From Concept to Creation in 48 hours

Concept, Creativity and Creation in a Pandemic:
My Top 10 takeaways

I was asked to write about the lessons I learned whilst bringing TLC to life through design – easier said than done but then again, so was the #TheLockdownCollection!

Let me set the scene... how does a hardworking, self-respecting, organised creative professional, like me, suffering from a severe anxiety disorder, as I do, take on a project that has:

• no official brief, brand, budget, or market footprint?

• Let’s add a deadline of 48 hours?

• And, for good measure, throw in a global pandemic, shall we?

On any given day a project, as described above, would send me heading for the hills (or to the nearest bar which, given our current lifestyle, wasn’t possible).

Projects like these were the exact reason I’d learned to say no so many times in my career to make way for the better and more-wholehearted YES’s. Yes’s to the people, projects, and most importantly, to purpose.

The Lockdown Collection was born from pure purpose; we wanted to capture this historic period of time through the visual storytellers of our country and to me on a personal note, aid relief to vulnerable South Africans.

Designing and creating a project fueled by purpose only changed my mindset from what I would usually perceive as work or just another passion project. Knowing that whatever the task, no matter how seemingly tedious would ultimately make an impact for the greater good, was often an odd place to be. I was now a one-woman-ad-agency designing a full identity and brand campaign in under 48 hours.

Here’s what I learnt:

Lesson #1: A true investment to get things done.
No sleep, no problem. Food, what’s that. Keeping in touch, no time for niceties. We had 48-hours to get this done – not just done but over-achieved as failure was not an option, not for me or anyone on the team.

Lesson #2: No time for second guesses.
A 48-hour deadline makes time a real reality. No time to question concepts and redesign theories – my gut became my guiding light.

Lesson #3: Honest feedback means constructive outputs.
Our industry has historically been the hotbed for ego but there was no time, or intent, for that here! The TLC team – a team of mostly strangers – shared thoughts and ideas with a common purpose – get the job done!

Lesson #4: Pressure on purpose.
Pressure often creates a purpose, but we had that from the get-go. The pressure we were all under seemed to bind us together to reinforce our belief in the project. The complete dedication in supporting each other and never letting a team member down.

Lesson #5: Goodwill goes all the way.
I’ve heard it say that a crisis goes a long way to show a person’s true colours – if a global pandemic isn’t a crisis then what is? When tired, for a split second, I lifted my head to see the people involved in TLC and all of us were here to get the job done – for our people and our country.

Lesson #6: People driven by passion.
Creatives are passionate people at the best of times but throw in the good old-fashioned drive to do ‘the right thing’ humbled me, and the team, time and again. Purpose and passion pushed this project over the finish line – with a pinch of tenacity thrown in.

Lesson #7: Communication really is key.
Having our lives thrown into disarray with barely time to regroup meant that the need to stay in touch became not only a necessity but a lifeline. The team was stretched – literally and figuratively – and the thing that really did bind us were the ties of consistent communication with our eyes held on the greater good and goal.

Lesson #8: A goal without a plan really is a wish.
A-types all unite here, please! Again, with time not on our side, it was vital that our plan was in place, our lists were delegated, and our people were purposeful – it might have felt chaotic, but poetry sometimes does!

Lesson #9: The more things change, the more they stay the same.
This is my first global pandemic, not sure about yours?! So, it’s safe to say none of us know what we’re doing so, whilst we had a plan, we also were very clear that the plan was subject – to change – with no notice – and we just had to lean into the curve (no pun intended!) The structure was useful, the ability to change, imperative.

Lesson #10: We couldn’t have done it without you.
I don’t know about you but this, both the pandemic and more importantly TLC, has shown me the importance of gratitude. For what we have, for where we are, and for what we can do to help. None of this would have been possible without everyone – however small or larger their contribution – who was involved.

I was and still am, humbled by these humans. Thank you – for it all.

