Работа 1When a project goes awry, we must remain open to the lessons that can be learned. As British author A. A. Milne once said, “Good judgment comes from experience, and experience—well, that comes from poor judgment.” Digesting the realizations that accompany failure is a crucial part of the creative process. Most of us have a hard time with failure because we feel not only the professional loss but also the personal hurt when our idea fails to gain traction. But this tendency poses a grave problem as we commit ourselves to act without conviction and kill ideas liberally. By doing so, we will meet many dead ends. Projects that encounter, or end with, failure have great value, but only if we can recognize it and reap the benefits. When something goes wrong, there are three questions we should seek to answer: What external conditions may explain the failure?When the outcome of any creative project is not what you intended, you should try to identify what, if any, external factors were responsible. Perhaps the client’s brief was not properly explained, or the timing was wrong. Perhaps there were other signs that the support required from others was missing. There are lessons to be learned that will help you better steward future projects. What internal factors may have compromised your judgment?When a project falls short of expectations, there is almost always something that you could have done differently along the way. Perhaps you didn’t seek enough restraints from the client. Maybe there were incorrect assumptions that you made in the early stages of the project. Ask yourself: if you had to pick two things that you would have done differently, what would they be? You don’t need to share your answer with others, but you should challenge yourself to have an answer. Through self-awareness, you should be able to identify the factors that compromised your judgment. Are there any gems in the unintended outcome?Francis Ford Coppola once quipped, “Art is partly being available to accidents that fall into your lap.” Achieving this sense of availability can be especially difficult when your flow is disrupted by the unexpected. But rather than dwell only on what went wrong, consider what you may have inadvertently discovered.
Avoid the Trap of Visionary’s Narcissism During my time at Goldman Sachs, I had the opportunity to be a fly on the wall in a lot of meetings in the executive office during both the dot-com bubble and the dire period that followed it. I always found it interesting how every challenge was presented as an unusual one-off: “Never before have we had a market bubble, followed by such volatility in interest rates, interspersed with terrorist concerns.” The business leaders would nod their heads in affirmation. “This is an extraordinary time,” someone else would say. Based on all the times I have heard “This is the most unusual X, the greatest period of Y, the new era of Z,” you might think that had I not been born in the last thirty years I might have missed the most exciting years of business since the beginning of time! Of course, if you consider the big picture, you see more patterns than exceptions. There was the railroad craze, the tulip craze, the radio craze, the Internet craze—and the leaders who bought in, the “carpe diem” executives who put it all on the line each time. Nevertheless, despite history, the tendency to think that a given opportunity or challenge is a one-off persists. I have come to call this propensity “visionary’s narcissism”—it is a leader’s default thinking that he or she is the exception to the rule. As creative minds, we are especially susceptible to bouts of visionary’s narcissism. Not only can we get carried away with the uniqueness of a particular problem or opportunity, we crave firsts and love to do things differently. While our tendency is to approach every creative project with a fresh set of eyes, we should also accept a grounding realization: not much is entirely new, and yes, we can adequately learn from the past. Challenge yourself to have some perspective. Don’t get so caught up in the novelty of what you are doing that you lose touch with what’s been done before. As you encounter negotiations with clients, collaborations with vendors and partners, or unique decisions or investment opportunities in your business, ground yourself with the fact that the situation you face isn’t as isolated and unique as you think. Previous knowledge is yours for the taking, often risk-free and time-tested. Today never feels like it will be history, but it will. And more likely than not, you will look back and realize that you should have known.
Combating Conventional Wisdom with Contrarianism As you harness the lessons of the past, you must also question them. Of course, nobody should willfully disregard good advice and fall victim to visionary’s narcissism. But as creative professionals, we cannot become imprisoned by the status quo. Yet another conundrum arises: how should we reconcile our tendency to seek the advice of experts with our desire to do things differently—and perhaps better? We should be wary that “best practices”—the tried and true ways of doing things—often become conventional wisdom, and conventional wisdom is often wrong. There is a somewhat healthy tendency in every discipline to defer to the knowledge of elders. From the apprenticeships of the pre- Industrial Age to the traditional corporate hierarchies that permeate our life today, societies are built on collective wisdom from the past. Major conferences around the world gather industry experts to share their wisdom. We painstakingly listen to our elders’ projections as if they were coming from an oracle. However, for the small portion of society that is tasked with innovation and pushing the envelope, a reliance on conventional wisdom is damning. We have to temper advice with a dose of skepticism, and we must always consider the merits of developing new platforms rather than more and more derivatives. An early theme that emerged in my interviews with creative professionals was the practice of “contrarianism,” or the act of purposely thinking against the grain when approaching problems and brainstorming new ideas. Contrarians are willing to manage (if not embrace) the uncertainties and risks inherent in thinking differently. And by questioning the norms, they are bound to either find better approaches or to feel more confidence in the old ways of doing things. The following are a few tips for engaging in the practice of contrarianism and navigating the terrain of conventional wisdom. Needless to say, consider them with a dose of skepticism!
