Three enemies to remarkable art... "Just Get it Done", "Make it Happen" and "Not Enough Time"

Frustration1

Regardless of what you may think... remarkable art does not happen over night.  Remarkable art is usually the product of long hours of serious thinking, play, divine intervention, soul searching and in some cases, a spiritual experience that manifest itself as "art".  Okay, yes... I may have just gone over the top a bit, BUT I think you get my point.  Creating (creation) is serious business, however; what I find in most organizations (and when I say most, I really mean A LOT) is that there is far more time invested and attention placed on the "strategy" used to release or share art, than the creation of the art. Here is what usually happens... And if I am wrong, there is a place at the bottom of this post for comments, and I will stand corrected... 

1. The Admin Guru's huddle up in an office or a "creative space" and they dream up some fantastic, communication strategy that requires a dose of remarkable art to get the message across... 

2. The same group of Admin Guru's will then begin the process of strategizing how they will execute on the clever messaging... 

3. Then the dreaded "timeline" is created... By the Admin Guru's... 

4. The Admin Guru's trek off to their respective caves and start thinking away, and doing... 

Time elapse... 

5. One of the Admin Guru's (in the third hour) get's the "epiphany" that the "remarkable art" that needs to be done, has to be delegated to the "remarkable art makers". This usually includes the Creative Director, Design Guys and Gals and anyone else that is responsible for creating "remarkable art". 

This is where things can get interesting... And this is why I am writing (ranting) this blog post... 

The biggest "push-back" that I tend to deal with, when it comes to managing creatives is this... 

"They (probably referencing the Admin Guru's) always finds a way to just "drop stuff" in our laps, with unrealistic deadlines..." 

And here is why the Creative Lead is saying this... 

Remarkable art does not happen over night.  Remarkable art is usually the product of long hours of serious thinking, play, divine intervention, soul searching and in some cases, a spiritual experience that manifest itself as "art".

Yes... this is exactly what I said in my opening paragraph. And yes, it's the fuel behind the Creative Leads frustration... 

Three enemies to remarkable art... 

1. Just Get it Done

2. Make it Happen

3. Not Enough Time

If you are leading creative people, and if you are trying to do creative stuff... I mean the "mind blowing" stuff that gives people "goose bumps"... Make sure that you are mixing the Creatives (the people who make remarkable art) in with the Admin Guru's. Everyone has their gifts... Admin people do "admin stuff", and creatives do "creative stuff". Where things get all out of sorts is when these two gifts are not communicating properly. Bringing the Designers in on the strategic meetings may deliver some pleasant surprises. By leveraging design with the strategy, better expectations can be set, realistic timelines can be established... And perhaps, just perhaps... Some remarkable art can be produced.