Creativity | Copy Unlimited blog

The risk of reward

More doesn’t mean better. In fact, it can mean worse.

The risk of reward | ted productivity ideas creativity | copywriter

A few months ago, I was chatting with a headhunter – no, not the South American type, but one who hunts in the concrete jungle.

He places top people into top jobs in the City of London, the beating financial heart of the capital. Think huge salaries, big bonuses and corner offices with walls of glass.

“So,” I said, “what makes them move? Is it the chance of even bigger salaries and bonuses?”

He didn’t even pause to think.

“It’s never about money. Never. Ever.”

Surprised? I was too. Surely you can never have enough zeroes on the end of your bank balance or big fat carrots on sticks at the end of the month?

Apparently you can.

For after a certain point, money fails to motivate. And that point is not as far down the line as you might think. For even high-flyers in the City are motivated by lesser things.

Like real challenges, new horizons and things that keep them fresh, alert and engaged.

What makes people tick is at the heart of Dan Pink’s talk, which I’ve just finished watching. The surprising science of motivation was delivered to TED Global in Oxford during the summer.

Here’s what I took away from it:

Larger rewards almost always lead to worse results.
Incentives dull thinking and block creativity.
The key to the 21st century can be summed up in three words: autonomy, mastery and purpose.
Google ‘gets’ it (that’s why we have Gmail, Orkut and Google News).

But I don’t want to spoil the talk by giving too much away.

Grab a skinny latte, put your feet up and treat yourself to 18 minutes and 36 seconds of entertainment, insights and sticking candles to walls (no, really – trust me).

If you’re reading this in an email and can’t see the video, click here instead: The surprising science of motivation.

Enjoy.

The fun way to be more creative

All work and no play is a really bad idea. Because play is work.

Need a break?

Of course you do. So put your feet up, forget about your worries, and take a minute to relax.

Or more exactly, 27 minutes and 58 seconds.

That’s how long it’ll take you to watch Tim Brown’s presentation at the Serious Play conference held in Pasadena, California, last May.

Brown is CEO of Ideo, a global design consultancy. In his talk, The powerful link between creativity and play, he makes a compelling case for why all work and no play makes Johnny a dull boy.

Or dull designer, marketer, entrepreneur or just about anything else.

In an entertaining performance (watch out for the bit where he comes under attack from ‘finger blasters’) he asks why we fear the judgement of our peers when children don’t. What happens to us when we open our minds to the many possibilities through ‘exploratory play’.

And how mescaline – the ultimate hippie drug of the psychedelic 60s – actually increased problem-solving abilities and creativity.

From ‘learning by doing’ to ‘thinking with your hands’, he explores some fascinating ideas that may fundamentally change the way you think about work – and play.

Enjoy.

Find out more

Let yourself go at the Serious Play conference.
Ideas to change the way you think at ideo.com.
See life differently: get the low-down on mescaline at Wikipedia.

Do you have enough thinking time?

Most things can wait. In fact, most things should wait.

Do you have enough thinking time? | productivity ideas creativity | copywriter

How many times have you checked your email today? Which takes priority - the thing that was top of your to-do list at 9am, or the email that just dropped into your In Box?

If you’re talking on your landline and your mobile phone rings, what do you do? And if, in the midst of all this, a Skype contact comes online and wants to chat, how do you handle your juggling act?

Not so long ago, things were so different.

Phones rang unanswered. Inter-office manila envelopes worked their way round the building, from department to department. Memos were typed in duplicate, triplicate and quadruplicate.

Letters were posted, and replies carefully composed. ‘By return’ meant a two-day turnaround, not a two-minute one.

The world was a slower place – and that gave us time to think.

Welcome to the machine

When did you first discover email?

For me, it was 1986. I sat in a friend’s office and she showed me just how technically advanced the company was. On their mainframe, they could send messages within a matter of seconds, as vital information winged its way around the organisation.

“Look at this,” she said, her voice brimming over with enthusiasm. She jabbed at function keys (no mice in those days) and clicked her cursor keys.

And there it was: cod and chips, roast lamb and nut cutlet – today’s staff-canteen menu, instantly transmitted by my friend’s friend, whose office was around the corner from those unmissable main courses.

Food for thought indeed.

Business at the speed of light

Since then, things have moved on a little. Slowly but surely, we’ve become bombarded by inputs. Emails, text messages, RSS feeds. Discussion groups, podcasts and instant messaging.

The digital deluge never stops.

Until we stop it.

Right now, my email program is closed. I’ll open it up when I finish this blog post. And if the phone rings, I’ll let it go to voice mail.

I’m no saint – it’s just that I’ve learned the hard way that if I don’t focus, I don’t get the job done.

One thing at a time.

If only others did the same. Ever spoken to somebody who takes a mobile phone call while they’re in the toilet? I have - believe me, you don’t want to go there.

Most calls can wait. Most emails can wait. In fact, most things should wait – you’ll have more time to reflect, decide and evaluate. And you’ll come up with better solutions, easier answers and clearer analyses.

Take your time. Think about it. Then, think a bit more.

You’ll be glad you did.