Don’t revere someone based on age. There is an inherent prejudice against young people—or people who are new to our industries—because we question how much they could possibly know given their relative lack of experience. However, novices have very legitimate advantages when it comes to detecting trends, adopting new technology, and attempting risky undertakings that more experienced creatives would shy away from. When working with novices, you should pass judgment on their raw interests and skills rather than their age or number of years in the industry. Reconsider your approach to mentoring.Your tendency may be to look to those above you for guidance, connections, and opportunities. Yet your greatest advisers, partners, colleagues, and financiers are likely sitting around you rather than standing in front of you at the podium. While society may suggest that you have the most to learn from those at the top, you must make an effort to look around and below you as well. View mentoring less as an act of graciousness and more as a strategy to capture the benefits—through relationships or otherwise—that are likely to transpire for you as well. Distinguish past accomplishments from present knowledge.We all have a tendency to “rest on our laurels,” but cutting-edge knowledge becomes antiquated very quickly. The brilliant expert from yesterday may have little insight that is relevant today. In fact, such experts may be too biased by their own past experiences and success to see how the times have changed. As such, you should question the correlation between one’s past accomplishments and present knowledge. Aspire to better practices, not the best.Rather than default to the way things have already been done, recognize that anything can be done better. While it is certainly worthy to find and follow time-tested methods as we pursue projects, it is dangerous to passively accept advice. All conventional wisdom and “best practices” should be taken with a grain of salt and built upon as we aspire to “better practices.” (This applies just as much to the advice in this book!) Consider Yourself an Entrepreneur You have a responsibility to make your ideas sustainable. For an idea to thrive over time, it must be treated as an enterprise. Whether you work in a large corporation or on your own, when it comes to leading ideas, ultimately you are an entrepreneur. “Entrepreneurs are not the ones with the best ideas,” says Andrew Weinreich, a trailblazing serial entrepreneur. “They’re just the ones willing to jump off a cliff without the answers.” Weinreich created one of the earliest social networks, SixDegrees.com, which he eventually sold in January 2000 for $125 million. Most recently, he has founded Xtify.com, which offers free location-based services for mobile phones and Web apps, and MeetMoi.com, a mobile dating service. In all of these ventures, Weinreich has played the role of founder and leader. Weinreich’s business escapades did not start with thoughtful strategy and business planning. He graduated from law school with over $100,000 in debt. But he had ideas and grand visions of what they might become. “You can live longer off passion than off money,” Weinreich explains to me. But when he took the plunge on his first venture, he didn’t see a finish line—and he thinks it is wrong to have one in mind. Instead, he believes that entrepreneurs should just try “to stay in the fifth inning forever”—meaning they should focus more on incremental progress than on the need to win. The big win is likely far off in the distance, many iterations and ideas away from the current state of the project. This practice of perseverance is consistent with the notion of short-circuiting your reward system. Weinreich calls it “the process of willful delusion.” You must somehow stay engaged with incremental progress and maintain momentum, even if you find yourself staying in the same inning—making repeated attempts at the same idea. “When our [start-up team] first came together,” Weinreich recalled, “I told them that their biggest risk was joining the team—and that the rest of the experience would just be filling the holes in the boat. If we sat still, the boat would sink. The faster we moved, the more slowly the water would creep in, and we’d simply plug all of the holes over time.” Weinreich believes that the key to surviving the start-up experience is momentum. “When you stop moving, the music stops.” For Peter Rojas, the cofounder and CEO of RCRD LBL, mentioned earlier, the hardest part of pursuing a new idea is “pulling the trigger—being mentally in it or out.” He recalls that after he left Engadget he had a number of other tech-focused ideas regarding video networks and TV, but he decided that his mind wasn’t fully engaged by any of these ideas. He wasn’t ready to jump off the cliff. When you come across ideas worthy of your time and energy, it is important to know which assurances you need—and which you don’t—before you decide to take the plunge. You don’t need (nor will you ever have) all the answers, but you do need to feel that the risk of giving it a go is less than the risk of not trying. You don’t need to see a finish line in sight, but you do need enough momentum to stay afloat. In Anne Lamott’s international best seller Bird by Bird, about the art of writing, she cites a quote by the award-winning American author E. L. Doctorow on what it is like to write a novel. “It’s like driving a car at night,” Doctorow proclaims. “You never see further than your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” Along the journey to turn ideas into action, you must keep up the momentum, even if you can only see a few yards ahead. Most entrepreneurs will admit that the value