Creative Boot Camp: Jump-starting Our Team’s Capabilities
By Jen Lemerand
It’s easy as a creative team to get lost in our everyday projects. In the agency world, timelines are fast and intense—with the need to deliver the biggest and best ideas for everything we touch. In the process, we hope to not lose sight of why we are creatives in the first place. We are generally a lucky bunch—getting to imagine, play, strategize, design, write, and build websites for a living. The work that we do for clients feeds our passion. I personally would never have cut it as, say, an accountant. Ever since I was a kid, I was always found with a crayon or marker in hand.
So how do you keep your team on their toes, challenging each other to always push yourselves past the first idea that comes to mind? Don’t get me wrong, sometimes that first idea ends up being a gem and turns into a winning campaign. And sometimes it’s the one that comes to you just hours before a presentation that you have been ideating on for weeks. That’s how we roll.
As Creative Director, my job is Captain of the Ship—sometimes guiding by moonlight. I was looking for a way to gather the team for a group project—to brainstorm engaging ideas that don’t require a lot of preparation or execution. Along came Creative Boot Camp by author Stefan Mumaw.
Over the next five weeks, our team is embarking on a daily journey—with tight restrictions—in order to further develop our practical skills. We will be training our minds to think of creativity not only as a moment of inspiration, but also as a habit. In the end, our team of 12 soldiers will be generating ideas in greater quantity and quality. After each week, we will share some of the best iterations of the exercise—as well as our takeaways of the grueling process itself. We hope you enjoy our journey!
Ten-hut!
(Updated) Check out the results from our first week of Boot Camp!
If you are interested in doing the challenge, check out Stefan Mumaw’s book Creative Boot Camp. You can also see Stefan speak at HOW Live this year—a creative conference some of our team will be attending! Interested in meeting us there? Save $50 off your registration with my code LEMERAND50CH!