Do not seek praise. Seek criticism.

It is quite easy to get approval if we ask enough people, or if we ask those who are likely to tell us what we want to hear. The likelihood is that they will say nice things rather than be too critical. Also, we tend to edit out the bad so that we hear only what we want to hear.

So if you have produced a pleasantly acceptable piece of work, you will have proved to yourself that it’s good simply because others have said so. It is probably ok. But then it’s probably not great either. If, instead of seeking approval, you ask, ‘What’s wrong with it? How can I make it better?’, you are more likely to get a truthful, critical answer.

You may even get an improvement on your idea. And you are still in a position to reject the criticism if you think it is wrong.

Don’t look for the next opportunity. The one you have in hand is the opportunity

We are always waiting for the perfect brief from the perfect client. It almost never happens. You’re probably working on a job or project right now and saying, ‘This is boring, let’s just deal with it and get it over with. We’ll make the next one good.’

Whatever is on your desk right now, that’s the one. Make it the best you possibly can. It may not be great, but at least you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing you did the best you possibly could, and you may learn something from it. And you’re always free to do an alternative that does satisfy your creative standards.

Good briefs don’t just come along. That’s true, even if you’ve earned a reputation for doing good work. Successful solutions are often made by people rebelling against the bad briefs.

Don’t promise what you can’t deliver

When selling our ideas, we tend to overpromise in our enthusiasm for our creation. In our vision of how we hope it will be, we leave no room for failure. The result will probably be disappointing. Not disastrous, but a little less than expected.