We have our own stories about Sarah Barclay. Make sure you take the time to read it after Stan’s words below.

When I was young one of my creative idols was Sarah Barclay, who at the time was working at the Campaign Palace.

She works in New York now I think, as an ECD on some global brand whose name I can’t for the life of me remember.

Anyway yesterday I stumbled on a lovely little video of Sarah talking about the early part of her career.

In her own words she puts down her success to being “scrappy and inventive”.

She defines this as never settling for less than the best and never ever giving up.

Grabbing every opportunity that comes your way. And inventing opportunities when they don’t.

Of course you could choose to not follow her advice. But that would just be silly. Now wouldn’t it?

Another gem from Stan to brighten up our Monday Morning. He’s a keeper, isn’t he?

Last week I came across a piece written by Kevin Roberts, the worldwide CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi. I loved it so much I lifted it verbatim and posted it to my BrandDNA blog. Today I’m going to share it with you as well.

Why?

Because it highlights a way of thinking that I believe any person who calls themselves a creative can benefit from. So take a moment to read it, digest it and apply it to your working methods.

“I’ve often said that at Saatchi & Saatchi we prefer Outlaws to Sheriffs, Pirates to the Navy and Hackers to Programmers.

The Saatchi & Saatchi Creative Quorum in Singapore – five executive creative directors from the Asia Pacific who drive new creative thinking across the region – defined this for us.

A hacker beats the system.
A programmer maintains the system.

A hacker is trying to get in.
A programmer is trying to stop things getting in.

A hacker does things because he believes in them.
A programmer does what he is supposed to.

A hacker changes the way things are.
A programmer tries to keep the status quo.

A hacker is agile.
A programmer is a small cog in a big slow machine.

A hacker has many points of attack.
A programmer has one job.

A hacker has to be fast.
A programmer doesn’t.

A hacker is self-reliant.
A programmer relies on others.

A hacker finds paths that don’t exist.
A programmer guards the old ones that already do.

A hacker is about being interesting.
A programmer is about being perfect.”

If you’re bored this Monday Morning and need a bit of inspiration, why not only read this WHIP, but all the others? It’s bound to get you into gear super quick.

Spend some time searching the Monday Whip archive and you’re sure to come across me talking passionately about building a folio of ideas ‘n stuff rather than a book of ads.

This logic holds true for all types of creative work not just advertising.

The idea being that your folio represents you and the way that you think, rather than simply being a collection of work.

This week I came across a blog post by a senior team at a London agency who were responsible for the intake of students on placement.

Here’s what they had to say:

“Try not to bring us a book of just ads.
We like to see other stuff too.
Bring us tapestries if you’re into tapestries.
Angry letters to flatmates and noisy neighbours are always fun to read.
Even funny text messages.
Whatever floats your boat.
Whatever you’re passionate about.
It matters.”

We thank Stan everyday.

I was listening to sports radio yesterday morning and they were talking about young players who had failed to make it at their first club, but went on to achieve great things at their second club.

What these players all had in common, was that the clubs that picked them up after they were traded by their original club assigned senior players to mentor them.

In addition these clubs also had one or two junior coaches on their staff. These people were new to coaching as they had only recently stopped playing.

These junior coaches were also assigned to mentor the young players.

So a young player who had struggled to adapt to the rigours and demands of top flight football was taken under the wing of two people much older than him but much younger than the team coach.

With their support, guidance and encouragement the players came out of their shell and blossomed.

The same applies to young creatives.

Many people get their first job and don’t see out their probationary period. Not because they’re no good at their job, but because they don’t know how to do their job. Plus they’re afraid to ask for help.

So if you’re in you’re first job follow the lead of those young footballers and find yourself a senior person to mentor you.

Believe me when I say you’ll thank me one day.

Don’t be fooled by the number on this post – this is Stan’s 200th Monday Morning WHIP! For almost five years Stan has been kicking our asses into action, and this morning is no exception. Enjoy.

I’m you’ve heard about the Oreo tweet during the power blackout at the Superbowl a few weeks back.

If you haven’t you really should have. So get over to Google pronto.

Anyway this week that tweet picked up not one but two Bronze Clio awards.

