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How to Know When It’s Time to Show People Your Creative Work
When will that project be ready? Probably sooner than you think.
For a number of years, I reported on the advertising industry, covering some ad agencies known for their creativity and some known for making more predictable, unexciting ads. I noticed that at the less creative agencies, people tended to more closely guard their ideas, keeping them in locked drawers as long as possible, fearing that someone in the next cubicle might copy an idea and take credit.
But at the more creative agencies, such as the renowned TBWA\Chiat\Day, ideas were posted on the wall soon after they were first scribbled on paper. The longtime creative director of the agency, Lee Clow, felt that a good idea should be able to withstand scrutiny — and that the creator of the idea would likely benefit from having others comment on it and offer suggestions. As for people stealing each other’s ideas? Clow explained that it was actually harder to steal an idea once it had been posted on the wall, because everybody knew who put it up there. Besides, at TBWA\Chiat\Day, nobody wanted to steal ideas, he said— they were having too much fun coming up with their own.
For most creative people in any field or discipline, I think the TBWA\Chiat\Day model is the better one to follow with regard to creative work that’s finished, or even partially finished. Get it out of the drawer and on the wall, in full view of others. Take standard precautionary measures—if it’s appropriate and relatively easy to copyright it, why not?—but don’t hold back work out of fear that someone will steal the idea or criticize it.
Author and marketing guru Seth Godin has a word he uses often and persuasively: ship. As Godin sees it, too many people are unwilling or unable to share their projects, dreams, and creations. They are leery of putting their ideas out into the world to see what will happen. They are afraid to ship.
People working on a creative project often are overly focused on finishing it — and they may worry that critical feedback will force them back to the drawing board.
