Scott Belsky of Behance

We all hate nagging. After all, who wants to be hounded for things they need to do? I have been a bit surprised recently by the number of people I interview who speak positively about the power of nagging.

One recent example is the team at Brooklyn Brothers, an especially productive creative agency in New York City - so productive that they not only service clients but they have also published children’s books and launched a chocolate brand called “Fat Pig.” Guy Barnett and Stephen Rutterford are the partners at the agency. Very early in our interview, it became clear that both Guy and Stephen are obsessed with execution. When it comes to taking action, the team has no faith in hands-off project management. Their secret to actually pushing projects forward can be summed up with one word: “nagging.” Guy explained, “we repeat stuff like robots a thousand times…a best practice for us is to use nagging tempered by humor, we sit around a table and feel responsible to each other.” He even admitted, “if you’re annoying, people will do things because they’ll want you to shut up!” read more

Boxes need to be mailed, errands need to be run, cookies need to be eaten, orders need to be fulfilled, but by whom? Whoever has a chance! The Behance team got tired of limiting our action steps to just an area on paper - why not make “action areas” out of physical space?

One frigid November day, the Behance Team tried a bit of an experiment. We designated two areas of our loft-space office as “Action Areas.” With blue painter’s tape, we isolated both a portion of a counter space and a corner of the floor as areas reserved for items that require action. The concept: When you walk by, everything you see requires action. If you have a minute, take action. Members of our team started placing letters or packages that need to be mailed in the Action Areas. When anyone brings in snacks, they place them in the Action Areas.

Before we launched the Action Areas, packages and letters would sit on various desks and tables around the office. Cookies on one person’s desk might remain unnoticed throughout the day. With the implementation of Action Areas, items that require action were gathering more attention than ever before.

The verdict: Our Action Areas remain sacred spaces today.

Behance articles and tips are adapted from the writing and research of Scott Belsky and the Behance team. Behance runs the Behance Creative Network , the Creative Jobs List, and develops knowledge, products, and services that help creative professionals make ideas happen. All information (c) Scott Belsky, Behance LLC

Consider 5 things that great leaders do - in any industry - and think about how they apply to the way you lead your team.

#1: Acknowledge Incremental Change
People don’t change suddenly, but rather over time through the course of experiences, feedback, and lessons learned. To be credible, successful leaders must know what their people are working on and acknowledge even small steps in the right direction. Make an effort to watch for marginal improvements, and then acknowledge.

#2: Be Attentive & Present
Amidst blackberries, constant calls, and packed schedules, great leaders recognize the value of giving their undivided attention to their people, even if only for short periods of time. Try to restrain yourself from typing or checking email when people come into your office. Look in peoples’ eyes. The ability to focus on people is becoming more scarce in our society.

#3: Acknowledge Your Team’s Challenges
You don’t need a mastery of what people do in order to lead them. Demonstrate an understanding of the barriers and obstacles your people face and the pressures they are under. People can only be led by someone who understands the challenges of the every day.

#4: Aspire to Know Who Knows
Great leaders don’t have all the knowledge, but they are focused on knowing who knows the people they need to get the job done. Think broadly and utilize resources accordingly.

#5: Look at Your Business As a White Canvas
Every now and then, amidst the thick of day-to-day craziness, you need to sit back and look at your business as a clean slate. Extremely difficult to do, but always leads to something. A moment of simplicity and clarity can lead to realizations about the “obvious” opportunities and risks that you overlook out of habit.

The chemistry of a creative team is absolutely critical for making ideas happen. What goes unsaid can erupt into a great fiasco. When a problem is brewing, our tendency is to block it out. After all, who wants to be confrontational or take time out when stress and deadlines are looming? But an “infection” left untreated can become a full-blown disaster. The most effective creative teams are able to detect and address concerns before they evolve into problems.

If a team is like a living body, then person is part of an intricate immune system. Any member of the team should be able to notice and alert the team to a brewing problem, and the entire team should coordinate to address it. A single concern for one is a worthy concern for all. read more

We often assume that the number of hours spent at work are an indication of one’s effort, interest, and accomplishment. However, in reality, the greatest ideas and the execution of these ideas happen in spurts. The best ideas often do not require a lengthy conception, and the most productive days are seldom the longest. But still, managers instinctually measure employees with an eye on the clock. Working hours remain rigid, and morale suffers when the rules fail to support the ultimate goal: a productive creative workplace. What working conditions are ideal for maximum creativity and productivity?

TRUST
It is no secret that a lot of time in the typical corporate job is wasted - look no further than the success of comedy shows like “The Office.” We like to make fun of bureaucracy because we see it around us every day. Managers create rules and norms not in the pursuit of efficiency, but rather out of distrust. According to a recent study by AOL and Salary.com, full-time employees work a total of three days a week, wasting the other two.

A productive creative team must embrace transparency, and there must be a fundamental trust shared between colleagues. Beyond deadlines, expense accounts, and privacy, every employee must trust that their colleagues want the best for the company, care about the product, and aspire to succeed in their role. For this to happen, everyone must have a sense of shared goals, and shared rewards. read more

There is a horrid fact in the world of innovation: The vast majority of new products fail, and most new ad campaigns don’t achieve their objectives. The brilliant minds that fuel breakthroughs are also at a disadvantage when it comes to getting ideas adopted by the masses. The root of the problem is the visionary’s tendency to focus on fellow visionaries. Visionaries are most familiar with the needs of visionaries, and thus struggle (or lack the desire) to connect with the masses.

In “Crossing the Chasm,” Geoffrey Moore explores the giant gap between the early adopters of anything new, and the “pragmatists” – those in the majority that are more skeptical, average, and risk-averse. When you consider the creative individuals and teams that develop new ideas, it is easier to understand why there is so little focus on the masses.

Creatives love focusing on what fellow open-minded early-adopting visionaries value. This is especially true in the advertising world, where many of the award winning advertising concepts fail to achieve their commercial objectives. After all, the judges for awards are not average consumers from middle America but rather creative professionals themselves – true visionaries. Some companies, in search of effective advertising campaigns, avoid working with award winning firms in favor of more grounded, commercially focused firms. read more

Our years of formal schooling created habits that actually set us back when it comes to productivity and pushing ideas forward! While our instinct may be to live life as we were taught, we must consider the contrary. Some of the most productive creative professionals that we interview have a different approach to conventional wisdom.

We were taught to memorize and take copious notes. But…
Memorizing takes up mental space and leads to forgetting. Especially as we start to get senior moments, organizing information in a readily accessible manner is much more important than memorizing facts. Memorizing also consumes our precious energy for creativity. Note taking, another scholarly impulse of ours, has become a vestige skill. Amidst our busy lives, we’re lucky to complete our action steps, yet alone have time to read old notes. read more

Some of the most productive creative minds rely on a periodic self-administered dose of randomness to stay stimulated. Stimulation is not only necessary when developing new ideas, but is also critical when refining solutions to a particular problem. Every brain benefits from new angles that often escape your traditional point of view.

Some creative professionals credit past mistakes as moments of realization. At this year’s TED conference, fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi explained that a lot of his ‘design ideas come from mistakes or tricks of the eye.’ Mistakes are illuminating because they are unexpected. But you don’t need to screw up in order to find randomness. read more