Scale is another way of asking an idea about the future.

Design firms test the scalability of a logo idea by reviewing it at different sizes, in different colors and in different media conditions. Does the idea translate consistently from a print ad, to the side of a building to...

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It boils down to intent, doesn’t it?

Advertising ideas seek to persuade. Software ideas seek to be used.

An advertising idea has finite relevance. Once we’re persuaded, the idea’s purpose wanes. Or as Howard Gossage put it, “How many times do you have to...

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You are lucky. You get to see the idea first.

Hollywood envies the writer for this reason. They get to see the movie before anyone else.

But is what the writer sees in their head, and what the audience or collaborators see the same?

Likely not. We all receive quite differently....

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Another metric for thinking about the efficacy of ideas is time. It’s akin to testing relevance. Creative or strategic briefing can be measured by this same standard. You might ask:

Once an idea is produced, will the problem it was supposed to address still exist? Or, once...

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Something more valuable than any one idea is an attitude appreciative of ideas.

I want to work with you after I saw you enthusiastically requesting and defending vibrant ideas.

I want to work with you because you find the time/money/influence to help get ideas produced.

I...

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Having ideas is somewhat similar to having meetings. If you’re very careful, nothing worth recounting will transpire.

Your meeting will be like 99% of all meetings. A symptom of something wrong.

Your idea will be like so many ideas—additional, indistinct clutter.

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Much hope is placed on technology as the savior of advertising. This is why almost every major agency or network has its own “lab” or innovation arm focused on tech (primarily meaning web software) as a hedge. This is why my business partner and I started Curation...

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Hardly any of us will be measured by a singular effort, our one bold idea. Few of us are Proust.

Rather, it is by continued effort that we see the outline who we are in the world.

A mentor told me, “The business of creativity is learning to survive rejection.” Which...

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If you believe, as Jack Foster and Robert Grudin suggest, that there will always be more ideas, then you are not afraid of the word “no.” You believe rejection of one idea opens the door for something different, perhaps something better. Saying “no” is...

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Where does an idea end?

Older communication models suggested viewing an idea was both its debut and curtain call, all rolled into one. See the words and images in a magazine or on TV; persuasion will take root. In short, ideas merely had to show up—often over and over and...

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