About

My business and creative sides are fairly balanced today, but this wasn’t always the case.

Fresh out of school, with too little professional experience, I talked my way into some roles of high responsibility. I’m grateful for these adventures. They made me scrappy, but looking back, I cringe. It's painful to reflect on how plentiful my mistakes were during that period. I learned from them, but only to make the mistake of thinking that I was really smart again (again and again).

This happened because I was too influenced by my own creative aspirations. I fell into the trap of building for myself, and for other creatives. My instinct told me that the more interesting I made the product/project, the better the company would do. That was not always the case, however. While it’s great to be creative, without a strong business impact in mind, I missed the opportunity to make a larger and more productive impact.

As the years past, and I worked on honing my business/strategy sides, two surprising things happened; #1 I became a better creative because I was thinking strategically. #2 I started remembering that I'll never know everything, but can become one of the best at finding the people who have the answers I need.

So, what's the point of me writing this? Not much, but if you're a really young creative who thinks they're really smart, contact me. I'll explain why you aren't and eventually you'll wish you listened.

You're entitled to your informed opinion... and even better if you make me laugh.

I love having my work critiqued. It's amazing how clearly I see things after someone has taken a look. The clarity begins instantaneously.

I like Ed Catmull's idea, Braintrust. Catmull and his colleagues stumbled on the concept of a “Braintrust” somewhat by accident, but it's influenced their work tremendously. It started when he found himself surrounded by a group that was funny, focused, driven and passionate. They'd have intense discussions, but it never got personal. That's his point about a Braintrust, which is that the people in them aren't in a defensive posture. In fact, making work fun and somewhat playful, actually helps productivity.

Founder of IDEO, David Kelley also does a great job of explaining the importance of positive creative groups. In the video below, he tells stories from his legendary design career and his own life, and offers ways to build the confidence to co-create.