The Secret To Your Greatest Creative Success
Some days we just have it. We hit on all the things the client or our boss is looking for with such precision, that it seems as if you are mind readers. You walk out of the pitch meeting high-fiving strangers, signing autographs, and snapping selfies. You really couldn’t BE any more impressive!
Then you wake up and realize you were dreaming at your desk again.
It would be great if this was a common reality for you, but the odds are that you are struggling to get anyone to understand you and your creative vision. We often think that in order to counteract this perception we must get louder, bolder, stronger; and establish our dominance as the almighty creative who doesn’t get questioned: “Don’t look behind the curtain! Fear me!”
The reality is the secret to your greatest creative success isn’t you proving or producing anything else.
The secret to your greatest creative success is asking the right questions.
You see, we often miss the mark or get frustrated with our clients/bosses because we didn’t deliver what they envisioned or asked for. Imagine, tho, if you were able to see more clearly what their vision was earlier in the creative process. You both would be more satisfied, your confidence would skyrocket, and the dream you had at your desk may not be all that far from reality after all.
If you can become a student of asking great questions, you will experience the greatest creative success of your career.
“How do I do that?” you ask. The same way you honed your skills.
Surround yourself with people that ask great, probing questions.
Stay away from close-ended questions (yes and no).
Study the great interviewers of our time (Dan Patrick, Oprah, David Letterman).
Begin with a template or a note on your phone. Every time you think of a great question, capture it for future use.
The greater questions you ask, the greater clarity you will have on the desired outcome, thus, the greater creative success you will have.