All posts by rayankowich

Productivity

So what, you won some business.

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Don’t pop the champagne too soon. You know how they say in baseball, when it’s a great game, don’t tweet that it’s a great game before it’s over. Or when your at the end of a race and you’ve definitely taken the lead, you don’t stop before the finish line to look back at your defeated opponents to celebrate, right?

Point being, when you win that big fat juicy new biz, you should hold the clinking cheers until after the project has launched. It’s not to say you should not acknowledge the hard work and good fortune that came out of winning the business – you should definitely pay your respects! But then put those heads back down and get to the real meat of the project.

It is hard to accept that you may have just won the business on preliminary visual ideas and hastily prepared research and scrapped together strategy. Then what? You win the clients heart over to do the real work and you’re like, but we did it already. Wrong. This is where you need to hold your own work up to a mirror. Remember now you are being paid to do the actual work. If the client liked a direction from the pitch – all the better for you. However, you still need to go back and put in the due diligence and time into the thinking. Otherwise you’ll be left scrambling from beginning to end.

Winning the biz is definitely something to be proud of. It should be highlighted in the next full company wide meeting. It should be counted as a win for the team. But remember – winning the business is different than launching the final project. And that is something to be accounted for.

 

Photo by Scott Warman on Unsplash

Creative Juices, Productivity

#TrustTheProcess

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It’s so difficult to let go and trust the process. Especially when it comes to managing creatives and projects. There is not one way that works for all when it comes to unlocking your (or others) creativity. The most you can do as a manager is to make sure your team has all of the resources and information that they need. And from there, you have to take a few steps back, give time and space and let the creatives be creative. Here are some ways in which I try to set guidelines or parameters to keep the project on task and on time while still giving my creative team the freedom to work within their process:

  1. Have a formal kick-off meeting no matter how big or small the project is. It helps to set the tone of the assignment and give it importance and meaning behind it. It also is a good chance to make sure you are organized and have all you need for your team to get started. More times than not it’s a reality check for me that I myself need more information before I can expect my team to execute on the project deliverables.
  2. Give context. I used to shield more of the minor – what I thought was useless information to the the designers or developers on my team. But I find that it helps to give the team more information on maybe the personality of the client themselves or why the project is so important (maybe it leverage for the sales team to upsell on a bigger scope of work.). It makes the project feel more personable and gives the creative more intel/investment on a personal level.
  3. Get to the main points. I try to be as concise as possible with information I am outputting to the team. I think it’s so important to keep client emotion out of client comments when passed to the team. You’re expecting these team members to absorb so much information so do not give them anything more than is needed – that is your job as a manager to weed that out.
  4. Check-ins are great in a non-micro-managerial way if done right. This is key. Checking in internally throughout client deadlines is a great way to watch the project evolve and see the process iron itself out – but they can turn into a hovering helicopter if not done right. I try my best to ask my creatives to schedule any check-in reviews. That takes the pressure off of them feeling like they have to back into some date and time that forced them into. It also gives them the chance to make the decision as to when they feel their work is ready and good. I find that there are a lot fewer excuses like… I ran out of time, I didn’t get to that yet, well, you’d set the meeting, etc.
  5. Compliment and challenge the thinking. I don’t think that one can live without the other. There is no chance you walk into a review after some time has gone by and cannot find at least one great thing that was accomplished in the project – even if it happened to derail the main objective. That’s where challenge comes into play. I believe you need to acknowledge the process and work that went into something for better or for worse. And then from there once you have established that you appreciate the thinking and work that was done then you can come in with the challenge. I prefer to challenge the thinking than give harsh one liner directives. That never lends itself to the good conversation that can lead to even greater thinking and solutions.

So, all in all, it boils up to five things: proper formalities, giving context, concise information, check-ins and thoughtful critiques.

Photo Cred: unsplash-logoSteve Johnson

Lifestyle & Health

Who Are Me?

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I look in the mirror and all that’s playing in my mental sound track is The Who. I take one look – one deep look – into my own eyes and I’m, without fail, like a spinning broken record on repeat. I say to myself “who are you”. “Who who who who”.

Just to confirm it is not who are you, it is who is me. But when staring at your reflection it is you, not me. Nah mean?

I sometimes need to get input from other sources to check in with myself. To stay grounded. It’s not that I seek others approval (all of the time) or need to be validated with every move I make, but every once in a while it helps.

I also sometimes get caught up in what defines me. Is it my job? The people I hang out with? What hobbies I enjoy? Or is it deeper than that. Is it thoughts – the good the bad the ugly? Maybe it’s none of that.