of having a masterful business plan is overrated. What matters most is your ability to keep moving and pushing your ideas forward, yard by yard. Be Willing to Be a Deviant We have talked a lot about the personal obstacles that are common in creative pursuits and how to overcome them. In addition to the challenges posed by our own tendencies, there are also external, often societal, pressures that, at weak moments, can obstruct our journey. Most of the extraordinary creative minds I interviewed over the course of writing this book spoke of times in their lives when they made decisions that were unpopular but necessary. Whether it was dropping out of college to pursue a passion, quitting a wellpaying job to start a company, or declining certain opportunities that appeared golden to others — their paths were unconventional. As these budding creative leaders hacked their own paths, they lost support from others. But amidst a cacophony of discouragement from teachers and even their own families and friends, they persevered and learned to gain confidence from being questioned. They became deviants of a sort. Deviants are maverick-like, willing to be unpopular, misunderstood, and even shunned during creative pursuits. The vision of extraordinary achievement is, by definition, a few steps beyond consensus and conventional logic. As such, we should become emboldened by society’s doubts rather than deterred. Society is a bit hypocritical. The mainstream shuns wayward creative people with skepticism, especially when they defy the status quo. Dropping out of school or choosing an alternative career is frowned upon. But at the same time we celebrate the successes of the artists and entrepreneurs who enrich every aspect of our lives. Society celebrates the outcome of what society shuns. We make grave errors when we consider creative success as a one-off. Ideas are not made to happen by accident or out of luck. Creative achievement is simply the logical outcome of doing something different and seeing it through to completion. What society views as a tremendous risk may appear to some of us as an obvious and compelling opportunity. Whether or not the project becomes something meaningful depends on our capacity to organize and lead. You must learn to gain confidence when doubted by others. The uncharted path is the only road to something new. As pressures mount, you need to stay the course and consider the doubts of others as an indication of your progress. You cannot rely on conventional knowledge, rewards, and procedures as you lead creative pursuits. As you have learned, the ways that you manage your energy and engage employees and partners must all be questioned. Nothing extraordinary is ever achieved through ordinary means. With a deviant mind-set, the pressures from others become a source of confidence. By shedding the obligations and expectations bestowed upon you by the status quo, you can organize and lead extraordinary ideas to fruition.
Keep an Eye on the Backward Clock In hindsight, it is easy to talk about assuming the deviant mind-set and defying the status quo. But it is very difficult to take the leap. Many of us postpone our creative pursuits for a whole host of reasons. We want to stay in our current jobs a little while longer, perhaps to increase our savings or get “one more promotion.” Or maybe we are “waiting for the right time” but can’t really say for sure when that time will come. These might be rationalizations. Or, they might be perfectly good reasons to put off actualizing our ideas. Either way, we pay a price for postponing action. Consider for a moment: You are sitting in a dull meeting. Tuning out the conversations, you become entranced by the passage of time on the wall clock. You watch sixty seconds pass, a minute of your life that you will never get back. During that time, were you taking any risks to push your ideas to fruition? Were you moving the ball forward in any way? Were you marketing yourself for an opportunity to get closer to your true interests—or angling to further develop an area of expertise? Were you harnessing the forces of connection and opportunity around you? Depending on how you consider your current career and the state of your ideas, this vignette is either a painful reminder of wasted time and lost opportunity, or a motivational reminder to use every minute to pursue life to its fullest. The notion of the backward clock is simple: if you were told the exact year, day, and time that your life would end, would you manage your time and energy any differently? Even if that date were seventy-three years, twelve days, two hours, and thirty seconds from now, would you become more aware of time passing, minute by minute? In essence, we all have a final date and time ahead of us, but we are not burdened with a countdown. This is probably a good thing, given the anxiety that such information would create. Nevertheless, there are some benefits from keeping an eye on the backward clock. As you seek to capitalize on your creative energy, insights, and ideas, the window of opportunity is always closing. A dose of pressure is a good thing. The fact that time is ticking should motivate you to take action on your ideas. When little opportunities present themselves, you might decide to seize them. An eye on the backward clock helps you stomach the risk because, after all, time is running out. Get on it.
The Love Conundrum Love plays a strange role in creative pursuits. At first, love sparks our interest and a relentless desire to focus and learn. During the tough times and project plateaus, love keeps us engaged. But love also creates a chasm between our visions and accomplishments. Love can lead to great disappointment.
