Ditch the Experts: Advice from a New Creative Director

The Damn Point in 10 words max: Know less, daydream more, and start a band.

Experts know what they’re talking about… right?

Not always. 

Clutch those pearls, people. 

Longtime professionals and SMEs who have years, sometimes decades, of experience are often surprisingly narrow-minded. Been there, done that, they think. Thanks to their hard-earned competence, they already understand what works. Researchers call this tendency the Earned Dogmatism Hypothesis, which describes how social norms entitle experts to be more close-minded than novices. 

Because, like, they already know and you don’t, thanks. 

Even the cleverest minds get stuck in ruts. Having hit upon an intelligent solution, they apply it over and over again, until everything looks like a nail to their favored hammer. Earned Dogmatism is the reason why, after inventing the world’s first PC, Xerox opted to churn out copier machines (remember those?) instead, while newcomer Steve Jobs moved in. 

It’s also why the most respected art critics of the day viciously attacked Manet’s unconventional painting, Olympia, and why no less a literary expert than Virginia Woolf couldn’t appreciate Joyce’s groundbreaking novel, Ulysses. A recent NASA robotics experiment showed that industry experts opt for familiar, tried-and-tested ideas over disruptive innovations—the greater their expertise, the more narrow their thinking. 

Despite the limitations of certitude, the digital landscape is filled with experts. You see these self-anointed gurus posting their brilliant insights all over your social media feed, weighing in on political events, and dominating meetings. Of course, many are open to novel concepts. But most aren’t. Intellectual rigidity rarely leads to breakthroughs and in a creative industry, ruts spell doom.  

To invite novelty, kick out the experts and tune into the clarion call of your newest recruits. If you’ve been grinding on a complex project or stubborn problem with no solution in sight, maybe what your team needs isn’t more expertise, but a transfusion. Put fresh blood and unjaded eyes on the case, order them some pizza, and see what gorgeous madness begins to track. 

In that rebellious spirit, here are 4 smashing ideas from a brand-new Creative Director. I’ve successfully written and presented copy that’s gotten clients to the moon and back, but I’m still new to helping lead teams, managing writers, and looking serious during meetings. So, why should you listen to me? Because I’ve got good ideas that will inspire your team to be more imaginative, connected, and just plain fun. I mean, just look: 

1. Don’t Always Know

Experts suck at not knowing, but innovators begin with questions, not conclusions. 

Try this: when your creative team hits a snag, resist the temptation to untangle it in the old, familiar way. Processes are useful shortcuts, but that’s precisely what makes them myopic. When you execute pre-established routines, you’re missing out on the dynamism of generating solutions on the fly. It’s tense not to know, but you know what happens when you let go of protocol? You begin to think. 

Gilles Deleuze, a rockstar philosopher, once asked, “What is a thought that harms no one?” By “harm,” Deleuze meant concepts that shake up, revamp, or re-imagine the status quo. Thinking which reiterates the same old, same old isn’t really thinking—it’s a robot stuck on autopilot. New thoughts harm the existing order in a good way, opening up space for something original.

As a CD, I’m asked for guidance and advice. Sometimes, I say honestly: I don’t know. There’s no guidebook to leaf through and say, “Aha, page 8 tells me exactly what to do in this situation.” Instead, something much more marvelous happens: we figure it out together. Not knowing is scary. It’s challenging. It’s alive. And it brings out the best in each of us. 

2. Fight For Your Right To Stare Out of the Window–Alone

Productivity is fantastic. But not at the expense of creativity. Whether you’re designing graphics for a mobile app, developing a brand voice, or writing thought-provoking blog content, there comes a moment in every creative’s workday when you just have to… stare out of the window for a while. 

When working on a headline, for example, I’ll often lean back and free my mind to drift for a few moments. Where does it go? Oh, wherever. First, it settles on the coffee cup by my laptop. Then it wanders over to the window, sniffs the air, and leaps. And then—aha! The headline arrives, blazing, glorious, perfect. My mind dives back in and I’m sitting up, typing frantically. 

Obviously, it’s not always that quick, but research indicates that unfocusing from your tasks and letting your mind wander at will—ideally, somewhere fantastical, like a field full of centaurs, not the finance reports—is key to creativity. So, listen up, managers of creatives: unstructured, “unproductive” moments turn out to be the most productive of all. 

And when you’re staring out of the window, make sure you’re alone. When we’re obligated to attend to others, it’s hard to let our minds take off. So, find time for daydreaming and solitude. Silence your Slack notifications, shut your calendar, and let it go. Yes, like the song. 

3. Have a Stupid Refuge

One of my favorite ad campaigns was launched years ago by Diesel Jeans, in which the brand challenged its audience to “Be Stupid.” Intentionally or not, Diesel argued against the weight of expertise and solemnity with provocative taglines like, “Smart may have the brains, but stupid has the balls” and “Smart critiques. Stupid creates.”  

To help ignite a spirit of playful stupidity, we created a Slack channel at Em Dash called “Band Names.” The channel is dedicated exclusively to posting words or phrases that unintentionally come up during meetings or chats which could easily be (and maybe already are!) rock band names. Whenever somebody drops a good one, one of us immediately takes a second to add it to the channel. 

Here are a few of my faves:

• Liminal Forte
• Thursday Things
• Wild Squirrel
• Legit Hobo
• Rockstart
• At Least She’s Got Wit

Are these stupid? Probably. Does maintaining this channel contribute measurably to our bottom line? I have no idea. Here’s what I do know: in carving out judgment-free spaces for play, we not only bond as a team, but we also invigorate one another to reach beyond the ordinary, say the unexpected, and, who knows, maybe start a band or something. 

