*Typing*

If you can—when you can—focus on the process rather than the outcome. Not so much where you’re going but how you’re getting there. Romanticize every aspect of the process: the silent struggle and later, the tremendous break through. If you learn to fall in love with the process, the outcome becomes secondary and eventually, unnecessary. I was listening to an interview just the other day of a Jai Alai player who has played the sport for decades. Today, he plays in front of crowds of just a dozen people. He says, “I play as if 15,000 people are watching.” This is a craftsman in the purest sense, an obsessive athelete mastering a dying sport somewhere in Miami. Professionals focus on the process. Amateurs focus on the outcome.

If you don’t have fun writing, the reader isn’t going to have fun reading. This same advice applies to marketers, graphic designers, product developers, videographers and anyone creating anything for a living. Your work carries an energy that is felt by the end consumer. If you are inspired by your work, your customer will be inspired too. If you are bored by your work, your customer will be bored too. Your customer feels what you feel. So, pay very close attention to what you feel.

Gathering inspiration is an integral part of the creative process. However, too much of it can weigh the creative down and even act as an excuse to avoid doing the work. Think of it like the accumulation of good, dry wood to make a fire. You fetch enough fuel to quench the thirst of the flames. But, eventually, you must kneel down on the cold, damp Earth and get your hands dirty birthing the fire. The creative process is the same way.

Enterprises approach competition in two ways. Both are wrong. They either slip on their rose-colored glasses and tell themselves "A rising tide lifts all boats". Or, they go after their competitors publicly, duking it on billboards, magazine ads and bizarre comparison charts.

Let's begin by picking apart the former. John F. Kennedy is credited with saying "A rising tide lifts all boats." Unfortunately, Kennedy wasn't talking about competition but instead economic development within the United States. In this context, the adage is true, a thriving economy allows individuals and businesses existing within that economy to thrive.However, what's not true, is that all competition within a given industry can thrive. Business is very much a winner-takes-all affair. If you don't take it all, someone else will. Your objective should be to destroy your opponents totally and completely. Market leaders might pretend the water is warm, but it's nothing more than a PR stunt to keep from appearing like they’re a monopoly.

Now, on the opposite end of the spectrum, it’s unwise to go after your competitors publicly for a few reasons. One, you owe your competitors a certain level of respect (despite wanting to crush them). You two are playing the same game, after all. Two, by going after your competitors publicly, you bring unwanted attention to them. You’re essentially giving them free advertising. Three, public feuds are a distraction from innovating inside your own enterprise.

When it comes to your competition, play fair. But, have no mercy.

Humanity needs great creative directors now more than ever before. As AI continues to make it easier to ship mediocre creative work at scale, the creative director’s job becomes paramount. They must stand at the kitchen pass and function as the tastemaker, deciding what work is worthy of serving the customer and what work is not. Up to this point, I’ve been unimpressed with the taste displayed by those wielding AI.

Copywriters, designers, videographers and prompt engineers brag of its abilities—which I must admit are impressive—however much of the work I’ve seen leaves something to be desired. This is where the role of the creative director is so hugely important. Agencies and enterprises need leaders with exceptional taste and strong conviction to differentiate between great work and mediocre work. As these individuals are experiencing the work, they should not be told whether it was made by AI—or with the help of AI—until after their decision has been made. If the dish tastes good, the creative director sends it through. If the dishes tastes funky, it’s returned to the kitchen.