Love drives us. There is an extraordinary gentleman named Jason Randal who knows a lot about love. You may have seen Randal perform magic on one of the latenight talk shows or at world-famous conferences. Or perhaps you have seen his stunt double work in one of his films, including An Officer and a Gentleman, Tequila Sunrise, and Pretty Woman. Even if you have, you probably don’t know that Randal holds a PhD in social psychology, plays and writes for five musical instruments, speaks three languages, and is a board-certified master hypnotherapist, licensed locksmith, NAUI master scuba instructor, and master certified flight instructor for both airplanes and helicopters. We’re not done. Randal is also a seventh-degree black belt in karate and has instructed for six years at the Chuck Norris karate school. Believe it or not, the list goes on. More than anything else, Randal is an expert in developing an expertise. Lucky for all of us, Randal is willing to share his secrets. He emphasizes three critical components for developing a mastery: (1) a deep desire and interest in a topic, (2) the ability to learn it, and (3) the capacity to enlist support. The deep desire and interest, Randal explains, prompts an intense and lasting engagement with the topic. When you couple this obsession for a topic with the ability to learn (through comprehension, mnemonics, or otherwise) and the involvement of others, you can accomplish extraordinary feats. As Randal describes his approach to his many interests, the common theme is a deep and authentic love for every skill he has developed and his experiences using them. Randal has an insatiable desire to become better, but not out of ambition or competitiveness. Randal is driven by love. Love keeps him engaged long enough to learn, experiment, and take bold risks. As a tremendous salesman of his own projects and philosophies, Randal is able to engage his community. His positive energy is contagious, and his projects benefit as a result. Randal demonstrates how love can carry us toward great accomplishments. Love disappoints us.In the beginning of the book we met Jonathan Harris, a very accomplished artist whose projects are all complex attempts to explore his fascination with emotion. When I met Harris, he shared the complicated role that love plays in his work. “The love you have for what you’re doing is actually the most important thing,” Harris explained. “Love is the only thing that’s going to pull you through and get you to finish... but there is also a paradoxical and interesting fact: The thing you actually end up making is going to be such a failure compared to the original feeling that you had, the original vision that you had. If you finish and you find out that it’s not a failure, it means that you didn’t try hard enough, because when you really fall in love with something, you idealize it, and you develop a vision of it that’s actually unattainable in reality. The feeling of it is so pure that you can’t make a real thing that has that feeling and so you’re inevitably going to be disappointed by it. And in some way, the depth of that disappointment is in direct correlation to how beautiful the vision was to begin with.” Harris argues that love motivates us, keeps us loyal throughout our projects, and then ensures some level of disappointment at the end. Reconciling love.You may have heard the old quote “How do you get someone to stop enjoying what they love to do? Pay them to do it.” The adage suggests that when your passion becomes your work, your relationship to your passion changes. There are many examples we’ve come across—a designer gets hired by a big firm, an entrepreneur gets hired to run a business within a large company, a novelist gets commissioned to do a story for someone else—in which a bout of suffering sets in as we start to go through the motions. The mechanics of these projects weigh on us. As we relinquish control and realize that others will take credit for the outcome of our labor of love, we start to question ourselves. Your challenge is to maintain an organic relationship with the craft that you love. The expectations and rewards imposed by others will only compromise your passion if you rely on them as the source of your interests. Like a fleeting sense of lust, passion fueled by traditional incentives will quickly fade. You must stay focused on the intrinsic rewards of your work and stay motivated by the means rather than the ends. Love is a cause of both commitment and then, often, a great deal of disappointment. But an enduring love for an idea or interest can push you past the obstacles. The people who transform industries and change the world are people who have mastered what they love. They continue to practice their craft because they love the process more than the outcome. And they are constantly finding new ways to reengage, keeping the love affair alive despite the suite of pressures that come between our visions and reality.
AN OPPORTUNITY AND A RESPONSIBILITY
WHEN PEOPLE HEAR a new album, read a new novel, or celebrate the achievements of a revolutionary new product or business, they seldom grasp the magnitude of effort and capabilities required to create it. But as creators ourselves, we should view the world of innovation with a lens that sees beneath the glamour. We should round out our creative talents and impulses with a continuing education in the forces of execution. The case studies surround us every day. When breakthroughs and accomplishments are celebrated—spectacular movies are released, novels are published, and companies grow—we should work backward in our minds and imagine all that was required to push the idea to fruition. How much organization and sheer perspiration was involved? How many late nights, team fights, and spurts of personal growth took place along the way? How many drops of perspiration (and tears) were shed? There is a deep sense of understanding and respect shared among creative leaders who have encountered success. The bond is not a result of their shared sense of achievement. Rather, it is the result of empathy and mutual admiration. Regardless of industry, every creator who has successfully made an idea happen has fought and survived a very long war. While the scars and memories may be from different battles, they all know what it’s like to be out there, struggling across the project plateau and constantly pursuing innovation against the grain. Our raw curiosity and sense of wonderment fuels our ideas, but bringing them to fruition requires a steadfast commitment. All of the insights, unnatural restraints, and personal compromises we have discussed are part of this arduous commitment. And if you stick out the journey, you will have a unique opportunity to make an impact in your world. It is not naïve or a cliché to say that the creative mind holds the answers to all of the world’s problems. It is merely a fact. And so, you should balance your desire to use your creativity with a sense of responsibility. Please take yourself and your creative pursuits seriously. Your ideas must be treated with respect because their importance truly does extend beyond your own interests. Every living person benefits from a world that is enriched with ideas made whole — ideas that are made to happen through your passion, commitment, self-awareness, and informed pursuit. Challenge yourself to withstand the self-doubts and societal pressures that will rally against you. When they do, take comfort in the knowledge that you are in good company. We all struggle, but we persevere. Adversity makes us stronger. Relish the fact that you are on an important path, emboldened by both the opportunity and grave responsibility to create something of value—a value that is rewarding for you and enriching for all.