Written with love and deep gratitude
by Tanya de Jongh, Design & Content Partner at MRS WOOLF

Impossible is Nothing

It's impossible.

With no in-person-meet-and-greet, with no coffee-and-candy ideation session, with not a paper, pen or physical person in plain sight - a big, hairy, and damn audacious idea was able to surface, be approved, and launch in the 48 hours before SA Lockdown commenced. In the same 48 hours that the humans giving this idea fuel and fire, were at their most anxious, vulnerable, fearful, and binge buying worst!

How is that even possible?

Enter three fairly unlikely and loosely connected bedfellows; (a business leader, a university professor, and a brand marketer ) connected via a WhatsApp voice note and two phone calls and voila! The Lockdown Collection: A now-historic art collection telling the story of the first 21 Days of the lockdown through the eyes of some of SA's best visual artists.

This idea has raised over R2 Million for vulnerable artists and South Africans in 3.5 weeks and did it in style and on strategy. I have learned - or maybe relearned - how dramatically powerful passion, purpose, and crisis are in releasing a creative storm!

In these unprecedented times, I could not have anticipated the chaos nor the creativity that COVID has unleashed. I have no doubt that creativity will hold the cure we so desperately seek.

Impossible is nothing.

Lauren Woolf
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Note: (full article in media appears here)

Creative Leadership and The Leadership of Creativity

Besides being an economic development opportunity, creative thinking can solve human challenges and problems at significant scale. This is what the world needs. This is what our country needs, writes LAUREN WOOLF

It’s hard to believe that a mere two to three decades ago, creativity was barely explored or taught explicitly in main-stream or business education, let alone in design-related fields. Instead, tasks, such as ‘explorations of colours’ or coming up with ‘different ways of communicating a brand message’, were used to help students build a creative mindset.

Times have certainly changed.

Today, creativity has transcended the boundaries of art and design of all kinds, and is ranked by the World Economic Forum as one of the top three skills of the future1, essential to innovation and success. Increasingly, it is now being taught in both design and non-design related environments to the extent that in some universities, creativity classes have become a central part of the curriculum.

This shows significant progress in how we are beginning to understand and appreciate the attributes and outcomes of creative thinking and how the process can influence, and importantly, improve all aspects of life.

While creativity as a skill has slowly but surely ascended the WEF ranking, so too has the term and concept of ‘creative leadership’ begun to take on a more prominent role in organisational thinking, research and practice. In fact, some researchers and practitioners in the leadership space have suggested this style of leadership is more important in the current social, political and economic climate than ever before2.

Why is this?

Well, if we understand creativity to be “the catalyst to innovation”3 , and we are aware of being in a time that is innovation-overwhelmed, to say the least, then it stands to reason that those leading us in these times need to be able to initiate and manage change like never, ever before.

What is creative leadership?

Creative leadership is a powerful way, or style, of thinking and leading based on the concept of working co-operatively to develop innovative and valuable ideas. Those leaders that employ a creative style tend to lead by creating and fostering an environment that promotes creativity. These conditions could be psychological, material, and/or social or any other supports that trigger, enable, and sustain creative thinking in others4.

I appreciate how Sir Ken Robinson, the revered champion of creativity and education, captured this definition: “The role of a creative leader is not to have all the ideas; it’s to create a culture where everyone can have ideas and feel they’re valued.”

Leaders with this as a core attribute of a creative mindset are in huge demand. Since 2010, the annual IBM Global CEO Study indicated that creativity is the number one most important quality for leaders to build successful businesses, outranking integrity and global thinking.

“CEO’s now realise that creativity trumps other leadership characteristics…To connect with and inspire a new generation, they lead and interact in entirely new ways.5”

Attributes of creative leadership

So what are the attributes associated with being a creative leader, versus some of the other styles and models we have been more accustomed to in the past, but also still see today?

In summary John Maeda, talks about how creative leaders focus on inspiration over authority, ambiguity over clarity, being real over being right, improvisation over following the manual, learning from mistakes over avoiding them, and hoping they’re right rather than being certain that they will be.