And those awards are going to be shared between thirteen people.

Yes thirteen.

It’s a tweet. With a simple picture attached. And it took thirteen people to make it happen.

The learning for you today is this – when you have an idea it isn’t really an idea unless it actually happens.

And most of the time you cannot make an idea happen on your own.

So you need to get used to collaborating, asking for help and possibly even letting other people change your idea.

Because if you don’t you don’t your ideas may never see the light of day.

Sometimes being a creative can mean being creative on someone else’s creative, if that makes sense.

One of the things you need to be prepared for as a working creative is working with other people’s ideas.

You may be a photographer commissioned to capture someone else’s vision.

You may be a director tasked with bringing a creative team’s idea to life.

Or you may be a writer who has to edit and enhance another writer’s draft.

Either way it takes a while to get used to doing this.

That’s because when you decided to become a creative you probably thought it was going to be all about you and your ideas.

Well let me tell you it’s not.

Even best selling authors have their manuscripts tinkered with.

So what you need to do is think of your formative years as a creative apprenticeship.

A chance to not just learn from the best, but to work with them and their ideas.

It ain’t easy. Well not at first.

But trust me when I say it is a skill worth cultivating.

It’s the basic things that sometimes you need to keep remembering.

Sometimes it might seem like you’re never gonna have a good enough folio.

Sometimes you feel like you’re never gonna crack that brief.

Sometimes you’re going to feel like you’re never going to find a job.

And sometimes you’re gonna find yourself wishing you hadn’t got a job because it’s all so goddamn hard.

Well guess what.

You’re not the only person to have felt like this.

Pressure, deadlines and stress are part and parcel of life as a person in the creative industries.

You may never completely be comfortable with it. But you will learn to deal with and manage it.

Well kinda.

The most important thing is stay strong.

I know that sounds like an easy thing to say. But it’s true.

This week Stan reminds us we need to multi-task.

Careerwise you need to have a double focus.

A focus on the job or task at hand. Plus a focus on your future.

Because by focusing on the task in front of you, you will ensure it is good enough to build your reputation.

But there is no point building a reputation if you are not focussing on where your career is headed.

I know this all sounds a bit confusing. In fact I think I may even be confusing myself.

But what I mean is this:

If you are working in a creative role of any kind, always think about what you need to do to become a senior creative.

And the first step you need to take is to stop calling yourself a junior.

It’s nice to have you back after the long weekend, Stan.

The other day we posted a link on the Junior Twitter to this quote by Andy Warhol:

“You need to let the little things that would ordinarily bore you suddenly thrill you”

I cannot emphasise enough how important that quote is to long term success as a creative person.

I have no real interest in cars, yet I have spent a large part of my life working on auto brands like Ford, Volkswagen, Peugeot and Nissan.

I am a 100% Apple fan yet I have worked on Microsoft, Compaq and Hewlett Packard.

In fact the only brands I’ve ever worked on that I truly had a personal interest in were beer brands.

But as a creative you are going to spend a large part or your working life working on brands and products that not only are you not interested in, but that it is impossible to get interested in.

Yet get interested you must.

An interest in packaging enabled Warhol to create two of his most iconic works – the Brillo Box and the Campbells Soup series.

So stop thinking about how you “wanna use your creativity” at work and start getting interested in shit that no one else finds interesting.

Because that, my young friends, is where the opportunities to build a successful career lie.

Sometimes a little bit of random leads to great things.

One of the best quotes to come out of the recent South By South West festival is this:

Be more random.

When I first saw it on Twitter it made me smile. Not because it’s clever or funny, but because it’s true.

It’s a while ago since I taught the RMIT kids behind Junior, but one of the keys things I hope that they learnt from their time with me, was the importance of random.

Confused?

Spend the next bit of spare time you have searching on Google for Kessels Kramer, Dancing Pony or Old Spice.

That, my young friends, is what I mean when I say random.

Putting things together that don’t belong together. Making juxtapositions. Doing the exact opposite of what’s expected of you.

The more random you inject into your work the better it will be.

Don’t be random for random sake. That’s just lazy.

But a large (and regular) dose of random is guaranteed to do you and your work some good.