Acknowledgments WHILE THIS WORKis the result of many years of research and writing, the idea would never have materialized without the support and leadership of my colleagues on the Behance team, mentors, and family. Many of the concepts and perspectives shared in this book are the result of your influence and the opportunities you have provided. While I have sought to cite every source properly, I know that my knowledge is an outcome of countless discussions, experiences, and great mentorship. I am extremely grateful and want to acknowledge the great impact you have had on this book. Matias Corea, my founding partner and the chief designer of Behance, has taught me that design is at the center of organization and communication. His vision has enabled Behance to make an impact in the creative world, and his partnership has made all the difference along the way. I learn from Matias every day, and the research and realizations of Behance are an outcome of our friendship and his leadership and mastery of design. I also thank Matias for the art direction and design of the cover for this book. I am extremely fortunate to work with a brilliant and committed team at Behance. David Stein and Chris Henry have led technology at Behance since the very beginning. Their insights and stewardship of Behance extend well beyond our services and played a crucial role in our research. I also wish to thank Bryan Latten and our growing technology team that has rounded out Behance’s technology and development and have infused new insight into Behance’s products and services. I must also thank Brittany Ancell, Behance’s chief of operations, for her mastery of organizational principles and her leadership of Behance’s operations that provided the bandwidth for me to write this book. I extend my gratitude to my colleagues Alex Krug, Oscar Ramos Orozco, Joshua Jabbour, and Zach McCullough for breathing fresh insight and leadership into Behance. As Behance’s senior designer, Zach is also to thank for his help with the illustrations for this book. Behance would also not be what it is today without our special relationship with JB Osborne and Emily Heyward from Red Antler—and the guidance from our esteemed advisory board members. Thank you! Jocelyn Glei started working with me in 2008 as a research assistant for this book and became the ultimate partner in editing and debating the merits of the tips and insights throughout the book. She also became the editor in chief of The 99%. Jocelyn is a brilliant journalist and writer in her own right. I am grateful for her commitment to and endless energy for this project—it would not have been possible without her. Steve Kerr and Steffen Landauer were managers and mentors to me early in my career at Goldman Sachs. The opportunity to follow around and learn from Steve and Steffen was absolutely fundamental to my understanding of leadership development. By inviting me to join the Pine Street team, Steve and Steffen provided an experiential education beyond my wildest expectations. I had the great fortune of being able to work with Professor Teresa Amabile during my second year at Harvard Business School. I am grateful for Teresa’s willingness to serve as a mentor and adviser during my independent research. As I reflect upon great mentors, teachers, and confidants who have provided advice and played a key role in this journey, I wish to thank Deborah Streeter, John Jaquette, Michael Schwalbe, Michael Brown, Itai Dinour, Quanda, Reboot, the LifeRemix folks, the team at TED, Evan Orensten and Josh Rubin at Cool Hunting, Sheila Danko, Aaron Dignan, Josh Spear, Charles Torres, and my good friend (and first partner in business), Ben Grossman. My agent, Jim Levine, and my editor, David Moldawer, along with his team at the Portfolio imprint at Penguin, have provided invaluable guidance and support over the course of the project, for which I am extremely grateful. I want to extend a special thank-you to the many people and teams that were willing to be interviewed and that invited me into their creative process. Your insights were invaluable, and your willingness to share them will enable so many others to serve as leaders of remarkable ideas. Most importantly, I am grateful to my family—especially my wife, Erica; my parents, Nancy and Mark; my sisters, Gila and Julie; Susan Kaplan; and Alain, Ellen, and Remy Roizen—all of whom provided endless encouragement over the years as I labored through my own journey to make ideas happen. I also wish to thank my grandfather, Stanley Kaplan, a man who was also motivated to help people achieve their true potential, for the inspiration and important lessons his life has provided.
Appendix 1: Tips for Practicing the Action Method Design for the Action Method
Regardless of what type of notebook or journal you use, you should consider designating certain spaces for actionable items and Backburner Items. These spaces should be kept separate from the space you use for general notes and sketching. Here is an example of how we practice the Action Method using the products we designed. You can download a free template of the Action Pad at Creatives Outfitter.com—as well as purchase products based on the method’s design.
Online Utilities for the Action Method The concept of the Action Method can be practiced using most online task management tools. In 2008, Behance launched its own version, Action Method Online, which allows users to manage their Action Steps and collaborate with others using a Web browser or mobile device. You can start using the online utility for free at ActionMethod.com.
The Action Method design that the Behance team uses in meetings and brainstorms More Resources on Action and Execution Behance’s annual 99% Conference and database of tips, interviews, and other resources are organized online and can be accessed at The99Percent.com. The 99% also functions as a community of like-minded creative people and teams with the desire to exchange best practices and boost productivity. You are welcome to participate.
