Last month, I was fortunate enough to snatch up a ticket to the very first CreativeMornings event in Chicago. CreativeMornings is a monthly morning gathering for creative types that consists of a 20-minute lecture, followed by a 20-minute group discussion. The talks often focus on what it means to ‘make’ as a profession, with an emphasis on discovering inspiration and creativity. The event is free for those lucky enough to get tickets (the first Chicago talk sold out in 3 minutes!).
The talk was given by Jim Coudal of Coudal Partners, who gave some brief insights into the history of his business as well as the lessons he has learned as a design company.
Mr. Coudal’s anecdotes of both success and failure are mixed together and told with a grin that says ‘Hey, I made what I liked, I had fun, and who knew what was going to happen’. The importance of his stories does not lie in the outcome of the company’s projects, but rather in their attitude, approach, and execution. I find that truly productive and inventive individuals, such as Jim Coudal, operate with a surprisingly ‘content’ demeanor.
I have also found this quality overwhelmingly present among the exceptionally gifted individuals at DMC. This is not a mindset that is easy to arrive at, but once one is comfortable with the level of work expected from oneself and the problems they want to solve, the work becomes that much more productive and rewarding.
I had so much fun being part of this first talk and I hope to maintain this level of inspiration as I finish developing the DMCConsultants.com website. The realms of design and engineering can often seem ostensibly exclusive, one focused on the surface and presentation, the other on the mechanism and production, but the truth is that there is considerable interchange between the two.
My favorite excerpt from the talk was reiterated in a recent interview by 37signals:
Two quick points. Not every idea is going to work. Know that going in. Ideas tend to follow the path of least resistance and more often than not that path is the one where you find yourself talking an idea to death, by getting hung up on the “what ifs.” So you need to actively push ideas out and embrace failure. Fail spectacularly whenever possible.
Secondly, every single person I have ever met or corresponded with about leaving the work-for-hire world and trying to create something of their own, something that they really care about, says exactly the same thing. Win, lose or draw they always express the same thought and most of the time they say it in exactly these words.
What they say is, “I should have done this sooner.”
CreativeMornings was created in 2009 by Tina Rose Eisen as a way to provide an accessible, inspiring morning event for people to connect.