My March 2023 Read: Unlocking Your Creative Potential - My reflections from 'Creative Confidence' by Tom and David M. Kelley

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Table of Contents

1. Introduction - what, why and who should read this?
2. My reflections and takeaways from each chapter
3. Key takeaways at a glance
4. Conclusion

Introduction

"Creative Confidence" by David M. Kelley is a must-considered book for individuals looking to unlock their creativity and increase their confidence in both personal and professional aspects of life. This book presents a unique approach to creativity that emphasizes the need to embrace creativity as a mindset and not just a skill.

Kelley's message is clear - everyone is creative, and with a little bit of confidence, anyone can unleash their full potential.

This book is ideal for anyone seeking to overcome creative blocks and become more innovative in their personal or professional life. It is an excellent resource for artists, entrepreneurs, designers, educators, and anyone interested in boosting their creativity and self-confidence.

My reflections from the book chapter-wise

Chapter 1: Defining Creative Confidence

The first chapter defines creative confidence as the ability to believe in your ability to create change in the world around you. It emphasizes the importance of building a creative mindset and the role of self-doubt in stifling creativity. As someone who has struggled with self-doubt, I found this chapter to be a powerful reminder that confidence is key to unlocking my creative potential. I reflect my creative confidence by going with my entrepreneurial journey "Media Nurture" - a digital marketing agency that I created with my other partners leaving my high-paying job to embrace a new direction to remove my self-doubt. I worked with many companies globally across multiple industries including F500, funded startups and small and medium businesses (SMBs) and expanded my network. I wore many hats - as a business growth leader, recruiter, finance leader, marketing leader, content & GTM strategist, writer, and service marketing leader. It was an altogether different game - loved every bit of it being on another side, while working with global teams from multi-industry.

Chapter 2: Learning from Failure

This chapter emphasizes the need to embrace failure as a necessary step towards success. Kelley reminds us that failing often leads to valuable insights and growth opportunities. As someone who has often struggled with the fear of failure, this chapter was a great reminder to embrace failure and use it as a stepping stone to success.

My learnings are many, citing a few of these here (a few from my global marketing work experiences + my entrepreneurial journey):

Startups want things should be of "HIGH Quality but they want it for free or for a very minimal pay!" Do what you think right.

It takes a huge courage to follow up on your own timely payments unlike when every month I used to get my salary on time.

Be ready to work for 18 hours or more since it's your own boat - build it, shape it, create it, recreate it, etc.

Be ready for multiple iterations of the agreed deliverables (often out of SLAs).

Google Search Ads are the best to bring traffic (B2B or B2C).

LinkedIn Form Fills work great for B2B companies be it for event registration, content promotion, generating marketing leads etc..

Don't neglect Google Search Console along with other tools. Weekly SEO is best for success.

Manage the leaky bucket from the beginning - follow up on marketing leads timely and through a systematic way by partnering with, and coaching sales. Having a strong CRM system is key integrated with various marketing tools. Being visible is key with on-time communication.

CMO's job is not to bring sales, or revenues (often mistaken by startups, SMBs, so teaching what exactly CMO does and what would be CMO's KRA is key to setting up the expectations) rather CMO's job is more than sales - brand-building, great website, great customer and prospect experience across multi-channel, build a solid strategy globally and locally so that customer/prospect keeps coming back for the value they see and are willing to do business with you (supporting to company's revenue related KRA which is Sales responsibility).

Knowing tech/martech skills is key and also financial acumen with a clear focus and intention.

Chapter 3: Unleashing the Creative Mindset

This chapter focuses on the importance of nurturing a creative mindset by embracing the beginner's mindset, taking risks, and challenging assumptions. Kelley encourages readers to approach problems with curiosity and to seek inspiration from unexpected sources. I found this chapter to be particularly useful in helping me approach problems with an open mind and an eagerness to learn (prepare for the most unprepared, ready to challenge the unknown, use the less travelled path - you see! :-)).

Chapter 4: From Design Thinking to Creative Confidence

Chapter 4 explores the role of design thinking in fostering creative confidence. Kelley presents design thinking as a problem-solving methodology that can be applied to any situation in any industry. This chapter provides valuable insights into how design thinking can be used to approach problems in a more creative and innovative way.

Chapter 5: Telling Powerful Stories

Chapter 5 emphasizes the importance of storytelling in conveying ideas and inspiring action. Kelley argues that storytelling is a powerful tool that can be used to communicate complex ideas and inspire others to take action. As someone who is interested in the power of storytelling (for example, when I communicate with my teams or cross-functional teams/agencies I often use the storytelling approach to help them see the bigger goal and leave it to them how they want to do it but support them with critical thinking and reasoning), I found this chapter to be both insightful and inspiring.

Chapter 6: Building Creative Communities

This chapter explores the importance of building creative communities and the role of collaboration in fostering creativity. Kelley argues that creative communities can provide support, inspiration, and feedback, which can be invaluable in the creative process. This chapter reminded me of the importance of seeking out and building communities (online, remote, and offline) that can support my creative endeavors and build 'buddies for life'.

Key Takeaways

1.??????????Creative confidence is a mindset that can be nurtured and developed over time.

2.??????????Failure is an important part of the creative process and can lead to valuable insights and growth opportunities.

3.??????????A beginner's mindset, curiosity, and a willingness to take risks are essential to nurturing a creative mindset.

4.??????????Design thinking is a problem-solving methodology that can be applied to any situation.

5.??????????Storytelling is a powerful tool that can be used to communicate complex ideas and inspire action.

6.??????????Building creative communities is essential to fostering creativity and gaining support in the creative process.

Conclusion

"Creative Confidence" by Tom and David M. Kelley is an excellent resource for anyone seeking to unlock their creativity and is ready the think differently by training their mind to follow the unusual path through various methodologies and experimentations (a better name of failure)! Hope you too enjoy reading this book and share your experience with me in the comment box.