So moral of this post’s story. I think it’s okay to not define who we are. Every day we’re changing. Different influences, different surroundings, different things to learn. Different things that bring us joy. Different things to love, different things to not-love (hate is a strong word).

So don’t worry about having an elevator bio pitch or the perfect bio description on Instagram. It is not about having the right words to define yourself – let other people decide for themselves. It is in the way we act and carry ourselves.

And the next time The Who is playing in your ear, just sing along.

Well, who are you? (who are you? who, who, who, who?)
Oh, who are you? (who are you? who, who, who, who?)
Come on and tell me, who are you? (who are you? who, who, who, who?)
Oh who the fuck are you? (who are you? who, who, who, who?)

Lifestyle & Health

An Ode To My Prolactinoma

Wasn’t that enough, no?
You had to come back for more.

At first my brain and then my insides
I feel wilted away and sore.

•••

Haven’t you had enough yet?
You leave me here to cry.

My emotions a mess I can’t control
But I swear I try, I try.

•••

Please, just leave me alone now.
I swear there’s nothing more.

You’ve changed my look and then my mood
You’ve ruined me to the core.

•••

Some days are good. Some days are bad. And on the bad days I try to channel that negativity into productive energy. I must say I feel #LIT lately. I am doing a cleanse by @medicalmedium and am on the right track up and up. But on the days I am down and down it helps to write. More on the cleanse in another post 🙂

Creative Juices, Productivity

The Anatomy of a Team

Trim the Fat

If someone or something is holding the team back – at first, try to keep them up to speed. And if at first, you don’t succeed, try again one or two more times. If you truly put your best foot forward and nothing is changing – trim the fat. No hard feelings but if you want the team to succeed you have to leave behind the things that are holding you back.

Build the Muscles

Challenges are good – they are what keep a team working closely together to solve a problem or objective. Keep them coming. You do not want to burn out your team but you constantly want to keep them challenged. And just like building muscle in the gym – it needs to be replenished and repaired afterward. After a team’s accomplishment, give them a pat on the back and celebrate the ups and downs – that powers the team to want to succeed time and time again.

Readjust the Bones

Sometimes when building a team we think of it like a puzzle. The right pieces all need to fit in the right spaces. But real life is not that simple. It is okay to rearrange a team so that they can be as efficient and motivated as possible. Maybe it is as simple as reworking a seating arrangement for optimal workflow or it could be that a team member you originally brought on for one job is actually better or more motivated at something else so let them shine there.

Fuel the Energy

Work hard and play harder – the motto I have always taken with me through my career so far. Working together on projects is a grind and honestly, it sometimes depletes a team of their solid energy. But if you can insert happiness, laughs and team-building activities throughout intense projects or work – I think you will find that it fuels the team’s energy and motivation.

Stretch the Thinking & Doing Muscles

Maybe your team is absolutely unstoppable at what they do. That is amazing, however, it is important to break up the routine every once in a while. If you keep drilling a team to do the same thing over and over again because they rock at it then they are building really strong muscles and thinking but are they learning and growing? We need to stretch these muscles too. Whether that is just encouraging your team members to work on their passion projects or if you can throw them small little projects between the big ones.

Productivity

Head in the Clouds

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My dreams of unusualness are keeping me awake at night. My dreams of success are holding me back from being present during the day. Which is my philosophical lead into Dreams vs Goals.

Dreams, in my opinion, are amazing. But it is how we use them, learn and grow from them that is where it gets tricky. I’m not going to define dreams but it is relatively common to hear that dreams are the inner workings of our subconscious mind. So with that said, I think dreams are important and should be listened to. They may be telling us something we know deep down but have not had the time or courage to really act on it.

But what is a dream without action? It’s an empty cloud that soon will evaporate into nothing. This is where goals come in. To achieve a dream you need to pave the way through stepping stones or goals. Sometimes our dreams are BIG and we get discouraged because it seems the path to get there is completely immeasurable but if we start to set small goals to check off, the list suddenly becomes a little bit easier. No item on the checklist is too small. So really, what am I saying with all of this…

  1. Write your dream down. Or better yet make a dream (vision) board. This helps to remind you what it is you are working towards. Visualization is key.
  2. Stay focused. Set benchmark goals in what you can do to get closer to your dream. Have them written down, but not in stone – it is okay if they slightly shift or change – as long as that is inline with your ultimate dream.
  3. Be realistic with your goals, treat some more like habits and be patient with yourself as you develop these. Consistency is key in making a change stick.
  4. Be okay with your dreams changing. If you reach one of those small goals towards a dream and it is not at all what you wanted, move on to the next and learn from that. If it even goes as far as to mean your dream is maybe no longer your actual dream, that is okay too, just repeat steps one through three.

