Swimming against the tide is exhausting.
Like many creatives, I like to call out the absurdities of our business. The mindless hustle, the deification of data, the endless quest for marketing magic bullets.Ā
We need to call BS whenever we smell it. And folks like Bob Hoffman, George Tannenbaum and Rich Siegel do it about as well as anyone (thank goodness).
Is the BS so deep that we canāt escape it?Ā Or can we actually create something better?Ā
The silly optimist in me hopes itās the latter.Ā
Maybe we can we evolve with the times without selling our souls.Ā
Maybe we can we create something new that doesn't feel like a fraud.Ā
Maybe we can make creativity relevant again, embracing the tools of today without pissing all over the wisdom from yesterday.Ā
But Iām not sure it happens without us leading the charge, doing what we do best.Ā
Creating new companies and collectives.Ā
Creating work that silences the doubters.Ā
Creating a counter-culture movement that rejects commoditization and celebrates ideas in all their messy, chaotic, imperfect glory.Ā
Sounds kind of scary, I know.Ā
But is it really scarier than what weāre dealing with now?