Cultivating Creativity

It amazes me when people say, "Oh, I'm just not the creative type." I don't believe creativity is something you're born with, but rather something you cultivate, nurture, and strive for. Creativity is part of our biology; if our bodies can constantly create new cells, then our brains can create new thoughts, and therefore be creative.

I recently became aware of a local campaign called Creativity Matters that believes that creativity can be taught. Imagine the possibilities! The best problem-solving happens when you let yourself step out of the box and think about things in a new way. I've sat in more meetings than I care to remember where new ideas are shot down before being explored, and I blame our quest for instant solutions. Creativity needs a little time and space, but the the rewards are often far more effective and lasting than going for the quick fix.

So, how do you learn to be more creative? Creativity Matters has a great list of 25 ways to cultivate creativity every day. Check it out. Oh, and I highly recommend firing your inner critic. Creativity needs optimism, and our inner critics live on a steady diet of doubt and fear. So, whenever possible, put that voice aside in favor of the one that says, "Hmm, I wonder what's possible?"

Ha! Made you look.

Before we humans had written language, we used images. Ancient cave paintings all over the world illustrate that our deep-seeded need to tell our stories goes way back. Along the way we've come to rely more and more on written language as our main means of communicating, and we're now inundated with so many stories vying for our attention it's hard to know which ones to pay attention to. Just ask anyone returning from vacation with the dreaded task of opening e-mail for the first time in two weeks.

Given the sheer volume of information we attempt to digest daily, it's no wonder that we make quick decisions about which messages we choose to "hear". It's usually a gut-level response to what something looks like, before we even decide to read the actual words. Does the color palette get my attention? Do the photos intrigue me, draw me in? Is the text laid out in a way that makes it accessible and easy to digest? Of the 20 items in my mailbox, which one will I choose to actually read in the brief moment I have right now?

That's not to say that the words themselves aren't important Once you get someone's attention, you'd better have something worthwhile to say. In the words of the man the New York Times calls the "Leonardo da Vinci of Data", Edward Tufte, "If your words aren't truthful, the finest optically letter-spaced typography won't help. And if your images aren't on point, making them dance in color in three dimensions won't help."

The surest route to being heard is to marry meaningful text with good design. What constitutes good design is a topic for another time, and I'll save my speech about why you probably shouldn't let your neighbor's teenage son who's learning PhotoShop design your company's logo and business cards. The bottom line: the most important message in the world, if poorly delivered, will go unheard.

Gettin' Creative on a Park Bench

The wonderful folks of Theater Simple showed up at the September BeatWalk with a trailer loaded up with a big mound of fake grass and a park bench perched on top. They invited people to come sit and talk about creativity and art, then created a podcast of those conversations. Apparently they had so much great material they expanded their usual 15-minute format to a 30-minute podcast. I had the great pleasure to be interviewed for this, and not only did they include my passionate opinions about life and art, I got to have the last word.

OK, world, own your creativity!

Collaboration Made Easier

Technology was supposed to make our lives easier, right? While that sometimes doesn't seem to be the case, every now and then an online tool comes along to prove that technology can, indeed, make life a little easier.

A vendor I'm working with on a big, complex project turned me on to Active Collab, a subscription-based service that allows multiple users to post and alter task lists. You can also upload files related to the project, and create milestones as certain tasks are accomplished. I've found it fairly easy to use, although it's a bit confusing when posting new tasks to know how to add to an existing task list rather than creating a new task list. I've been told the professional version might be an improvement.

ActiveCollab has great potential even for smaller, less complicated jobs. Anything that has more than one person working on more than one task would benefit from a system like this. And it's especially useful if team members are at multiple locations.

Repeat after me . . .

If I were to pick the number one issue that gets clients into trouble, it would be lack of planning. So, repeat after me, "I WILL plan ahead!" C'mon now, with enthusiasm.

Remember that poster from a couple decades ago, where there's no room for the "d" in "ahead" so it looks like it's falling off the edge of the paper? I know, you have loads on your plate, and you can't possibly imagine where you'll find the time to stop the freight train and plan ahead. But let me just tell you, there are costs and frustration galore associated with not planning ahead.

Say you need to produce a brochure to help promote your business. You contact a designer, and tell them you need 500 printed brochures in-hand in a week. If they're still willing to speak to you after that, beware. Chances are they'll not only charge you a significant (i.e., 25% - 50%) rush charge (because, after all, they need to set aside other work to push your job through), but you may end up paying a rush charge with the printer as well. For color laser jobs, that's usually not as big an issue. But if this is something that needs to go on a press, most printers require 5-10 working days to prep, print and trim your job. And if the printer does quality work, odds are they're going to be booked in advance. Sometimes you get lucky and there's an opening; it's always worth asking. But in terms of having a successful and somewhat sane experience producing print collateral, planning ahead will give you better results and up the odds that your print piece will actually bring you a good return.

Some suggestions for planning ahead:

• create an annual publications calendar, with key events and drivers for print collateral;
• for something straight-forward, like a tri-fold brochure, aim to have text written and finalized at least 4-5 weeks prior to an event;
• if your designer won't be handling the print buying for you, book the printer when you hand off text to the designer; and
  
• allow approximately 2 weeks for design AND 2 weeks for printing.
  

Now, let's say our mantra together: "Plan ahead, plan ahead, plan ahead . . ."

Oh Brave, New World!

It's been on my mind for over a year now to start a blog, but I couldn't seem to get past the apparent selfishness of it. I mean, really, who's going to tune in to what I have to say on a regular basis? Aren't bloggers just people who sit alone and type away into the wee hours of the morning about whatever pops into their minds? And yet. I feel the pull to do just that. So I did what I always do in situations like this: I turned to Google.

The web has increasingly become my Magic Eight Ball of choice. "Should I blog?" "Concentrate and ask again."

Actually, I entered "reasons to blog" and got 16,700,000 results from Google. And that included at least one dud, which was "Reasons to know your Ghetto!" which led me to an adult site. Hmm. Verrrry interestink.

What I learned from this small amount of research is that blogging isn't quite as selfish as I'd thought. For one thing, with 24 years' experience working as a communications professional, I think I have a few tidbits to offer up to the world that might just help Somebody, Somewhere. But among other reasons to blog were things like connecting and contributing to the collective wisdom,engaging in discussion, and learning from each other. My favorite quote was, "Professionalism is more than consumption, it is contribution." (Rovy Bronson.) I don't know who Rovy Bronson is, but that quote pushed me over into the camp of folks committed to blogging. (We all seem to quote Rovy, yet I couldn't quite find out who he is.)

So, why tune back in for more? Well, I'll do my best to put forth modest pearls of wisdom that relate to how best to tell your story, how to raise awareness of you and your business, and how to avoid common promotional pitfalls that are costly and time-consuming.

"Is anyone still reading this?" "Ask again later."