Selflessness vs. Selfishness…

People face this moral dilemma each and every day with the many interactions we all have with other people in our lives.  This article more or less continues the argument I made in the last article about networking.  We live in a market-driven and democratic society where each and every person has the ability to be as successful as they want to be.  We can chart our own courses, make free and independent decisions and say whatever we feel like saying using whatever media available and deemed most effective.  Of course there are many more things people in the Western world can do, but my point is that our society and how it works creates a significant moral dilemma between being selfless and selfish. 

Take note that this article may or may not present a clear argument or point……. frankly, I didn’t write to make a specific argument or point, but rather a “ramble of thoughts” that I think is worth sharing and thinking about.

For those that know me, I would say that I am selfless before I am selfish.  Is this a good thing?  Well….. yes and no. 

Being selfless is absolutely required today because people typically have long-lasting memories when someone does something positive or negative for them.  Whether they reciprocate equally is another story and another article!!  People, I think, tend to gravitate towards others that are selfless.  I take business development very seriously, and the key strategy that I use in my own business development is networking.  Networking truly works when a reciprocal relationship exists —- a.k.a. equal level of give and take.  But, in order to start this relationship I feel that I need to be selfless first so that I demonstrate the value that I can bring to the networking relationship.  Great…… but what if I am constantly being selfless and a given networking relationship does not develop into a truly reciprocal one?  Or, what if my selflessness does not adequately look out for my own best interests, and actually starts to be a detriment to my own interests?  Not a good thing….

On the flip side, being selfish is also required in business today.  A purely selfish person only considers their own interests while excluding and not considering others.  This description doesn’t sound like someone I’d want to associate with….. or does it?  Maybe I’m being biased here but in my experience meeting new people, networking with people and working with people, I would argue that people tend to think of their own interests before the interests of others.  Without doing any formal research, perhaps I could argue that this “me first perspective” is a natural form of human behaviour and who people are!!  Could I also argue that people who are more selfish than selfless are more successful?  I’m not sure that argument would fly in many circles of thought but it is worth considering.

I’m sure many of you are thinking to yourself, “Jeff, what’s the fricking point”??  Maybe there is no point…… maybe this article is just meant to provoke some thought on something that I think about often.  It’s a moral dilemma that I face each day as I develop my own approaches to people in specific situations.  In conclusion, through my own experiences and everything that I have said so far in this article, I would argue that the most optimal approach is one that balances the interests of both yourself and others equally, and that satisfies both short and long term objectives.  A shortsighted perspective does nothing to develop a relationship and optimally reap the benefits that could be realized by thinking holistically (i.e. your own and others interests).  A purely long-term perspective does not provide instant gratification and benefits that people today are so used to, and crave. 

This moral dilemma links directly to human behaviour, and how people act in certain situations.  I think a win-win all around is to balance selflessness and selfishness in a way that provides equal benefit to both you and another person in both the short and long term.

Networking? Not again…

Here we go again people….. yes, another article, blurb, write-up, post, 2-cents, commentary, observation and interpretation of networking.  I’m not going to bore you with details of the technical aspects of networking, what you should and should not do.  If I did that, and you think about all of the other literature out there today about networking, you might as well be a cardboard robot that doesn’t blink an eye, take a deep breath or be anything but static with blinders on!!  However, I am going to comment on one thing, and one thing only…… that is, networking is severely misunderstood by the majority of people who say “they network”!!! 

It doesn’t matter what techniques you employ during your networking efforts, but what does matter is “HOW” you go about it.  To me, networking is about the genuine exchange of ideas, thoughts, support and information in a reciprocal manner.  Your initial focus should be on “what can I do to help the other person with whom I’m networking with”, not the other way around in a ME ME ME first focus.  Isn’t that a selfish approach to think of yourself first and not really put any real effort or thought towards the other person?  Yeah, I would say so, yet I see this as probably the most common mistake that people make when they are supposedly networking.  Your efforts should be mutually reciprocal, and done so without any conditions or hidden agendas.  If there are any hidden agendas or reciprocity is non-mutual then it’s not a true networking relationship.  I would argue that your values and demonstrated behaviour within your networking efforts are the most important pieces to any successful networking, not how much you benefit directly at the expense of the other person.

