Your own ideas are always better

Creative people don't respond well to enterprise level systems and color-coded filing. We don't do too well with org charts and direct reporting grids. And we surely are awful at doing time sheets! Hopeless. And the real creative doesn't really care what her title is - does she? The person in the room with the best idea has the most status at that moment - whatever their title, whatever their age.

To learn what choices exist for my creative-business clients, I have been looking at coaching and self-help sites. I reacted really badly to a lot of the false enthusiasm I saw - and to acronyms - especially acronyms. What is it with acronyms?

Here's one of mine:
SWOTWA Stop Wasting Our Time With Acronyms.

And another.
FAME: Fatuous Acronyms Make Enemies

Got any others?

The one proven way to help a creative person is to help them figure out their own answers for themselves. We all know that someone else's idea is never a hit - until it becomes your own idea - then it is the smartest thing since whatever. I know that's how it works for me and that's how it works for pretty much every creative person I have worked with.

It's not manipulation - you help them to find a better answer - or a better way of doing things. (and I am sorry to say if they find an acronym helpful - well it will have to come from them - and they are welcome to it. Though LSMFT worked pretty well on the poor misguided smokers of the world. Look it up!)

So give creative people respect and help them to solve it themselves. Create a good environment, excite them, nurture and guide them and together we'll conquer the world.