to a security blanket.

(3) Lasagna was initially referred to as 'ambrosia' before being widely consumed by mortals.

(4) The more one knows about brands, the more help one can offer to non-brand things in life.

(5) Beer, wine, tea and coffee have some relation to earth, wind, fire and water, respectively.

(6) Syracuse tour guides are born to be liars, and under-reporting annual snowfall and inhumane weather conditions is merely an exercise of character for them.

(7) Siloed media agencies will not last very long by themselves. And the same is true for digital shops.

(8) Everyone has a capacity for creating beautiful design, but life presents distractions, obstacles and veils to hide behind.

(9) The best musical artists are reincarnates of each other, with a few forest animals interspersed in the shared biographies.

(10) Listening is 10.5 times more valuable than speaking. And writing things down is only about 5.4 times more valuable.

a change on the hilltop

Awkward Family Photos

A lovely romp down memory lane. Have a look-see. And a good laugh.

picture c/o http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com

back to the grind

Wow.

Can't believe it's been over 2 months.

Being "busy" doesn't seem to suffice as an excuse, but I've discovered that not writing thoughts down in this things seems to have a snowball effect.

I've got a few things to spill into this thing. But putting one in writing before another seems wrong. For at least this post.

Consider this a clog remover of a post. It's just to get things going again. Priming the pump.

Check back soon. More interesting things will be outlined.

Me thinks.