Approaches to Creative Outsourcing

Seth Godin, author of Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable and many other business books, had an interesting post recently about two different ways to outsource creative projects.  The two forms are "blank slate" vs. "inside the box" (although Seth calls them "clean sheet" and "strategic mission").  The "blank slate" refers to a very basic set of instructions to the creative talent and relying on them to come up with something that you like while the "inside the box" refers to a clearly defined set of parameters for the project.

The strategic mission takes more preparation, more discipline and more difficult meetings internally. It involves thinking hard without knowing it when you see it. It's also the act of a mature individual, earning his salary.

The clean sheet of paper is amazing when it works, but involves so much waste, anxiety and pain that I have a hard time recommending it to most people. If you're going to do this, you have an obligation to use what you get, because your choice was hiring this person, not in judging the work you got when you didn't have the insight to give them clear direction in the first place.

What if you could combine the two approaches?

Every project, at some point, is a "blank sheet" and the question is simply when you decide to bring a creative talent into the process.  The sooner you involve the talent, the greater chance you will get an outstanding result.

Why would you get better results?

Because people who wear the label of "creative talent" (whatever that means in your situation) have tools or ways of thinking that they bring to the table which are often outside the realm of "typical business".  They are also a pair of objective eyes who can see your problem in a new light and question some of the basic assumptions that may be causing the problem or, at least, holding you back from achieving an outstanding result.

It's not about the box.

While Seth Godin's blog post kicked off the discussion, his short post didn't really capture the full spectrum of possible working scenarios available when outsourcing creative project work.  Most creative types actually work well when they are given "a box" to work within and the best actually rise to the challenge of finding a creative solution that fits.  On the other side, if creativity is applied to the creation of the box the results can be, in the words of Seth Godin, "amazing".

What's worked for you?

D.Mark Wheeler

Founder,

www.TheWorldsMostCreativePerson.com

Values and the 10-10-10 concept from Suzy Welch

Have you heard about the 10-10-10 idea (as discussed in Suzy Welch's book by the same name)?  

Have you ever had a difficult decision to make and needed some way to put your alternatives into perspective?  To take away some of the confusion from all the options and consequences that were swirling around in your head?

The basic idea of Suzy's 10-10-10 method is to use 3 time horizons as a decision making tool.  

What would be the implications of your decision in 10 minutes (near term), 10 months (mid term) and 10 years (long term)?

If you watch the video of Suzy on the Today show with Matt Lauer (clip is available on Suzy's website), she mentions the importance of understanding your values as part of the 10-10-10 decision process.

"Thinking about those consequences in each of those timeframes is not as powerful if you don't bring your values to it.  How do I want to live?  It is not a device.  It is a way to shape your life and that happens when you bring your values to it."

Do you know what your values are?  Are you living your values?

If you are wondering what your values truly are, click here to learn about a"tool" under development called Value Discovery™ Cards that help you identify values that you are currently living as well as the values that you want in your life (but may not currently have IN your life).   

If you have a good handle on your values... you can use the 10-10-10  method to help you make better decisions !