Appendix 2: The Purple Santa Experiment
AS AN EXPLORATIONin rapid idea generation turned execution (and for the purpose of holiday cheer), the Behance team conducted a fun experiment in 2008. On one mid-December afternoon, the Behance team gathered around a table in our old start-up office to enjoy some lunch. Like at most lunches in the early days, we were brimming with ideas for what Behance might become and how organized the creative world should be (and what we could do to make it happen). And then our conversations would take drastic turns, to dream travel spots, childhood stories, and the occasional crazy idea that was tangential (at best) to our day jobs. One such idea was the concept of spreading holiday cheer. It was December 2008 and, amidst the looming recession, many of our friends across industries feared the worst. Layoffs were imminent. Our meandering lunch discussion turned to the prospect of how to spread holiday happiness. And then the spark happened. “What if Santa made a surprise visit to a string of agencies and creative work spaces around New York City?” One Santa became three purple Santas with long purple beards, large red bags full of candy, lottery scratch tickets, and little notes inspiring holiday cheer. It was just one of those crazy fledgling ideas that was unlikely to ever see the light of day. But for some reason, it started to gain traction, and some granularity emerged over the course of the conversation. There was the proposed policy about anonymity (we wouldn’t tell people we were doing it; our strategy for dealing with security guards); we would explain that we were sent to deliver Christmas cheer to someone we knew in each agency; and we agreed to keep the budget minimal. The idea was getting some legs. After forty minutes, we realized that the time set aside for lunch had long passed. People started to gather their crumbs and take the last sip before returning to ongoing projects and the daily tasks. The idea had nearly slipped away in a matter of minutes. And then, right before we all broke in our own directions, one team member said, “Hey, I know where we can get really cheap Santa outfits with white beards that could easily be died purple.” Alas, a proposed Action Step! Rather than create a project plan and really put our minds together around the project — something that we just didn’t have the time to do—the team decided to simply act on the idea without much thought. Rather than plan, we decided to rapidly propose, assign, and take a series of actions to see if this fledgling idea could actually happen without any formal process. Of course, the risk for the idea was low. The cost of three unused Santa costumes and excess office candy was one we were willing to incur. But there was also a desire to test ourselves, not to mention the fact that the prospect of spreading holiday cheer was fun and rewarding in itself. And so, in a quick series of actions taken, PurpleSanta.com was purchased and developed in twenty minutes, the costumes were purchased, the beards were dyed, and the team was ready one afternoon for Operation Purple Santa. The actual Purple Santas — who shall remain anonymous — visited seven different companies. There were Twitter and Facebook messages about the strange Purple Santas running through offices. Others began broadcasting a call out into the ether, pleading for the Purple Santas to visit their office as well. In this experiment, a random idea thrived only through a willingness to act quickly and without conviction. This fond memory serves to illustrate the mechanics of quick action and how, without it, fledgling ideas are far less likely to ever happen.
Appendix 3: Overview of the Behance Network
THE BEHANCE NETWORKis a free platform for the world’s leading creative professionals. Behance.net is used mostly by professionals in the visual creative industries — including designers, photographers, illustrators, and all kinds of other artists — as a powerful tool to showcase their world broadly, solicit feedback, and build a professional network. Millions of people visit the Behance Network and its affiliated sites every month to explore, find, and hire top creative talent. Our team developed the Behance Network as a means of fostering accountability, career development, and knowledge exchange in the creative professional community. It is designed to help organize the creative world’s work. The Network’s utilities, design, and extensive partnerships empower creative professionals to lead their own careers. The Network has also become one of the best recruiting spots for companies to search for and hire top talent. You are welcome to visit the Behance Network at behance.net—whether for inspiration, to find and hire top talent, or with the intention to showcase your own creative work.
Index A accountability for Action Steps community and action: bias toward conviction and culture oriented to meetings and pause between ideation and premature Action Method breaking projects into primary elements flow of meetings and practicing project management tips for Action Method Online Action Pad Action Steps acceptance of accountability for aesthetics of tools used in Awaiting brevity of capturing delegated distinguishing References from e-mail and Ensure managerial meetings and prioritization and, see prioritization processing progress and project plateaus and References as hindrance to sequential tasking vs. multitasking and two-minute rule for verbs in work space and and work vs. personal life Adidas advertising industry aesthetics and visual design age Allen, David Amabile, Teresa Amazon ambiguity AMR Research amygdala Anderson, Chris (TED curator) Anderson, Chris (Wired editor) Anderson, Chuck Anderson, Patrick Anheuser-Busch apathy Apple Spaces feature of appreciation Attkisson, Erik
