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.
No one listening to your idea? It's time to island hop.
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We’re planning a virtual Herding Tigers Online Course for Friday, December 13th. This full-day workshop will cover how to be the leader that your talented, ambitious team needs. If you’re interested, join the notification list at HerdingTigersCourse.com. Team pricing is also available by request. Brave: Yes, but how do we get there?In my latest book The Brave Habit, I shared the two elements that are present in a team culture where brave decisions are routinely made: Optimistic Vision, and Perceived Agency. However, it’s not enough to simply have a vision if those you get too far ahead of your team. You have to help them navigate the “archipelago”. Think of casting a vision as island hopping. You might be four or five islands ahead of your team or client shouting “come over here!” It’s all so clear to you, but your collaborator is still trying to figure out how to get to island number two. You have to be patient enough to hop back to island two and lead them toward that vision, then the next , then the next. Realize that you often have access to more information that those you lead. Thus, the vision that seems so clear to you may not be so obvious to them. Do you need to “island hop” backwards in order for your team or client to catch your vision? Focused: Is it time to change course?A few weeks ago, we released my interview with Seth Godin. His latest book This Is Strategy is a mind-bender and has caused me to re-think much of how I’m approaching my work. An example: do you need to get hyper-specific about your strategy and your desired outcomes? Simple doesn’t mean that you’re making a smaller impact or settling for less. It means choosing a strategy that puts you on the hook. It’s a chance to be a meaningful specific, not a wandering generality. A strategy that’s worth talking about and improving. A strategy that’s easy to de- scribe and difficult to stick with.
Falling in love with an outcome often prevents us from doing the work we’re capable of contributing.
Seth Godin, This Is Strategy
Are you in danger of becoming a wandering generality? Do you need to get more specific about what you’re trying to do? Brilliant: Writes and Write NotsWriting by hand slows you down. It culls your thoughts. It allows for space between those thoughts to gel and form emergent connections that would otherwise never be proximate. And, we’re writing by hand less and less. In a recent essay, Paul Graham wrote: If you're thinking without writing, you only think you're thinking.
So a world divided into writes and write-nots is more dangerous than it sounds. It will be a world of thinks and think-nots. I know which half I want to be in, and I bet you do too.
Paul Graham, Writes and Write Nots
This week, slow down. Write out your thoughts, even when they seem obvious. Pay attention to what’s between the signals - often the brilliance is in the gaps. |
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.
BRAVE • FOCUSED • BRILLIANT Stop Focusing On Projects – Obsess Over Solutions Many leaders and creative pros fall into the “deliverables” trap. Here’s how to maintain focus on what really moves the work forward. At its heart, creativity is problem solving. If you get paid to solve problems for a living, you’re a creative professional. But typically, our work is presented to us in the form of “projects”. We are tasked with accomplishing some defined objective (like developing a strategy,...
The Trust Seesaw Trust is the essential element of high functioning teams. Here’s how to build mutual confidence in creative organizations. Trust isn’t just a nice-to-have in creative organizations – it’s the foundation that makes meaningful work possible. When team members lose faith in their leadership, peers, or organizational structure, the creative process suffers. You’ll see it in the hesitation, the second-guessing, and the constant worry about whether they’ll get the support and...
Happy 2025! I don't know about you, but I usually charge into a new year with all of the energy of a 20-year-retired prize fighter trying to get back into the ring after decades of too much rest and too many churros. I am awed by those who jolt from the starting blocks with unbridled enthusiasm. But if that's you, congrats! So this week, here are three ideas to help you get your year off to a good start. Brave: The Objective-less Life Over holiday, I read a book called Why Greatness Cannot Be...