The many faces of success

One of my entrepreneurial pals has a saying I love: “Success leaves clues.”

In short, it means that with each achievement, it’s possible to reverse engineer the process to determine what worked, what didn’t and where improvements can be made. Sometimes those clues are glaringly obvious; other times, it takes intuition and sensitivity to find the signals.

This delicate balance is where this year’s Creative Report Card’s top contenders have found the formula that works. Their success is so often tied to tried-and-true, proven methods – such as holding steadfast to the agreed-upon vision or hitting the right audience at the right time.

But that’s just the start. What’s often more interesting is what happens after that. It’s the inspiration drawn from engaging in play or valuing hard work and ambition over what’s in a portfolio. These are the clues to greatness that can’t be taught or systemized. That human side of creativity is what sets the good work apart from the great; what catapults exceptional creative minds into a league of their own.

Similarly, you see so much of that as the driving force behind our New Establishment winners. This year’s crop of junior- to mid-level talents caught our attention because of the impressive work they do –but they kept it because of relentless changes for good they’re making to their industries. Maybe it’s efforts to support DE&I or sustainability initiatives, but the vigor with which they approach their missions, as well as their 9-to-5s, will change the way you think about the 24 hours we each have in a day.

Finally, in Next Big Thing, our panel of experts examines our need for certainty and simplicity in a world that is neither certain nor simple. We take a deep dive into the mystical ways of the algorithm, how repeated exposure trains our brains, the complexities of privacy and personalization, and plain-speak ways to bring your brand into the metaverse. While strategic foresight isn’t like looking into a crystal ball, interpreting the weak signals of human behaviour in an evidence-based approach can be a strong indicator as to what we can expect in the future.

Some aspects of success can be entered into your spreadsheet. They can be structured, calculated, strategized – returned to again and again to produce work that works. But creativity is an unknowable force that requires more than just data points. So look for inspiration everywhere, leap unafraid into risks that feel right, and scan vehemently for the clues that success has left you to lead the way.

Chelsea Clarke Associate Editor, strategy

spring 2023 volume 34, issue 2 strategyonline.ca publisher | lisa faktor | lfaktor@brunico.com content director, editor | jennifer horn | jhorn@brunico.com (leave) interim editor | brendan christie art director | tim davin | tdavin@brunico.com associate editor | chelsea clarke | cclarke@brunico.com associate publisher | neil ewen | newen@brunico.com news editor | josh kolm | jkolm@brunico.com senior reporter | justin crann | jcrann@brunico.com senior reporter | chris lombardo | clombardo@brunico.com contributers | mike connell, wendy kan, alex panousis, will novosedlik account manager | nupur purohit | npurohit@brunico.com marketing co-ordinator | emily yuill | eyuill@brunico.com

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