There’s a common misconception that there are those who make things and those who don’t, especially in the arts. Sometimes people who don’t draw view it as a mysterious practice that they ‘just don’t understand’. Likewise with music, people who don’t create music often see it as an activity that ‘they could never do’ when in reality, it’s just that they don’t. And if they did, and worked really hard at it as anyone who is an accomplished artist or musician does, they too would get better. That’s not to say that there aren’t talented people out there who pick things up more quickly; everyone is talented in their own ways, whether it’s the arts or anything else.  

In an agency setting, the client management or production team is often viewed as ‘non-makers’. And while they shouldn’t necessarily be billing their time to hammering out comps or coding out a prototype, I would argue that anyone working in a digital environment would greatly benefit from making things. In these roles in particular, making things will help in communication, collaboration, cognitive empathy, and overall confidence. Most importantly however, making things helps you develop an approach to quick research, implementation and testing — the core principles that define all stages of interactive work. This change in thinking has long been explored by Tim Malbon and the other insightful folks at Boulder Digital Works and Made By Many.

Within the client management team, we’ve recently started discussing ways each of us can put this into practice. We each have our passions, whether they be volunteering at an animal shelter or playing in a band. So when we focus on things we are truly interested in, we tap into a powerful curiosity, that when paired with the right amount of effort, learning-as-you-go becomes much easier. These groups and organizations we are passionate about can most certainly benefit from utilizing digital solutions to achieve their objectives and goals. We do this every day for clients utilizing teams and process, but why not take a project into our own hands and formulate a quick strategy, roll up our sleeves and execute against it. As part of our development, each member of the client management team identifies two projects a year that they would initiate, develop and build out. Through this exercise, we dig more into the tools and applications our team utilizes regularly allowing us to see more intimately how the strategy works through the process, not only conceptually but tactically as well.  

We talk a lot about being solutions-oriented problem-solvers, over-used, over-hyphenated and somewhat vacant terms, when you consider how difficult it is to find people with these qualities. And the only way to become good at that is to work really hard at it, just like an accomplished musician or artist does. Making things allows us to confront a number of little (and sometimes big) problems, come up with a solution, test it, and if it doesn’t work, then reframe the problem, come up with a solution and test it again. Aristotle said, “We are what we repeatedly do”, so what better way to be problem-solvers than to make things.