On Programming Matters, Steve Riley recently posted what he considers to be the Top 10 Attributes of a Great Programmer.
"With all the latest attention again on what does and doesn’t make a good programmer, I couldn’t help but put together my own top 10 list."
After reading the entire post I quickly returned the initial bulleted list:
The Top 10 Attributes of a Great Programmer
- Being a great problem solver.
- Being driven and lazy at the same time.
- Ability to understand other people’s code
- Having a passion for programming
- Loving learning for the sake of learning
- Being good at math
- Having good communications skills
- Strong debating skills
- Extreme optimism
- Extreme pessimism
I feel like these are an identical list for what might be considered a strong creative in advertising. Or, a conceptual thinker–a Concept Director. With the exception of two minor amendments, I would like to apply this list to the creatives who might be reading this post. Aside from being a great creative person, there are some fundamentals to succeeding in this industry. This list serves me just as much if not more. I should be reminding myself of these things daily. Before my first cup of coffee and after my second aneurysm. So, let's reevaluate this in the context of a creative professional in the advertising industry:
The Top 10 Attributes of a Great Creative
- Being a great problem solver.
- Being driven and lazy at the same time.
- Ability to understand other people’s concepts and ideas
- Have a passion for advertising as an art-from
- Love learning for the sake of learning
- Know how to use a calculator
- Having good communications skills
- Strong debating skills
- Extreme optimism
- Extreme pessimism
Interestingly enough, this brings me back to the challenge of semantics both as industry jargon and human syntax in general. A common pole-star can be attributed to all successful and innovative endeavors of thought.
We are all carved from the same stone but, remain unique sculptures. Is advertising really that difficult?
2 Unique Responses:
Yes. Advertising really is that difficult. Why? You articulated it well enough. Although cut from the same stone, we each remain unique. Why do tamales taste good to me, but not to you?
Hi Troy–hmmm, well, I don't mind if we disagree with how a tamale tastes, as long as we agree that it's a tamale and not a taco.
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