Author of seven books, including The Accidental Creative, Herding Tigers, Die Empty, Daily Creative, The Brave Habit. I help creative pros and leaders to be brave, focused, and brilliant every day.
Banana Ball: Jesse Cole's principles for doing remarkable work - from Todd Henry
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Most creative pros know the grind—the endless emails, the methodical process, the struggle to inspire not just clients, but even ourselves. But what if you scrapped the rulebook, let go of “professional,” and decided to build something truly remarkable? This is exactly what Jesse Cole did when he turned a sleepy baseball team into the global phenomenon known today as the Savannah Bananas. They went from a few tickets sold to a waiting list of over 3.5 million. In this week's email we focus on three actionable ideas from the latest Daily Creative episode featuring my interview with Jesse Cole. Take Bolder Risks Than You Think You ShouldThe biggest risk is playing it safe. Jesse Cole’s transformation of his organization began when he asked himself: What if we stopped trying to be professional and started trying to be unforgettable? He swapped the expected for the extraordinary, bought a yellow tuxedo, and started leaning into bizarre, even ridiculous ideas—risking ridicule to create magic. As Jesse says, “At first, it sounded ridiculous... But at the same time, he started scribbling ideas in a notebook. Wild stuff like dancing, staff members, unexpected entrances, rules that don't even exist. A break from everything that made his industry predictable.” The truth is, waiting for permission or consensus is the least creative thing you can do. What is the boldest move you could make in your work if you weren’t afraid of looking foolish? Own Every Moment and Change How You See Your WorkYou are not a manager of tasks, you are the architect of experience. Instead of seeing his job as a general manager as boring or out-of-his-control, Jesse reframed his role as the creator of a show, not a bystander to routine. He engineered every step of the fan and team journey—from the moment someone enters the ballpark to the last unexpected twist. He explains, “Walt Disney controlled the experience. As soon as you walk in, what you feel, what you smell, what you hear, what you see, everything... So we even changed our language to make it, welcome to the show.” This deliberate re-imagining led to his team becoming memorable rather than forgettable. Instead of “doing the job,” pick one aspect of your current project and ask: How can you turn it into an experience people will never forget? Make Trying New Things the Core of ImprovementGood ideas are only found on the other side of failed experiments. Jesse attributes the Savannah Bananas’ skyrocketing success to relentless idea generation and fearless trial-and-error. Each week, the team holds creative “pitch sessions,” takes risks on wild concepts, tests, and refines, capturing everything for future learning—not just accepting failure but actively seeking it out as a path to discovery. In his words, “Every single night we do 10 to 15 brand new things we’ve never done... we are obsessing over creating new moments. Ideas are everything. As our fifth fans first principle, it drives this company.” Approach your work like a laboratory, not a factory. This week, what new idea can you put into action, even if it might fail, to move closer to something uniquely brilliant?
P.S. If you'd like to hear the full interview with Jesse Cole, it's free at DailyCreativePlus.com. Sign up and you'll get your own private podcast feed featuring bonus content and full interviews with all of our guests.
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Todd Henry
Author of seven books, including The Accidental Creative, Herding Tigers, Die Empty, Daily Creative, The Brave Habit. I help creative pros and leaders to be brave, focused, and brilliant every day.
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