Being a creative is not a job.

The art students at the college were putting together their summer exhibition. Paintings, photographs, furniture, ceramics and models were being prepared for display in the main hall, reception and main corridors.

In the corner of reception was a big box containing hanging materials. A bag of masonry nails, paper bags, masking tape, some old frames, glue and so on. 

Thinking that the cleaners might mistake the  materials for rubbish, a tutor had written the following next to the box:

One of my part time tutors was walking through the reception on his way to the canteen for lunch. He spotted the sign, stopped and got out his marker pen.

He wrote the word ‘thanks’ on a piece of paper and dropped it on the floor.  Seeing the joke I decided to do the same.

By the end of the lunch hour there were a dozen ‘thanks’ on the floor written on various pieces of paper. By the end of the day there were more ‘thanks’. By the end of the week there were hundreds.

No one cleared away the pile of ‘thanks.’  After all, there was a sign that said, ‘please leave thanks.’

By the time the show opened to the public the pile of paper was two feet high, six feet wide and had become a distinctive, eye-catching piece. 

I didn't take a photo at the time, although this image is quite close to how it looked.

The art tutors wanted to know which student had thought up this art piece so they could mark it and attribute the mark to the student’s final grade.

All the art students looked blank. The tutors were baffled. They marked it anyway expecting the student to come forward at a later date.

Being a creative is something you are.

It’s not just a job.

HOW TO FIND A CREATIVE PARTNER.

The hardest part of being a creative team is being in a team.

Here's what you are looking for :

1. One left brain, one right brain.

Harpo Marx never spoke in films. He was visual. 
He was random. He produced moments of inspired slapstick with great charm. He was the clown. 

Groucho was the wordsmith. 
He found irony in a bowl of porridge. 
He delivered sardonic word play with  a supersonic tongue.

One talked. One didn't. 
One was words. 
One was pictures.
Right and left brain in perfect harmony.



2. Have different stories to tell.

If your experience and cultural backgrounds are the same it will be like working with a mirror. You'll  soon get bored of yourself.

Great creative teams are often the result of opposites  working together.

The quiet with the loud.
The poor with the posh.
The Swede with the Brit.
The Northerner with the Southerner.
The scholar with the plumber. 
The country boy with the city boy.

Hoffman and Voight.
 

3. Work harder than your partner.

Stan Laurel made over 80 films before he met Oliver Hardy.
Oliver Hardy made over 50 films before he met Stan Laurel.

Strong creative teams come from  hard working individuals.
Fate brings them together.

Always work with the hardest working person you can find.
The talent will come later. 



 4 Pilot and navigator.

Someone in the team needs to understand business.
They need to comprehend  the client's problems and articulate how and why their creative solutions will work. 

They need to get the appointments that will change their lives.
They need to twist the powerful around their little fingers with charm and without being overtly unctuous. 

One needs to plot the career route map the other has to do the driving.



5. Smash the china then kiss and make up.

Without passion your ideas will lack edge.
Without anger you'll be dull.
You are human. 

You are a raging bag of beliefs, ambition and frustration. 
Pleasant won't get you anywhere.
Have bust ups with your partner. Then put your arm around each other and go for a beer.

Peter Taylor and Brian Clough were the finest football management team ever.
Brian was impatient, arrogant, short tempered, fiery.  Peter Taylor was the calming voice of reason.
Clough took players and Chairmen to boiling point. Taylor cooled them down.

Together they took a  bunch of average players and turned them into European Champions.
Not once but twice.




 6 Have fun.

If you are not having fun with your partner then what is the point?
You may as well work in a petrol station kiosk.
 

 7 Stick together.

When the shit shatters the fan blades you both use the word 'we'
'We' are to blame.
'We' are responsible.
'We'll' put it right.
Accept the glory and the pay rises as a team.

And accept the dressing downs and redundancies as a team.

'We' never 'I'
Be loyal to each other.
 

8. Do your own creative thing.

Spike Milligan wrote whimsical  poems,  bizarre comedy sketches and hilarious books.

Spike Milligan was also an integral part of  The Goons , a band of intelligent nutcases who defined surreal comedy.

In a team he produced amazing ideas.
As  an individual Spike produced exceptional ideas.

Always find time to do your own  creative projects.
Give your partner space.
Get more Spike in your life.



 9. If you are going to be the same be different.

Gilbert and George took the creative duo and turned it into a distinctive brand.

Their personalities were so intertwined  they became an art form.
If you are the same be different from all those other teams who are the same.
 

 10. It's always about trust.

Trust , trust and double trust with extra lashings of trust.
At the end of the day it's all about trust.

Once you let suspicion creep into your lives you are finished as a team.

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