4. Accept That Everyone Hates Unnecessary Meetings

It’s true. 

And now for the pitch: team up with Em Dash. We’re creative and we won’t make you come to unnecessary meetings because we hate them as much as you do.

How to be an interesting writer

The damn point in 10 words max: To be interesting, open your mind and use better adjectives.

Boring people. They’re everywhere. They’re constantly talking about themselves or, worse, their kids. They’re elbowing you in the ribs during flight takeoffs, breathing on your quinoa cracker at parties, and perpetually sending you long emails full of… you don’t know because you always hit delete without reading.

What do all of these people have in common? Every time they speak or post an update, you get the weary suspicion that you’ve heard it all somewhere before. That’s because you have. Boring people think in platitudes, communicate with cliches, and repeat the same thing over and over again.

Dull people make dull writers. It’s not possible to be an original, compelling writer without first being an original, compelling thinker. In this post, we’ll cover how to think better to become not just a stronger writer, but an all-around more delightful human being.

Read and write—a lot

You saw this one coming. That’s because you know it’s true. Trying to become an exceptional writer without reading is like trying to advance a new theory of the cosmos without studying astronomy or invent a pastry recipe without sampling lots of different desserts.

For some reason, we think that “anyone” can be creative—especially children. But what separates your two-year-old’s freethinking scrawls from, say, Franz Marc is not simply creativity. It’s years of disciplined, thankless, back-breaking practice that generates the single marker of quality that can’t be faked: skill.

Unless you’re conceited enough to think you’re a prodigy, you’ll have to perfect your skills by reading and writing. Actually, that applies even if you’re a prodigy. As Clive James remarked, “Probably even Richard Feynman occasionally needed to have something explained to him.”

So, read and pay attention to how the best authors work their magic. I promise: if you can look deeply into, and speak honestly about, even a single poem, you’re already more interesting than you were before. And no, you’re not too busy. If you’re grumbling that you don’t have that kind of time, here’s an idea: cancel your Netflix subscription. You’ll be stunned at the vista of recovered hours.

Be informed—by the other side

Consuming the newspapers, music, and films that reinforce your opinion feels good. After all, who doesn’t like being constantly reassured that they’re right?

Interesting people, that’s who.

Boring people are narrow thinkers, their imagination forever hobbled by the weight of their values, judgments, and anxieties. They call it “common sense” and they’re right about one thing–it’s common. Like dirt. Interesting people aren’t tricked into complacency by the self-congratulatory murmur of their own ego. They like to feel challenged, so they look to the “other side” for both inspiration and information.

In practice, that might mean:

• Putting down the fashion magazine and picking up a foreign affairs journal
• Swapping out your go-to action flick for an engrossing, emotional drama
• Ditching your sporting event tickets for a night at the opera
• Tuning into the political pundits you disagree with most strongly

Wherever you normally get your information and recreation—switch it off. Edit your sources. Look for alternatives. Yeah, the ones that make no sense. The ones that sound “stupid” and aren’t “your type” and are favorites of The Other Side. 

Get uncomfortable with ambiguity and be humble in other people’s worlds. You aren’t there to opine or advise, but to learn.

Travel

I can hear it already: what kind of privileged middle-class bourgeois advice is this? Now I’m supposed to book a ticket to Shanghai just to elevate my blog game?

My answer: no writer should be so goddamn literal.

Traveling isn’t about flights, hotels, spending money, or some arbitrary list of “must-see” locations as decreed by a trending vlogger. At its root, travel is about estrangement—from your culture and yourself. The more you know about the way other groups think, value, and prepare to die, the more lightly you’ll hold your own biases, leading to more flexible, playful thinking. You’ll soon realize that you’re as weird as “they” are.

Can’t go anywhere? That’s fine. Pick up a travel memoir. Watch a documentary about Mongolia. Read up on Hungary’s national dessert—then try to make it yourself.

Go everywhere boldly and let it change you. Invariably, your writing will gain depth and nuance.

Diversify your vocabulary

The easiest way to be more interesting? Stop saying the same derivative shit everyone else says.

Cliches are convenient, sure. They’re also lazy.

Every time you find yourself reaching for a comfortable and familiar phrase, pause. Ask yourself: is this really the most effective way to express this idea, mood, or object? Or is it just a stale shortcut?

• Instead of, “He was the man of my dreams” try “He was a noble, beautiful person.”
• Instead of, “We think outside the box” try “We’re bold thinkers.”
• Instead of, “It was a nice day” try “Sunlight flooded the streets.”

One of my own most despised adjectives is, “Great.” Nowadays, everything is a “great opportunity” or a “great idea” or a “great job.” The English language has a cornucopia of adjectives that are far more evocative and snappy than trotting out “great” for the 47th time on one page.

Below are a few to get you started. Say them out loud. Notice how they feel in your mouth, on your tongue, and in your heart. Some of them are prickly and proud, others are sweet and viscous. Language is a force, not a formula—use it with care and courage. 

Adjectives that are better than “great”: Superb, Lush, Badass, Stellar, Remarkable, Dope, Worthy, Stunning, Baller, Ace, Capital, Hardcore, Tremendous, Premiere, Startling, Formidable, Sick, Smashing, Magnificent, Wicked, Sublime…

Btw, Em Dash Blogging is all of those things. 

We’re also a magic gem: small, brilliant, and with the power to make wishes come true.