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Leading Creatives.

I always like posts that highlight that creatives are different, and must be led differently.  We don’t work/think/act like “normal” people.  Tony Morgan posted some tips for leading creatives on his blog, here they are:

Here are some reminders for leading creative people:

1. Tell them what to do, but not how to do it. You can hold them accountable for the results, but don’t force them to embrace a certain process.
2. If you want their input, you’ll need to ask. If you stop asking, they’ll stop contributing.
3. If you ask, you better consider their input. If you’re not really going to use their input, it’s better not to even ask.
4. Know that they’ll be emotionally attached to what they create. So, if you decide not to use their creation, you’ll have to process that appropriately and not abruptly.
5. You need to give them a deadline, but it better be reasonable. Creative people need room to dream and let their ideas percolate.
6. Don’t try to motivate them with money, but they do want your praise. They’ll react when the extrinsic rewards are taken away, but they’re really intrinsically motivated.
7. They’ll get easily bored if they find themselves stuck in the routine. They need the freedom to take on new challenges and opportunities and hate to get stuck in maintenance mode.
8. They deliver new ideas, but they dread the details. To bring the best out of them, you need to protect them from the bureaucratic structure and administrative tasks.
9. They need a creative and participative environment. Creative people need the fuel that other creative people generate.
10. You need to provide boundaries, but they need to experience freedom. Boundaries force people to get creative. That’s when the best ideas are generated. But if creative people ever feel restrained, at best they’ll start to sulk and at worst they’ll join another team.

As a leader/boss/manager, you would be wise to heed this advise.  It is all true.  If you want the best out of your creatives… follow these simple guidelines, and they will love you for it!

Don’t be a live event Twitter jerk.

Today I unfollowed somebody on Twitter, because they were flooding my feed with tweets from #tls09 (The Leadership Summit at Willow Creek).  Just because you are at a live event, doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone that follows you wants to be inundated with tweets from said event.  However, if you just can’t help yourself and must tweet … keep it reasonable… as in a tweet every half-hour at most.

You would be wise to consider the group of people that are following you on Twitter.  More than likely, they are following a bunch people with similar interests.  You could also assume because they are following you; other people they follow are also at said event.  So, not only are they getting your tweets from #live_event, but they are getting a whole lot of tweets from people at #live_event.

So is it really necessary to tweet every minute? No. Take notes, blog them later, and then post a link to your notes on Twitter.  You won’t get unfollowed, and your followers can go and read them at their leisure.

I would have rather not unfollowed this person and just blocked any tweet with the #tls09 hashtag from my feed.  But, it doesn’t seem that is an option at this point. (If you know how please tell me!)

Hashtags are good.  Live events are good.  Twittering live events can be good.  Just don’t get drunk on them.  You can drive drunk if you want to; but I’m not going to ride with you.

Seven Questions

I like to know what I’m getting into, before I commit to something.  I always have the client’s best interest in mind, when I’m approached to do design work.  I have a certain style that I work best in, and my style may not always be the best fit for a particular client’s needs.  So, I have these questions to help me understand exactly what the client wants, and if I can deliver it.

Who is the target audience?
You have to know who you are trying to reach.  A piece for men will look entirely different than a piece directed at women.

What is the message?
What exactly is the client trying to get across.  For me, this question also means “What is the desired response?”

What is the “mood” of the message?
Happy?  Sad?  Patriotic?  Scary?  Emotional?

What are the specs of the project?
Mailer?  Website?  Sizes?  Content?

What is the budget?
Some clients already have an idea of what they want to spend, some don’t.

Is there a specific deadline?
Always helpful to know.

Can the client provide creative direction?
This can include colors, fonts, other designs, etc.

These questions obviously aren’t the end-all solution for everyone, but they do help me to get a grasp on the project, before I commit to taking it on.