Certifications

Some jobs require a degree from an institution that gives some hint at the work you are capable of. A lawyer from an Ivy will get a higher starting salary than similar lawyer from average public university in part because the Ivy will be expected to generate more work, at a higher rate, than the average. That may or may not play out over time, but that's the theory. But many careers lack certifications. My career path long ago stopped being about where I went to undergrad and is now all about the work I've done, with whom, the revenue it has driven, etc. Many are crossing over from photography and print, using their unique skill sets to make the marketplace more varied and interesting. Few care if they went to an Ivy or are self-taught. Credentials are fine, but at the end of the day the question is: "Can you do the work?"

Distance

We forget what a joy it is to work on a well-conceived project with the proper resources behind it, until we work on something half-baked with no budget.

I would love to see the video equivalent on Iron Chef, where participants are given 30 minutes of lousy footage, no script, and given a period of time to make something entertaining. The results would be varied, but the process fascinating.

You can't fully judge someone's work without knowing how far they had to carry it.

The Scarcest Commodity

Clever elevates the ordinary. Exhibit A:

The top half is a good joke- but what's written on the tear off fingers is clever, and really makes the piece priceless.

Clever is exponential creativity.

Peter

Creative Time

True creativity needs time to ferment. There are not many instant formulas.

A process that allows for experiments to be made, for false starts to happen, will produce the richest set of outcomes over time.

Given a short amount of time to come up with something, the first reasonable solution will be used. In an individual situation, the result may be fine. But over a longer period, short creative windows will result in ruts and repeats, a body of work that is far less interesting than the alternative.

If your business model is delivering the same product to diverse clients, then you are probably a commodity with little pricing power, so efficiency is your hammer. Use it.

But if your business model is to deliver unique results to varied and diverse clients, you are going to need time to generate all the ideas that don't work to discover the ideas that are genius.

That takes time. Fortunately its more lucrative than the commodity product.

Peter