Category: Happiness

Your creative team member is ignoring guidelines. How do you steer without stifling?

Creative people thrive on freedom & fun. Rules can limit how far their ideas flow. But here’s the thing: certain structures & best practices provide a foundation to build upon, rather than starting from scratch every time

For someone breaking the rules, going in different directions, I’d say: Encourage it, as experimentation.

Only through experiments do we find unexpected hacks. Give complete freedom to explore all directions during the ideation phase.

Then, when putting the project together, we pick and choose the best ideas while still following the guidelines. A creative person needs both freedom & a little structure. When we balance these, it’s a win-win-win for the project.

Remember, the goal is to enhance creativity, not stifle it

Drowning in multiple deadlines? How to drive your career growth in spite of it?

In my experience, if you’re skilled at what you do, if you love learning and getting better at your craft, you can figure out how to schedule and prioritise – that’s the easy part.

But in all of this, you must carve out time for yourself each day to focus on what you love in the whole process – the part where you forget time, which you truly enjoy, that one aspect of the whole game.

If you don’t do this, you’ll stay in the rat race of handling multiple projects as a skilled vendor/service provider, whether in a job or being independent, but you won’t grow in your career.

Remember, career growth must be like building/investing in an elevator to take you higher, not like climbing stairs.

So, while juggling priorities:
1. Figure out realistic time requirements for each project.
2. Aim for excellence, not perfection. Produce what’s required.
3. Most importantly, set aside one hour a day for self-improvement, playing with your craft, following your heart, learning and experimenting. Give your best to get better.

This daily practice, over months and years, will give you an exceptional flow in your craft. And that, my friend, will produce magic.

Prioritize effectively, but never at the cost of your growth. This will help you tackle multiple projects while still moving forward in your career.

How can you reignite your creative spark?

Prioritize fun! Great creative output is always an outcome of fun, freedom, and happiness – not the other way around. The more you’re having fun, the more your mind flows freely. Ideas happen when dots connect naturally.

You can’t force it. Just go for a walk, play a game, chat with a friend. What’s that one activity that gives you joy? Do that for 30-60 minutes and come back fresh.

Creative roles aren’t like traditional jobs. Your success depends on the quality of ideas you produce. And that’s always an outcome of fun, freedom, and happiness.

I remember working on a video once.. which went on to become the one with highest engagement in Asia a few years back… Before we finalised it, we just took a break for a few hours.. filming slow-motion shots of toy cars falling off the table For an hour we made Hollywood style footage with our phones.. After that, we got back to work.

About deadlines, break projects into manageable chunks with mini-deadlines, one brick at a time. Don’t get overwhelmed about building the entire wall. You need progress, not perfection. Celebrate the tiny wins. The more it seems like an adventure, the less overwhelmed you’ll feel.

In my experience, the best ideas come when you’re not trying so hard. So loosen up, have fun, and let creativity flow!

How can you ignite creativity within your team?

Your team is accustomed to strict protocols and feels boxed in with office structures and processes.
Here’s how you can ignite creativity within your team and what worked to produce killer content in the last ten years…

1. Fun

Great ideas are always an outcome of fun. The more fun we had, the better our output. We played TT, charades, watched shows, jammed to music together… Always Prioritize Fun.

2. Break the rhythm

Disrupting routine sparks fresh thinking. Once, I had the team stand on chairs for a meeting. It looked ridiculous but broke the monotony, jolting minds to the new… Another time we drove to the airport together just to return… got stuck in a jam… we had our brainstorm in the car :) Shake up the routine.

3. Free flowing jam sessions

We held unstructured brainstorming where ideas flowed freely. These ‘jams’ allowed for wild, unconventional thinking, often leading to breakthroughs. No idea, no contribution is wrong, and everyone must feel safe to share freely without judgment. Magical dots connect when everyone is in the flow… jamming.

What’s your craziest example of shaking off routine to ignite ideas? Do share… :)

Be Yourself.. nobody told us how

“Be Yourself” is something I’ve heard as advice for success so many times over the years.. but nobody tells how..

I see young people so full of self doubt, from dancing impromptu to how they present ideas in office..

Here’s what helped me…

1. Your instincts lead you in life, your mind creates hurdles and doubts, listen to what your instinct tell you in any moment, write it down as often as you can.

2. Your job may not be about what you love or are passionate about, find time every week to pursue what you love.. where only you decide what you do and how you do, do more of that.

3. Comparing with others is natural, we’ve been conditioned that way growing up in competing school system.. it takes focus away from the magic you have inside to the stuff outside.. next time your compare with anyone.. notice how you compare on one thing and not overall life.. compare all.. beyond money.. fame success to love.. family.. friends.. freedom.. and you’ll begin to notice how what you have inside is enough for your happiness

4. Notice when you’re yourself 100%, could be singing alone in your car, or animatedly talking to a close friend.. the more you notice and practice being authentic, the more you’ll see magic happen.. when you flow spontaneously.. which will surprise you. Be okay with who you are, try operating in life as if there is ‘no lack’, experiment with it.

5. Being yourself is not about following your mind’s whims.. but being true to what your heart says in any moment, the more you practice.. the more it becomes your nature.. heart > mind

You’re a force of nature, just like a celebrity you love or a flower which blooms.. best way to stop dancing and reacting to everyone else.. is to listen to what you are inside, coz inside you’re awesome.. and enough.

Your best ideas, your best work will happen when you channel what’s inside to solve a problem outside, and that will become your legacy.

All the best ❤️🙌