Creativity Top 5: Week of July 1, 2013

Creativity Top 5: Week of June 24, 2013

AJ Jacobs: The Importance of Self-Delusion in the Creative Process

How can we apply the idea of method acting to our business lives? This is the question that lifehacker and bestselling author AJ Jacobs tackles in this insightful (and highly entertaining) talk on the benefits of faking it until you make it. Through a series of examples from his own life, Jacobs shows just how much our behavior shapes our thoughts and our perceptions. Thus, if we want to change our attitude about something, the best way is to “act as if.”

David Ogilvy: 10 Qualities of Creative Leaders→

"Father of Advertising" David Ogilvy on the ten qualities creative leaders must have. His book Confessions of an Advertising Man is a must read.  

1. High standards of personal ethics.
2. Big people, without pettiness.
3. Guts under pressure, resilience in defeat.
4. Brilliant brains — not safe plodders.
5. A capacity for hard work and midnight oil.
6. Charisma — charm and persuasiveness.
7. A streak of unorthodoxy — creative innovators.
8. The courage to make tough decisions.
9. Inspiring enthusiasts — with trust and gusto.
10. A sense of humor.

George Lois and Lee Clow on the Simple, Complicated Future of Advertising→

Advertising legends George Lois and Lee Clow, via Adweek, comment on the future of advertising at the Cannes Festival of Creativity: 

"The artists of new media will materialize," said Clow. "Right now it's a little bit blurry, a little bit vague. You've got some interesting companies out there. You've got David Droga and some others poking around, trying to figure out what it's going to be. But it's still in its infancy. When the artists truly take over the new media as well as the old, then those names will materialize."

Lois was typically blunt, imploring creatives not to give in to fear and weakness, or become slaves to technology. "The name of the game isn't technology.

The name of the game is creativity," he said. "Guys come to me and say, 'It must have been great back then, when clients would accept good work.' And I say, 'What the fuck are you talking about?' Do great work, and have the courage to sell it. Force it to be sold."