Leading the business of creativity

So, if creative leadership is a style of leadership that is highly relevant for any organisation in the age of hyper-change, how does it show up in the leadership of creative companies themselves?

The attributes of creative leaders as articulated earlier, is naturally derived from the way in which artists, makers and creative people have always and by nature approached their craft. Individuals and companies with creativity at their heart, or at the core of their business output, understand, more than most, the importance of magic in the face of logic. The importance of having some chaos alongside order and the power of diversity of thought and experience to come up with the best ideas and solutions.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that having this insight automatically makes leading easy.

I work with a lot of leaders leading creative businesses – from artist studios to agencies, architects to advertisers – and without a doubt, the leadership of these organisations, be they micro to macro, bring with them a set of specific and unique challenges.

Creative organisations are by nature beautifully messy and complex, and require a full and extended skill-set of effective decision-making, intellectual and emotional intelligence and market-facing grit. Not only do leaders of creative concerns need to embody the attributes of creative leadership (as they too are in the business of liberating innovation and then selling it) but at the same time, they also have to ensure they don’t ignore the full complexity of leading an organisation A-Z. Not just an innovation centre or department.

I would argue that these heads of business are some of the most ingenious, accomplished and agile leaders you’ll find, irrespective of business category.

If we are all in agreement with Richard Florida, the famed urban studies theorist, that, “human creativity is the ultimate economic resource” then who leads creatives and how they are led is of paramount importance and should never be underestimated or undervalued.

Besides being an economic development opportunity, creative thinking has the opportunity to solve human challenges and problems at significant scale.

This is what the world needs. This is what our country needs.

The impetus around my work in creative industries and in the study of creative leadership has been a heartfelt desire to work with creative businesses to help them not only survive but thrive in the complexity of today and beyond.

They have to.

Because creative leaders, creative people, and creative organisations are those that will continue to create the brilliant ideas that define a positive and sustainable future for all.

References:

[1] The World Economic Forum’s The Future of Jobs paper released in 2019 listed the top 10 skills demanded in 2020. Creativity was number 3

[2] Sternberg, R. J. (2007). A systems model of leadership: WICS. American Psychologist, 62, 34–42.

[3] Puccio GJ, Mance M, Zacho-Smith “Creative Leadership: its meaning and value for science, technology and innovation”

[4] Mumford, M. D., Scott, G. M., Gaddis, B., & Strange, J. M. (2002). Leading creative people: Orchestrating expertise and relationships. Leadership Quarterly, 13, 705–750. Via Wikipedia

[5] Capitalizing on Complexity: Insights from the IBM Global Chief Executive Officer Study 2019

Written by Lauren Woolf
Founder & Owner of MRS WOOLF

This article was featured on IMM Graduate School.

The Daily Hustle Edition

Matt Brown having a chat with Lauren Woolf.

It is said that to live a creative life we just lose our fear of being wrong.

Creative Mornings, Johannesburg || To Creativity and Beyond!

How to stretch yourself as a Creative

Lauren has a career in advertising and marketing that spans 20 years, of which most were spent in senior leadership roles at Ogilvy & Mather South Africa, British American Tobacco Switzerland, and in the company she founded and sold in Switzerland, Antipod.

With a passion for creativity from artist to agency, Lauren’s mission is to ensure that those that innovate and create for clients to grow, are doing the same for themselves. Her latest business “Mrs Woolf”, is a niche consultancy offering creative businesses a marketing and innovation resource for the development of their own brands and service offerings.

As an active member of the local and global creative community, Lauren is a patron, mentor and board member of the Artists Proof Studio as well as a mentor and trainer for Business Arts South Africa. She is also the co-founder of The Princess Connection, an NPO that donates previously loved formalwear through pop-up-shops so that disadvantaged girls can shop with dignity.

In 2016, Lauren received an Executive MBA through The Berlin School of Creative Leadership.