When oh when will Medium finally open up to contributors? I am loving this site's style, user experience and in-post conversation-ability.
Haven't heard of Medium? Check it out.
Here's a great post I discovered there today...
Dear Jr Creative…Earn Your Place. You’ll Be Better For It.
Some great snippets from this short TED talk from Nilofer Merchant:
- Sitting is the smoking of our generation. We do way too much sitting and it's costing our health.
- Take your meetings walking. Instead of grabbing coffee or sitting for yet another hour-long meeting in the conference room, get out and walk while you talk.
- Getting out of the box (office or cube) makes it easier to think outside of the box. Taking a walk and changing environments often inspires new thinking and perspective.
What do you want to do when you grow up? What type of role are you looking for next?
These questions are stale and useless. Today's up-and-comers change career paths frequently. More than that, we're faced with an ever-changing job field, where new, never seen before positions (and industries!) pop up on a daily basis.
And roles are changing too. Where specialists used to be in high demand (and still are, to a certain extent), we are now expected -- but not yet encouraged or taught how -- to become expert generalists. Able to perform and excel in cross-functional teams, and expected to innovate and be creative in everything we do.
So, if you insist on asking me, "Where do you see yourself in five years?" then the second I answer, what I said will be out of date and out of touch.
And it's not from lack of direction or strategic foresight and planning. It's because I realize that I know what I don't know.
And I know for a fact that I have absolutely no idea where my career will take me in the next five minutes, let alone five years.
Instead, ask me what my life objective is.
You might think that uncovering my life objective would be even more difficult to discern. You're wrong.
While career objectives continuously change, my core purpose for being likely won't.
So, what's my major life objective?
To remain connected to all things real and tangible. And to inspire and build connectivity for others - humans and organizations alike.
And, where do I see myself in five years? Who knows!
Just like every industry, advertising is in a transformation period.
In today's interconnected world, advertising is about more than ideas and campaigns, it's about connections, conversations and the creation of sustainable, experiential platforms.
In order to thrive in chaos, agencies must realize it’s no longer just about great ideas, it's about making things happen.
Anyone can have great ideas, but those people that actually make their ideas into something real and tangible are the successful few.
Employees who understand platforms, media, technology, trends, data, and “how to generate and make ideas” are the new model for talent.
A study conducted by Professor Øyvind L. Martinsen, out of BI Norwegian Business School, has seven elements
of a "creative" personality.
The study posed 200 questions to 481 people. The study subjects fell into three categories:
- "Baseline" subjects, such as lecturers or managers
- Students of advertising
- Performing artists.
You might be creative if...
- You Have an Active Imagination
- You Have a Rebellious Spirit
- You’re Motivated to Succeed
- You’re Ambitious
- You’re Flexible - You See Challenges as Opportunities
- You Worry, A Lot
- You’re Hard to Get Along With
The study also found that work environment can have a "particularly strong influence on a person’s creative prowess."
I find this nugget particularly interesting because I have personally experienced this environmental difference. In February I wrote about how, "Work environment and company culture truly influence your performance, your personality at work, and your ability to push outside of your comfort zone."
Martinsen says that a typically non-creative person can become much more so when his or her surroundings encourage rule-bending and free thought.
Based on the seven elements, are you "creative?"
And have you experienced how culture influences your creativity?
Leave me a comment! (To the right of the post)
It's true. The connected economy is disrupting everything about the way we live, work and build relationships. It's also changing how we purchase, and what we purchase.
“52% of Americans have rented, borrowed, or leased the kinds of items that people usually own in the past two years.”
Ownership was a concept once synonymous with the American Dream. Every individual (or family) had the ability to become upwardly mobile, and to own their own house, car, microwave and television.
And then that ownership proliferated even further as our economy made significant strides forward through consumerism, suburbanization, and the purchasing of material goods.
Now, we are reaching a tipping point as consumers. People are moving back to cities in droves. And there is less need for more material goods (and less space!)
Paired with instant connection and access, made possible by our technological innovations (smartphones, WiFi, etc.), consumers have realized that ownership is not necessary, but that sharing is key.
Much of our spending is shifting from actual physical products to services.
Instead of purchasing and owning a car, consumers choose to pay for a service, like Zipcar, that allows them to have access to a car whenever and wherever they might need it - but only when they need it.
What is disownership? It means sharing, renting, borrowing or making similar alternative arrangements to gain access to traditionally-owned items—without the expense or hassle of owning them.
Living first in rural Ohio, and then moving to the city of Chicago, I have firsthand experience dealing with this shift in mindset, and shift in needs. Zipcar is available whenever I need it for a modest fee, so why would I need to own a car?
Are there products that you now purchase as services?
Come gather ’round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You’ll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you
Is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’
Or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’.
—Bob Dylan
Answer: onlyness, cause that is the source of both new ideas for old problems or entirely new innovation ...
Photo via Nilofer Merchant
Last week, Ellen McGirt (of Fast Company fame) and Susan McPherson (exec at Fenton and expert in CSR) and Nilofer Merchant (the Jane Bond of Innovation) co-hosted a Salon to discuss Onlyness, key to #socialera.
Onlyness is that thing that only YOU can bring to a situation. As you see yourself, others can see you and the value you bring.
“Confidence is 10% hard work and 90% delusion. ”
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