OK. You can check your email again.

The uncomfortable truth about comfort zones

Do what you’ve always done, and you’ll get what you’ve always got

The uncomfortable truth about comfort zones | ideas creativity | copywriter

I’m reading a fascinating book at the moment. It’s all about making things work in unexpected ways – combining things that have never been combined before, doing things differently, and stumbling on success.

I was sitting in my mobile office (Starbucks) yesterday and I read something that made me sit up – and put my skinny decaf hazelnut latte down.

It was about comfort zones.

We all have them, even if we don’t admit it. We tell ourselves we’re striking out, crossing frontiers and breaking new ground.

But are we?

Room 101, anybody?

A couple of years ago, in a life-drawing class I was in, the teacher put on some mood music. It reminded me of Laurie Anderson’s O Superman, with the lyrics spoken instead of sung.

And one of the lines made the hair stand up on the back of my neck.

Do something that scares you each day.

It’s an old idea: conquer your fear by facing it down. Speak to that stranger. Pick up the phone and make that call you’ve been putting off. Walk up to that dog and pat it (OK, you do that one, because there’s no way on earth I’m doing it).

It’s good to shake things up a little – but we hardly ever do.

The book talked about hiring decisions, and how we very rarely step outside our comfort zones. People hire people they like. I’ve been on both sides of the hiring table, so I know that it’s true.

But really, the the author argues, we should hire people we don’t like. People who haven’t got relevant experience. Hire people for a vacancy you haven’t even got yet.

Just do it, and see what happens.

Step outside the frame

Artists know all about looking at things from a different angle when they can’t see things clearly. One I know regularly turns her pictures upside down to see what’s wrong with them. If that doesn’t work, she views them in a mirror.

And often, just to keep herself on her toes, she’ll switch to a medium that she doesn’t feel comfortable with – just to see how she copes. If nothing else, she argues, it’ll ‘clean her palate’ (pun intended, I’m sure) and let her return to her usual medium.

So what could you change in your work that would give great results? That would produce unexpected creativity? That would help you clear that mental hurdle?

Just do it. And I’ll try patting a dog.

Promise.

5 ways to beat blank-page syndrome

“It must be so easy for you,” said the barber, as he clipped and shaped my hair.

“I hate having to sit down and write – all that space to fill.”

The truth is that it’s not always that easy. Sometimes, I too stare at the screen and think Where do I start?

So when BPS (blank-page sydrome) hits, here’s what I do:

1. See the big picture (aka think like an artist)

When I was a kid, I loved watching Rolf Harris. He dipped a big household paintbrush in a tin of paint and sloshed it on.

Not for him the minute drawing and millimetric precision of a draughtsman. He just put the color on the canvas and got on with it.

And from nothing, came something.

Suddenly, a painting emerged, and just before it did, Rolf would say those famous words.

“Can you tell what it is yet?”

So if you’re stuck, try starting with the big picture. Forget about the details – they’ll come later. For now, just throw the words on the page.

Start big, work small, and soon enough, the picture will emerge.

2. Begin at the end

Everything you write has a beginning, a middle and an end. But it’s not always easy to see them so clearly when you’re faced with BPS.

Often, you’ll know where you want to end up (you want somebody to call you, order your product, to arrange a sales visit) but you’re not sure how to get there.

So begin at the end, and work back.

Start with your call to action. Now go back one step to the body of your writing – the place where you list the compelling reasons. Give enough detail as you need.

You know you can’t start with that, so take another step backwards. How are you going to say hello, introduce your concept, pose a question?

Now you have the beginning.

Turn 180 degrees and start writing.

3. Work out what problem you solve

Everybody solves a problem.

Tesco saves me two whole hours every week by dropping off the shopping I’ve ordered online. I need more time; they give it to me.

Your accountant saves you the stress of struggling through your tax return. Plus, he makes sure you pay as little tax as possible, so he pays for himself.

Mostly, the problems people solve are to do with time (nobody’s got enough), money (ditto) or hassle (everybody’s got too much).

So what problem do you solve? Focus on that and you know where to begin.

4. Go back to basics

It’s so simple, but we rarely do it. And I’m often as guilty as anybody else.

Who are you writing for? 65-year-old retired men or teenage girls? Married women or divorced single dads? CEOs or technical directors?

What are you writing to them about? A new product, a special offer, a relaunch? How much detail should you give them?

Why should they take action? Have you given them compelling reasons? Are they really compelling? Become that teenage girl or divorced single dad for a moment. Are you convinced now?

Often, just working through these basic questions puts you ‘in the zone’. And then, there’s no holding you back.

5. Just do it

Remember that time you really didn’t want to go to the gym but you were glad you did when you got there? And how good it felt afterwards?

Writing’s no different.

Meanwhile back in the barber’s chair…

“So easy,” he echoed, looking dreamily into the mirror. His scissors were suspended above my hair.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a dead fly floating in the bright-blue antiseptic. And I thought of just how difficult it is some days to put the first word on paper.

We all have off days, I wanted to say to him. Then I looked at the hovering scissors, and checked myself.

“Yes,” I said. “Pretty easy.”

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