The Blank Page

I've always been a terrible at coloring. In kindergarten I would use the wrong colors, couldn't stay in the lines, and would go on free-form scribbling odysseys that probably merited medication. I was good at other things (I swear I passed kindergarten), but I was objectively bad at coloring. 

Now, drawing was a different story. While other kids were drawing this car, I was already in the 3D realm, with greasy #2 shading and something vaguely resembling perspectives. I'd draw the car in precarious situations- on fire, submerged in water, launching off a cliff, and other psychoanalysis-worthy scenarios. The teacher could disagree with what I put on the page, but conceptually I earned every gold star she had to reluctantly dole out.

If you're thinking this is building toward a business metaphor, you probably colored better than Bob Ross and were in the gifted classes.

Creativity is a valued skill in most business roles. And that doesn't just mean outside-the-box sales strategies. At some point many of us will appreciate how the creativity of a clever accountant can save some serious scratch. Yet the majority of business roles values the measurable completion of tasks and objectives over the creativity that drives those successes. Didn't close enough sales? No Cadillac Eldorado for you. No coffee either.

In contrast, much of the creative industry is conceptual and the judgments are more subjective. Sure, once the concept is executed upon, there may be metrics (KPIs) to judge its demonstrable success. However, prior to the execution there is a conceptual phase where things are far less objective.

Despite planners and strategists best efforts, all too often creatives are handed a blank piece of paper. The "We want millennials to buy our product during the holidays" brief might jar loose a few humdingers, but proper concepting requires abstraction, imagination, and exploration. A creative's time isn't simply spent developing good ideas; it's also spent exorcising the bad ones.

The creative team fills their blank page with the best their mind can offer, and then submits it to public scrutiny. They know there's a good chance that others won't like their thinking, doubt the idea's potential, or will make a kinda-constipated face as they struggle to understand the fundamental concept. While it's typically a professional commentary that a creative receives, it's challenging to not take it personally when people critique their imagination. In fact, there's hardly a more personal thing to critique.

If you're in a role that does more coloring than drawing, metaphorically speaking, it's important to maintain some degree of empathy when dealing with your creative team. That doesn't mean you can't critique, disagree, or completely reject their work. After all, this is business, not art school.

However, focus any criticism on how the concept delivers on the brief, and allow the creative to walk you through their thought process. The way you communicate your feedback and value their time has a huge impact on your working relationship as well as their morale. When judging someone's conceptual work, be mindful that an actual human, just like you, may have been handed a blank page and was tasked to fill it with their heart and mind.

Not every picture deserves to go on the fridge. But that doesn't mean you should crumple it up in front of the artist and throw it in the trash can.