Since starting FusionPoint in March, 2009 I have met some absolutely incredible people who are self-less, highly supportive, always looking out for my best interests, creative, innovative, genuine, authentic, respectful and demonstrate an extraordinary level of care and regard for my cause.  These are true networkers, and people that I will go to bat for whole heartedly and pick to be on my A-Team.  These people “get it” and I regard them as unbelievably intelligent business thinkers and creators.  They network, and I just hope I am able to provide the support and reciprocity they provide me!!

What the heck is employer branding?

As many of you may or may not know, I created a company called FusionPoint (www.fusionpoint.ca) – site still in design phase, specializing in employer branding.  Huh…… employer branding?  Could your immediate reaction be something like, “Jeff, isn’t that related to product branding or something?”  Well…… my response to that is, “directly, no but indirectly, yes”!!  Everything today has a brand, whether it be a tangible product or intangible service.  An example of a brand as most of us know it today is something like a Snickers chocolate bar.  The experience someone has each time they eat a Snickers bar is (or should be) identical regardless of where they eat, what time of day they eat, where they purchase it from, how they eat it and so forth.  It is what it is!!  A service brand is a little bit more tricky and difficult to build, sustain and be consistent…… why??  It focuses entirely on people, and we all know people come from different walks of life, upbringing, cultures, beliefs, personalities, attitudes, education, personal style and the like. 

Okay, so getting to the point here……. employer branding in my view can be dunked into the same bucket as service branding.  FusionPoint defines employer branding as “the perception of an organization as a great place to work in the eyes of both current employees and people external to the organization”.  Everything an organization does contributes to its employer brand.  Perceptions are so incredibly powerful because they are the constant formulations of ideas, thoughts, exposures, experiences and the like that people have  — people feel comfortable drawing on what they know to be true, which essentially is a draw from their perceptions.  These perceptions could be entirely accurate or entirely inaccurate….. the trick is for an organization to create an authentic, accurate, realistic and positive employer brand.  This brand should be favourable in the eyes of existing employees and people external to the organization. 

Why care about employer branding?  There is a proven link between the level of employee engagement and the level of customer satisfaction.  The relationship is a positive correlation, the higher your employee engagement, the more your customers are satisfied.  How do you improve employee engagement?  By providing your employees with a consistent, genuine, real, valuable, trusting and credible employee experience.  Designing, implementing and practicing an employer branding strategy does this.  Hands down, it will work!! 

BUT….. ha…. always a “but”!!  An organization needs to design this desired employer branding taking into account every single aspect of its business, and the employee experience lifecycle.  This is the chance and opportunity to intertwine the business strategy with its organizational structure and infrastructure (a.k.a. how people are treated, led by leaders, managed, recognized, rewarded, developed, pushed, directed, and the like).  Don’t miss this opportunity…… organizational success in today’s world is dependent on designing, implementing and practicing a well thought out, realistic, authentic and people-centric employer brand! 

Nice Guys Finish Last and A#$holes Finish First? Doesn’t Make Sense!

You know the saying, “nice guys finish last”!  Yeah, we’ve all heard it before.  The other day, I had a really inspiring and engaging conversation over a coffee with Heidi Ehlers, Founder of Black Bag Online, Talent Attraction + Acquisition (check her out at Black Bag Online).  We talked about almost everything under the sun related to talent, and we somehow got talking about leaders and at a high level, what makes them effective or not so effective.  I think it is safe to say that we both agreed that the straight-forward, blunt, honest, to-the-point, ability to make the tough decision decisively, embraces conflict as an opportunity and results-focused over campaigning to be crowned as “The Most Popular” in the company are true qualities of a strong leader.  So, given this, would it be an accurate statement to say that you need to be a cold, hard-assed and in-your-face jerk to be a successful leader?  After all, aren’t these qualities demonstrating honesty, straight-forwardness and all of the other qualities that make a great leader?  My answer….. ABSOFREAKINGLUTELY NOT!

