Strands of Genius: Stop. Breathe. We can't Keep Working Like This, Being Glued To Smartphones Can Curb Creativity, Ten Teasons Why Creatives Should Start Working With A Pen And Paper

Guest curated by John Long, SVP, Creative @ Digitas

Sep 12, 2024

:: A BIT MORE ABOUT GUEST CURATOR, JOHN LONG ::

LOCATION: New York

Hello! I'm John Long. I'm a New York-based ECD/writer, and was lucky to meet Faris on the Twitter machine before the Muskopalypse. I'm currently at Digitas and held creative leadership roles at agencies including Ogilvy, Code & Theory and Huge, and run in-house creative shops at The Economist and LG North America. I've written about the ad industry at Muse by Clio, Adweek, Ad Age, The Drum, and McSweeney's, and lately, I've been thinking a lot lately about the smartphone and "productivity" tools like email, Slack and Teams, and their effect on our minds and creativity. The tl;dr is: I think it's all terrible.

Creativity is unleashed by the subconscious, and near-constant distractions keep your conscious mind active. What's more, craft--the stuff that makes emotional resonance possible--requires concentration--which is also impossible if you're constantly toggling between pings, devices, and meetings. We know this is true. So why are we working like this? One thing that's clear is creative agencies adopted the tools and processes of digital agencies. I've had a front-row seat to this phenomenon. Slack and daily "stand ups" are perhaps essential for enterprise website builds. For a creative campaign? Not so much.

The fact is, we've all just uncritically adapted the next greatest tech without seriously considering its impact on us, our brains, and our work. Maybe it's time we started.

Editor’s Note (Genius Steals): We are excited to have John guest curate this excellent edition. Faris did indeed meet him on Twitter I think in his Economist era and he has become one of our favorite writers on creativity and how to make better ads and that. He is very good at it, look at some of his decks on Linkedin and that. We are very aligned with his proposition - we all need to consider how to allocate our attention with intention, at work and with our media consumption. [Strands is, of course, absolutely delicious AND nutritious, bringing you all the inspiration we can gather for you and it makes you smarter and gives you a spring in your step and wonderful conversation fodder and smart insights and that because we love you 😉 ❤️] Faris in particular as a loathing of productivity hacks and software in general….

Hey it’s me, Faris, I just can’t with Slack. And I’m OK with that. However I also can’t (be bothered) with TikTok and so the Skinner Box for Seniors video at the bottom is mostly how I see them. The cheapest, easiest dopamine tends to be more addictive and less satisfying….also see social media and its endless attention hacks and how it makes you feel.

HT Amy Kean for the below image.

Anyway, any creative process requires, or is best served by anyway, a period of incubation. This is when, having crammed all the relevant into your brain, and having worked on some ideas, you wander off for the walk in the woods or shower or do the dishes so your default mode network can find more lateral associations for you. This can’t happen if you are endlessly harassed with notifications from your phone or colleagues. Thanks so much John! Hope to meet you IRL someday.

:: THE LINKS ::

STOP. BREATHE. WE CAN’T KEEP WORKING LIKE THIS

Ezra Klein's interview with Cal Newport was a revelation. Newport is a professor of computer science at Georgetown, and he makes a compelling case that all these digital tools have led us to work collectively in what he calls the "hyperactive hive mind." The fact is, it's far too easy to interrupt people at work today and demand their attention. It's making us all miserable, and Newport's point of view is that smart companies will realize it's deleterious effects on the work and the workforce and start gatekeeping and/or limiting these digital tools. (NY Times)

BEING GLUED TO SMARTPHONES CAN CURB CREATIVITY

A good summary of all the research done around how constant engagement with smartphones hinders creativity. I think it's very strange that a lot of people in our industry blame remote work on the decline in creativity, when in fact there are lots more studies that show it's smartphones and digital distractions that are the culprit--and no one ever questions their use. (The Swaddle )

TEN REASONS WHY CREATIVES SHOULD START WORKING WITH A PEN AND PAPER

I guess I've been on this beat for a while, because this is an article I wrote for The Drum seven years ago. But everything still holds. There have been plenty of academic studies that support the idea that writing by hand stimulates the brain in ways that swipes and keyboards don't. And the smartphone's distractions drown out the subconscious mind. (The Drum)

Looking for more from John? Coming Friday, look for an interview from him in your inbox!

:: AND NOW… SOME FAST FAVORITES ::

:: Game :: I'm a proud chess nerd and chess.com has made me even more so.

:: City :: Rome

:: Book :: “The Power Broker” by Robert Caro. The best history of 20th-century New York, and one of the best histories I've ever read.

:: Podcast :: It's an election year, so I can't get enough of The Bulwark podcast.

:: Song :: “Freedom” by Beyonce

:: THAT’S INSANE ::

This video of America’s senior citizens seems appropriate for Strands!

Just remember: wherever you go, there you are. And feel free to connect with me at Elon's hellsite @janthonylong.

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It's called Genius Steals because we believe ideas are new combinations and that nothing can come from nothing. But copying is lazy. We believe the best way to innovate is to look at the best of that which came before and combine those elements into new solutions.

Co-Founders Faris & Rosie are award-winning strategists and creative directors, writers, consultants and public speakers who have been living on the road/runway since March 2013, working with companies all over the world. Our Director of Operations is nomadic like us, our accounting team is based out of Washington, our company is registered in Tennessee, and our collaborators are all over the world. Being nomadic allows us to go wherever clients need us to be, and to be inspired by the world in between.

Hit reply and let’s talk about how we might be able to work together :)

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