"We" is way more fun than one.
Creative teams—all teams, really—can’t afford to alienate other departments or work in silos to consistently generate the best thinking. We’re all moving way too fast, and AI’s jamming out its own “thinking” faster than you can shout “let’s rally the humans!”
First, go ahead and embrace the idea—better yet, embrace the action—of collaborating beyond our comfortably self-sufficient sandboxes. Why? There’s freedom in fearlessly feeding off the energy of others (virtual or in person), reallllly getting to know the people in the trenches, facing friction, tackling tension, digging in, working it out, championing and challenging, and emerging with a shared sense of something greater than oneself. It’s about getting back to going all in on whatever it takes to deliver the hardest-hitting, most authentic, strategic, and efficient solutions for the win. Yes, you will get there faster. Plus, we is way more fun than one.
Don’t get me wrong: more people in more meetings more often is not the answer. And I’m all for coming armed with rapid-fire prompts, thought-starters, and creative catalysts. All day. But just as the strongest, most successful ecosystems are also the most diverse, the best ideas typically happen with variety of thought. Even a few motivated, mighty-curious, and mildly caffeinated people can change your client’s world. Open ideation to other voices. The problem-solver may surprise you. Spend your precious time together building up the right ideas. Just know exactly what you’re solving for, keep the briefs brief, and please…use collaboration as an excuse to be unapologetically bold every dang chance you get.
Along the way, nurture the insightful confluence happening within better conversations, and welcome those wildly rich perspectives popping up and prompting you throughout the process.
If you’re in a position to expand your bubble of one, consider a few human-powered moments that bring us back together and generate discussion, like:
- Go deeper with someone from your network who fits the demo—and see what moves them.
- Sharing ownership, accountability, and the idea of what success looks like in the scoping phase, right from the start.
- Inviting the larger team into the client discovery session(s) for more collective ah-ha’s.
- Brainstorming better questions, not just fresh solutions. Move the meeting outside for fresh air while you’re at it. Maybe not summertime in Atlanta.
- Understanding and sharing in each other’s wins (and loses) to grasp the emotions we’re solving for along the way.
- Normalizing post-mortems and honest communication to grow from insights.
- Applying real-time analytics across teams so everyone’s getting smarter, always.
- Lastly, the word why remains the most powerful and timeless of conversation-starters. Keep it handy.
If we’re lucky enough to have a seat at a table, we owe it to each other to show up, to speak up, and to push the ideas and agency culture forward with the very best of your people-power.
You in?