Now, get after those dreams.

Lifestyle & Health

Things I’ve Learned From My Parents Dog

  1. Life is too short to stay mad, wag your tail often.
  2. Always greet people with enthusiasm and care, even if they were only gone for an hour. Imagine how that person will feel if you constantly are happy to see them.
  3. Bark loudly and you will get what you want. Okay, maybe not loudy – but persistently. Eventually, if you don’t give up, you will get what you want. That puppy-eyed look doesn’t hurt either.
  4. Rest. Play. REST. It is so important to take breaks and let your body relax.
  5. Act like you have no limits. Of course limits will set in – we are only human, but when you take that first step in the morning, or you lift one weight level up, or you add five extra things to the to-do list – tackle them head on as if you have no limits. You will do it stronger, better, harder. And your brain won’t tell you – you can’t. Because you can.

Those are just a few of the many things I have the pleasure of learning from my parents wonderfully silly and playful brindle boxer. Life is serious but we have to continue to learn to not take ourselves so seriously. Enjoy the ride, get a dog.

@DaveGaraffa – can we get a dog now?

Creative Juices

Vision Quests

Creatives need creative breaks too. And I call them Vision Quests.

I cannot take credit for the name, that has to be a #shoutout to one of my old time teammates, Matt (you know who you are). But I will tell you what, when, why, where and how.

What
A Vision Quests is a judgement-free, sometimes silly and mostly-non-digital, creative journey with 2+ individuals full of creative thinking, wild exploration and lots of laughter.

When
VQ can take place at any time. I prefer to plan them towards the end of the day but the middle of the week. Enough of a chance to have warmed up at work a bit but gives a good shake of the creative juices before the week starts to get stale.

Why
I feel that it is so important to stretch your mental, creative and physical muscles during a regular work week. We are so often living and working in such a digital, stressful world and we lose sight of the importance simple experiences have.

Where
ANYWHERE AND EVERYWHERE. Sometimes it can depend on the activity but I have done VQs in bars, office spaces, parks, etc.

How
I either come up with a fun random idea or I work the crowd and try to find something that will satisfy the team, in particular, that week. Maybe the team could use a new skill-set, or a good laugh, maybe a good lesson or just a cold beer.

Keep a lookout as I will start posting a few of the VQs I have organized in the past 🙂

Productivity

Right Here Right NOW

It’s easy to get caught up in worry about the future. It’s even easier to hang on to the past. But to truly live in the moment, right here, right now – that is the greatest challenge. For me at least.

I find this to me most challenging during a hectic workweek. It is hard to leave a stressful day at work and not let it define my night. Or going to the gym in the morning and letting the overwhelming thought of the day ahead hold me back from my optimal workout. But those nights and mornings are so precious to me. They are the moments throughout a week that I live for with my husband. And those long days at work are where the majority of my life takes place, so why not try to make it the most enjoyable it can be.

I am learning and trying different ways to channel living in the moment. Even at work, nothing is as bad as it seems if you can just concentrate on the present, rather than letting the stress of what’s ahead set the tone for your next meeting or work conversation. Or letting the morning start from the failures or frustrations of yesterday. Here are a few ways below that I try to get my mind back on track when it drifts away from here and now.

  • Breath – Everyone says this and it seems so simple. But it is honestly hard to breath the right way when you are dwelling on what happened ten minutes ago or anxious about what is ten minutes ahead. Breath deep and breath long. I don’t believe there is only one way to do this – it is just to change your current breathing pattern to expand your lungs and calm your breathe.

 

  • Change Your State – I find this to be incredibly helpful. If you are in an intense meeting or sitting at your desk and read an upsetting email – just move! If you are sitting when you read the email then stand up. If you are crossing your legs in a meeting than uncross them. Maybe force a smile on your face (even though you are unhappy) – you may find that it brings you to a genuine smile or even a happy laugh at yourself. This truly shakes your body out of its current state to ground you back into the present.

 

  • Appreciate Something Simple – In general, I try to count my blessings and always stay thankful for the many privileges I have in my life. However, when you are not in the moment it is easy to lose sight of this. Try to think of something in your present setting that you can express gratitude towards. Not the typical, family or friends, but even simpler. Maybe it is the pen you are using that someone lent to you that day or the sun that is shining.