B Bacigalupo, Tony Backburner Items processing ritual for setting up backward clock Bank of America Barbarian Group Bar Mitzvah Disco (Bennett, Kroll, and Shell) Barnett, Guy Bazille, Frédéric Behance Action Method Online Done Walls 99% Conference Purple Santa experiment Behance Network overview of Bell, Gordon Bell, Joshua Bennett, Roger Bergin, Shirley Berkowitz, Roger Best Buy best practices Bierut, Michael Bird by Bird (Lamott) BJ’s Wholesale Club Bono boundaryless organization Bowerman, Bill Boynton, Robert brain brainstorming work space and Brand Tags Brannan, Erin Brier, Noah Brooklyn Brothers Bubble Project bureaucracy Burton business plans BusinessWeek C California Academy of Sciences Camp Camp (Bennett and Shell) ceiling height Cézanne, Paul Coach for America challenge meetings change circles rules of self-awareness and Clinton, Bill CNN Cohen, Sacha Baron Comando, Carly commitment communications strategy community accountability and circles commitment and competition and Doers in Dreamers in feedback from frequency theory and grounding ideas outside of idea sharing in Incrementalists in networks partnerships pushing ideas out to self-marketing and serendipity and spotlight and transparency and work space and competition complementary skill sets completion, biological and psychological resistance to conflict consensus constraints contrarianism conventional wisdom conviction Cook, Tim Coppola, Francis Ford Corea, Matias Cornell University Costco coworking creative’s compromise creative team appreciation in building complementary skill sets in conflict in consensus in flexibility and hot spots in immune system in Initiators in leaders talking last in managing sharing ownership of ideas in creativity constraints and work space and creator’s immediacy Crooke, Michael Crossing the Chasm (Moore) Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly Currey, Mason cynics D Daily Routines Darwinian prioritization Davis, Brock Davis, Joshua daylighting Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre Degas, Edgar design and aesthetics deviants differentiating attributes disagreement and debate Disney Disney, Walt diversity of expertise Doctorow, E. L. Doers Done Walls Dreamers Duffy, Robert Duranty, Louis Edmond E Edison, Thomas Eisenhower, Dwight D. Ellenthal, Jon Action Steps and feedback and Insecurity Work and emotions energy constraints and Energy Line Insecurity Work and rewards and and urgent vs. important tasks work space and Engadget Engine Room entrepreneurs Evernote “Everyday” project execution and abandoning ideas biological and psychological tendencies and change and community and constraints and conviction and following up meetings and progress and rewards and shipping visual organization and experimentation F failure, benefits of Farah, Roger Fast Company Fawkes, Piers fear feedback appreciation-based self-awareness and flexibility Flickr Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (Csikszentmihalyi) focus community and Dreamers and work space and focus area following up Fortune 43folders.com Free: The Future of a Radical Price (Anderson) Freedom Park Freelancers Union frequency theory G Gallup Inc. games Geek Dads General Electric Getting Things Done (Allen) Gizmodo Gladwell, Malcolm Godin, Seth Goldman Sachs GOOD go-to people Greenberg, Bob Grisham, John Group Genius (Sawyer) group therapy GSD&M Idea City Guilt & Pleasure H happiness HarperCollins Harris, Jonathan Harvard Business Review Hennes, Tom Hewlett-Packard hoarding: of information of urgent items Holt, Courtney Honda Horowitz, Sara hot spots Hsieh, Tony I IBM ideas: abandoning community and competition and marketing of new, generating sharing sharing ownership of skepticism about Idelsohn Society for Musical Preservation IDEO The Shop at Illusion of Life, The: Disney Animation (Johnston and Thomas) impact important vs. urgent tasks Impressionist movement i n-box Inc. Incrementalists information nodes Initiators innovation Insecurity Work Internet iPhone Ive, Jonathan J Jacobs, Marc Jefferson, Thomas Jobs, Steve Johansson, Frans Johnston, Ollie justice J. Walter Thompson K Kalina, Noah Kalmikoff, Jeffrey Kaplan, Rob Kerr, Steve Kinkade, Thomas Klein, Calvin Knight, Phil knowledge, past accomplishments vs. Krispy Kreme L Lamott, Anne Landauer, Steffen Lauren, Ralph leadership creative team and, see creative team meetings and rewards and, see rewards of yourself, see self-leadership Lee, Ahree Lee, Ji Legal Sea Foods Lewis, Michael Liar’s Poker (Lewis) Likemind lizard brain l ocation-centric vs. project-centric approaches Long Tail, The (Anderson) love M McPherson, Isaac Maeda, John “Make Something Cool Every Day” project management, see leadership Manet, Edouard Mann, Merlin marketing Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) MBA training Medici Effect, The (Johansson) meetings Action Steps and challenge of circles length of project management regularly scheduled standing team leaders and MeetMoi.com mentoring Meyers-Levy, Joan Microsoft microwave oven Milne, A. A. Miramax mistakes, taking advantage of Mizrahi, Isaac momentary injustice Monet, Claude Moneyball (Lewis) Moore, Geoffrey MTV multitasking MySpace Music N nagging (Darwinian prioritization) Nair, Archan Naked Communications National September 11 Memorial Museum Netflix networks New New Journalism, The: Conversations with America’s Best Nonfiction Writers on Their Craft (Boynton) New Work City New York Times Nickell, Jake Nietzsche, Friedrich Nike 99% Conference NoahBrier.com Nokia Norman, Donald note taking O O’Callahan, Jay organization competitive advantage of impact and structure and work routines P Palm V Palmer, Benjamin Panasonic partnerships passion Patagonia Patterson, James Peace Corps Pentagram personal advisory boards perspective perspiration Edison on “Phylotaxis” Piano, Renzo Pine Street Pissarro, Camille play Poetics of Music in the Form of Six Lessons (Stravinsky) Pop!Tech Portfolio Post-it note Postrel, Virginia Priceline.com Prince-Ramus, Joshua prioritization Darwinian Energy Line and urgent vs. important tasks processing procrastination Procter & Gamble productivity, flexibility and progress project-centric vs. location-centric approaches project management breaking projects into primary elements