Tara J. Agen

Creativity happens within the clash. "Same' bias only gets you mediocre products and services that are 'one' step ahead. I loved living in creative conflict because it was a positive opportunity to express difference, showcase more why's or what ifs, and when trade-offs occurred, I knew it was for a good technical, material, finish or color design reason.

A recent creative lifelong learning opportunity, that is truly enhancing the way I will think, is cannesLIONS cMBA, creative MBA. I was fortunate to give input and advice on the series before it launched. The learning and development team at cannesLIONS has elevated creativity, and HOW to learn more about what you need to know to grow your creative capabilities and capacity, as both a Brand Marketer OR Agency creative, through their 10 module course online. https://www.canneslions.com/news/lions-launches-the-creative-mba Consider this for your own growth journey and continued need to be creatively curious.

Do creative people really set goals? Do you have 'achievable' standards? Can they define their success in goals that are accomplished? I don't know...yet. As I start my 'full time' artist journey and creation capacity, I am going to see if SMART goal setting even apply. Some Ad/Marketing agency believe that SMART goals get great critical thinking for big creative outcomes. Let's see if my first year of art school will agree. ;)

The power of data, and now, so much data, can be transformative to the way you create, both for needs of your customers and unmet needs they cannot experience, see or feel yet. Design thinking has always benefited from insights and data. With so much data now, it is about what you can gauge and glean in a unique way that you don't confuse what is needed, next, in what is created, ideated and innovative. The old added 'less is more' and also, 'keep it simple' remain critical to data intensive information that just is that, data, not information and not intelligence. Creativity and human creativity will bring that data into a more critcal thinking and doing form!

Insights drive innovation. Period. Idea clarity comes from a need that your product or service can create OR improve. Customer, partner, supplier and your own team's insights, especially product management and engineering, fuel idea clarity. When I waitressed, I learned, the customer is always right. I held that believe through my career days and into every product creation. The only time the customer is not right is when you identify, through transformational insights, an unmet need. I have seen these opportunities transform companies, teams, customers, partners and suppliers in a positive way. You don't get these ideas often, but when you do, it's magical!

At the beginning my corporate career, I took tremendous risks to achieve big results and business impact. This was mid way through my 'work experience.' It was a huge opportunity to work for a Fortune 100 company post my Ad Agency life. I know why...no one else was and we were getting the 'same' results, which, were not peak performance. Digging deeper into the creative well helped bring more brand awareness, preference and accelerated sales. I loved the 'western' product show I set up for our partners to the first sports marketing partnership with the Boston Celtics for our corporation that I helped design and implement. I would not have achieved these creative results without colleagues/boss that supported my ideas! GO get creative!