From the course: Succeeding as an In-house Creative

Communication style distinctions

From the course: Succeeding as an In-house Creative

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Communication style distinctions

- So, we spent some time talking about you and who you are as a creative in chapter one, now let's look at your frenemies who aren't part of your creative tribe. We're talking about the MBAs, CPAs, PMPs, CIOs, COOs, CFOs, VPs, AVs, EVPs, E-I-E-I-O, you know, pretty much everyone in the company who isn't in your department. Let's unpack who these non-creative team colleagues are and what makes them tick as compared with you and your fellow creatives. Please allow me to present you with the Right-Brain, Left-Brain Mind Map. I'd like to dig a bit deeper into a few of these distinctions. Nonlinear versus Linear Thinker. The concepting and iterative creative development process we go through, often referred to as design thinking, pretty much means we're moving back and forth and sideways in exploring and discovering innovative solutions, otherwise known as nonlinear thinking. To the left-brain thinkers who often need to employ more directed chronological analysis, we can show up as ping pong balls bouncing around in a wind tunnel. They, more often than not, look for cause-and-effect relationships when creating action plans and analyzing data and experiences. Given the types of departments they work in, such as finance, manufacturing, and compliance, this methodology is appropriate and ensures their success. The challenge for all of us working in different disciplines is in acknowledging and even embracing that there's a place in our organizations for both linear and nonlinear thinking. Intuitive versus Process Driven. Creatives are inherently intuitive. This doesn't mean we aren't bringing our intelligence to bear on a problem, it's just a more hidden and less verbal intelligence than left-brainers are used to or are comfortable with. If you want to gain a true appreciation for this misunderstood aptitude, I recommend you read Malcolm Gladwell's book, Blink. Creatives are rebels. This doesn't mean we're rebels without a cause, quite the opposite. Our job is to be innovative and the only way to be effective as an innovator is to intuitively explore paths that are different and disruptive. Our coworkers outside of our department believe their success is based on the opposite, compliance and rigorously adhering to process, which is often true. You sure don't want lawyers making up new laws and regulatory mandates on their own and outside of rigorous process. Like the linear versus nonlinear thinking dissonance, alignment between everyone in an organization on the appropriateness of both is beneficial to all. Qualitative versus Quantitative. One of the biggest gaps that shows up between right and left-brainers is the qualitative versus quantitative paradigms. Right-brainers prefer the more nuanced practice of qualitative analysis, which is often labeled as subjective, while left-brainers love numbers. The trick here is to acknowledge the validity of both and tie qualitative assessments to quantitative results. In other words, find quantitative measures of a creative deliverable success. A good example of how this can work is click-throughs. You and your digital design team create an awesome social media ad, at least you think it's awesome. Your client has no clue or enough creative discipline training to understand, see, and feel the ad's creative power, but when you track the business impact by capturing the ad's ability to drive click-throughs, well, that's a whole nother animal. Let's move on to some other distinctions between the right and left-brain tribes. Dress codes, for your amused consideration, I'd like to review some differences in how we all dress. Let's check out this chart. On one side of the chart are our left-brained coworkers, on the other side is us. Left-brainers, Dockers, right-brainers, black. Left-brainers, logo shirts, right-brainers, black. Left-brainers, loafers with tassels, right-brainers, black. Left-brainers, pantsuits, right-brainers, black. Look, we express ourselves as creatively as we execute on our projects. The whole creative gestalt powers our ability to come with innovative solutions to business and communication problems. Embrace your need to dress creatively, just do it responsibly and respect the dress style of your coworkers. Their, quote, unquote, uniform is as important to their self-image as yours is to you. Recess activities, for further clarification, let's reflect on some non work-related differences. Right-brainers, life drawing, left-brainers, scrapbooking. Right-brainers, Ultimate Frisbee, left-brainers, golf. Right-brainers, yoga, left-brainers, step aerobics. Right-brainers, gallery hopping, left-brainers, barhopping. Right-brainers, art movie theaters, left-brainers, the multiplex. I want to stress that I'm not trying to infer that one lifestyle is better or worse than the other and also acknowledge that I'm speaking here in extremes to make a point. What I am underscoring is the difference in interests and that they inform how we all behave and operate at work. And not for nothing, expressing interest in and even embracing some of our left-brain pastimes can build powerful bridges in relationships. If I'd taken up golf, I could've been a CEO by now. Moving on, let's review toys and home life. Right-brainer, Mac, left-brainer, PC. Right-brainer, city, left-brainer, suburb. Right-brainer, VW Beetle, left-brainer, BMW. Right-brainer, Apple iPhone, left-brainer, Samsung Galaxy. Hopefully you remember Apple's clever ads that personified the Mac and PC by casting two actors to represent them. That personification brilliantly, though not with much nuance, captures the differences between us and our less creative-focused colleagues. It's important to highlight that the way individuals think, our unique characteristics, and personalities traits all impact how we communicate and relate to others. Using the differences I just reviewed as a basis for your style when speaking with your left-brained colleagues will allow you to establish rapport and trust with them and gain a valuable degree of influence. I'm not taking about manipulation, I'm talking about finding common ground and approaching work issues as partners. There is no right or wrong here. The reality is that our coworkers and we reside somewhere towards the middle of a right-brain, left-brain continuum with Vincent van Gogh at one end and Warren Buffett on the other. The trick is to move a little left of center and meet our peers at a place where they can understand or at least trust and respect us. Appreciating who these folks are is a mind shift that leverages our empathetic nature and allows us to coexist and collaborate with them without resentment or rancor. Try it, you just may like it and they will, too.

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