meetings for plateaus and PSFK.com Publishers Lunch Purple Santa experiment R Randal, Jason RCRD LBL reactionary work flow Rebel Sell, The (Heath and Potter) Reboot Network recognition Red Bull Reed Space References chronological pile for discarding distinguishing Action Steps from filing labeling processing questioning Renoir, Pierre-Auguste responsibility grid restrictions rewards happiness as incremental play as recognition as short-term REX R/GA Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) Rodriguez, Diego Rojas, Peter Rothstein, Jesse routines, work ROWE (Results Only Work Environment) Rutterford, Stephen S Sagmeister, Stefan sandbox environments San Francisco Chronicle Sawyer, Keith schedules, work School of Visual Arts Schorr, Max Schwartz, Barry Scientific American Mind self-awareness self-leadership backward clock contrarianism and deviants and entrepreneurship and failure and ambiguity and love and self-awareness in visionary’s narcissism and self-marketing self-reliance serendipity SETI Institute shipping Sisley, Alfred SixDegrees.com skepticism Slate.com social networks social power Southwest Airlines Spaces feature Spear, Josh Spence, Roy Spencer, Percy LeBaron Staple, Jeff Staple Design START/STOP/CONTINUE approach Steinhart Aquarium storytelling Stravinsky, Igor structure change and work routines Stutman, Randall Substance of Style, The (Postrel) Sun Microsystems supply chain management support Sutton, Robert T Tarter, Jill Taylor, James team wikis TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference Texas the99percent.com Thinc Design Thomas, Frank thrashing Threadless 3Com 3M Times Square Total Recall (Bell) Toyota transparency Trickey, Keith Truslow, Sam 21 Dinner two-minute rule U unique features urgent vs. important tasks V Vans Vimeo visionary’s narcissism visual organization W waiting waiting in line Walker Digital Wal-Mart Washington Post Weblogs, Inc. “We Feel Fine” project Weinreich, Andrew Welch, Jack West, Kanye “Whale Hunt” whiteboards Whittingham, Parris Williams, Colin Wilson, E. O. Wired work ethic workplace flexibility work routines work space shared World Trade Center worrying writing WTC Logos Preservation Project Wyatt, Jocelyn X Xtify.com Y Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) YouTube Z Zappos Zola, Émile Zolli, Andrew
About the Author
SCOTT BELSKY BELIEVESthat the greatest breakthroughs across all industries are a result of creative people and teams that are especially productive. As such, Scott has committed his professional life to helping organize creative people, teams, and networks. Scott is the founder and CEO of Behance, a company that develops products and services to organize the creative world. He also leads “The 99%,” Behance’s think tank and annual conference that conducts and showcases research on organization and execution in the creative world. Behance’s first product, the Behance Network, has become the leading online platform for creative professionals. The Network collectively receives millions of visitors every month and has become one of the most efficient platforms for creative professionals to broadcast their work to top agencies, fans, peers, and recruiters. In 2008, Behance launched the Action Method, a revolutionary “action management” system that has replaced traditional project management practices throughout the creative professional world and beyond. Behance also developed the Action Method product line—a series of organizational products that are sold around the world. Scott has traveled the globe meeting with hundreds of creative professionals and teams, always asking the question, “How do you make ideas happen?” He has consulted for leading media companies, helped institute work flow changes at top advertising agencies, and regularly speaks at major conferences in the creative industries. He has also shared Behance’s research in segments on ABC News and MSNBC, and is a regular contributor on American Express’s Open Forum. Prior to founding Behance, Scott helped grow the Pine Street Leadership Development Initiative at the Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. He was especially focused on organizational improvement and strengthening relationships with key clients. Scott also hopes to increase “productive creativity” in the not-for-profit world through his involvement on various boards, including Cornell University’s Entrepreneurship Program and Reboot. Scott’s education is in design, environmental economics, and business. He attended Cornell University as an undergraduate and received his MBA from Harvard Business School. Scott lives and works in New York City.
CONNECT WITH SCOTT: www.scottbelsky.com twitter.com/scottbelsky
Anecdotally, I have spoken with multiple human resources professionals within creative agencies who report that the most common reasons for quitting, as stated in exit interviews, are related to management or morale issues rather than more competitive salaries.
Our team conducted a small investigation into this topic, known as “The Purple Santa Experiment,” the story of which is told in Appendix 2.
Godin’s MBA program is more competitive to get into than Harvard’s. It is a small class of about ten students that experience a rather autonomous six-month education under Godin’s direction. The 99% Conference was just one of many parts of the “curriculum.” I have met a number of Godin’s students and am impressed with their intellectual intensity and practicality. They are all emerging leaders; and I found myself envious of the experience they were having. As a recipient of a more traditional MBA from Harvard, I can say that Godin’s MBA program likely serves as a better foundation and stronger impetus for entrepreneurial success than any other top MBA program.
Michael P. Farrell, “The Life Course of a Collaborative Circle: The French Impressionists,” in Collaborative Circles: Friendship Dynamics & Creative Work (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001), 27-67.
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