An open letter to the creative class of 2022 from the guy you'll probably replace
Welcome! Your timing is amazing. There’s never been a more inviting moment to throw your energy into the scrum. Customers want more creativity, clients want more breakthroughs, data is proving the worth of your ideas and there are entirely new universes to conquer. It’s honestly mind-blowing.
But if we ever meet for an interview or at some event when you’re out job hunting, you might find yourself feeling uneasy. That’s understandable. You have no idea who I am or what’s coming next from me or anyone else.
Please keep something in mind though; I’m a little itchy too. I have no idea what’s coming with you either. You’re a mystery to me. Your knowledge, skills, insights and experiences come from places I can’t possibly imagine and would probably shatter my brain if I even try. And let’s not kid ourselves: You punks are here to take my job, aren’t you?
Good. I want you to. I’ll even give you a few thoughts to keep in mind along the way to your goal.
You’ve barely started learning
No one is expecting you to be a genius right out of the gate, or to be a genius alone. The cool thing is, you’re part of a team with people around you that want to see you kick ass. If you kick ass, we kick ass. This isn’t a competition; it’s a collaboration. Look around at all the new skills and intelligence surrounding you. Be curious, tap into it all, learn and merge them with your own and learn to recognize what they mean to the bigger picture.
Fail your brains out
It used to be that you needed a string of successes to grow. Now, you need a string of failures. Everyone loves a failure. And make no mistake—you will fail. Maybe a simple little slip up, maybe in spectacular fashion. Your fails will either be lost in the vacuum of time or turned into the stuff of legend. Failure helps you learn quicker and practice more. As long as you don’t give up, and you’re not harassing or hurting others, then drive it ‘til you break it. I look forward to failing vicariously through you.
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Have a wild mind and a focused finish
I feel pretty jaded sometimes. I’ve seen people fall into ruts as deep as canyons, Including myself. I’m counting on you to knock me out of that rut. Let your wild mind out to play. What fires me up most is seeing the most unexpected ideas from the freshest minds. Especially when they’re on strategy, aligned to the brand. But as good as your idea is, a poor finish will turn it to crap. Think about the film, the photography, the illustration, the font, the colors, the experience, the sonic styling, the nuance of language. It’s all there to help you bring your idea to a fevered finish. So, go nuts … but when the dust settles, execute with the passion of a tortured artist.
Purpose to everything
This is my personal mantra. Everything is defined and driven by purpose. A purpose directly inspired by the brief or the goal of the project. Purpose is defendable beyond subjectivity. A defendable purpose gives you license to explore and to push my boundaries and the client’s. If you can keep a clear line of sight to the brand and the strategy, it won’t matter if your idea has an intergalactic flying pony powered by rainbow farts that shoots bad guys out of space. If it has genuine purpose, it will be a lot easier to bring it to life. True story.
Respect your creativity
Keep it alive and protect it. It’s a gift—sometimes you need to share this gift for the sake of the team or the mission, but never lose respect for it, take it lightly or let it be abused. People who are not creative will never understand. It’s a honed skill, similar to being a doctor, a lawyer or an oshiya. The difference is, for most creatives it transcends skills and education; it comes from your heart and soul. Putting your ideas in front of people who don’t understand or respect where it comes from can make you feel incredibly vulnerable. Some tend to think it’s easy, that they can do your job too—even better sometimes. But being a creative is not something you can turn on and off. It’s something you are, like tall, or short, or French, or gay. It just is. Respect it, be proud of it, and protect it.?
No, do not “fake it ‘til you make it”
In my early days I often blazed a trail of glorious arrogance. (A former executive I worked with was kind enough to call it “brash.”) I believed I had all the answers and everyone else was lame for not seeing what I saw. And if I didn’t know, I pretended to. I was so eager to prove how utterly awesome I was that I would throw my arrogance full-force against the wrong problems and irrelevant solutions. All I did was waste time, lose trust, delay the real work and prove myself to be a jackass. Great team members learn by listening. Learn from my mistakes. Take time to digest, learn how you fit in, and be part of the team.
Yes, it’s an extraordinary time for you to step in and start your own revolution—and we need the constant stream of new creativity to keep our industry from getting stale and predictable. With you coming in, I’m confident it’s going to be even more extraordinary.?
By John Zegowitz, chief creative officer,?SCS