I think those in leadership roles have this concept/ideology all mixed up!  I am going to argue that both the nice guy and the a#$hole can both be a great leader.  Huh?  How can this be?  This doesn’t really make sense because society has told us over and over again that “nice guys finish last”, right?  Here is my argument….. it’s not the personality that makes a great leader…. it’s the ability of the leader, in the eyes of the employees to resonate, build credibility, demonstrate genuine and brutal honesty, be authentic and consistent, deliver on commitments, demonstrate unwavering passion and enthusiasm for the company and tell a compelling and connected story of how employee contributions significantly impact organizational success.  Can’t both nice guys and a#$holes do this, equally?  Sure, the a#$hole may piss off a few people or ruffle a few feathers along the way, but I’ll tell you… they’ll have employees wrapped around their little fingers through bad and good times.

A prime example to demonstrate this – I did a project a couple of years ago with a financial institution, and I can honestly say at this moment in time that the Vice President that I worked with is probably one of the biggest a#$holes I have ever met.  But… she is also one of the most respected leaders I have ever worked with.  Why?  She delivered on every single one of the key areas that I talked about above — it didn’t matter what she said, you knew it was honest, genuine, authentic, real, consistent and in the best interest of the organization and its employees.  Employees would jump off a bridge for her and they performed beyond the expectations of the rest of the organization!!

In this day and age with Generation Y employees starting to make significant contributions to organizational success, those leaders that are successfully able to build all of the qualities I talked about regardless of their personality type will finish first….. the rest, hosta la vista baby, you will get eaten alive!

Business Development Theory…

I know that there are a gazillion books, articles, publications, research and the like on how to successfully develop your business.  I am referring to small businesses that provide a service in the form of consulting services —- could be human resources, IT, marketing, advertising, etc… I recently started my own HR company and have put a lot of thought and energy into how I am going to go about optimally developing my business in a cost and time effective manner.  I am guessing that it is safe to say that most people think of business development as traditional sales or print advertising/marketing material — e.g. cold calling, submitting a proposal, making a sales pitch, producing print ads, and so forth.  It’s what I thought it was!!  However, during the course of my career I have learned from experiences, speaking with other people and general reading that this type of business development is archaic, extremely costly from both time/effort and monetary perspectives, largely ineffective, highly reactive and non-strategic.

So, what do I consider to be smart “business development”?  Before I get to a list of items, let me just say that the business development strategies that I have learned about all possess elements of building relationships, understanding client needs and pressure points, demonstrating value and creativity, ability to think outside the box in a traditionally “stay in the box” specialty (HR), reciprocity, risk taking, diversification and focus.

It appears that the business development tactics that successful small businesses use are the following:

1. Use of Social Media - strategically using websites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and blogs (your own and others) significantly broadens your reach and audience, is easily accessible and is a “must do” in this day and age.
2. Networking - networking is one of those over-used and misunderstood concepts that people know they have to do, but have no clue how to do well.  Networking is about building reciprocal relationships with people — the emphasis is on reciprocity and regular and ongoing communication.  A highly respected network contact of mine introduced me to the concept of “needworking”, which is where someone engages in what they think is networking because they have an immediate need for themselves.  This is selfish and highly ineffective, and as such, networking needs to be genuine, done throughout the year and fully integrated into your day-to-day business activities.  You just never know when someone has a specific need, or knows someone that has a need.  A prime example of this is 2 people in my network referred me to a post on Facebook that was from a fellow graduate student colleague of theirs looking for an HR Specialist —- because I established and maintained a constant, continuous and reciprocal dialogue built on honesty, trust and collegiality, they both immediately referred this person directly to me!!  I didn’t have to do anything to get this referral other than sticking to the key principals of networking —- I didn’t even know this person needed someone in HR.  I had no idea!!
3. Developing Strategic Partnerships – in a world that is increasingly becoming more specialized and narrow in focus, no small business can successfully cover all specific qualifications and expertise requirements of every engagement.  Working with other “like-minded” small businesses in complementary ways is highly effective to further broaden your reach and work on projects that you would never get if you went in on your own.  It builds credibility with prospective clients and is another highly effective business development channel.
4. Publishing/Writing – the web allows anyone to publish anything, anytime, anywhere and using whatever media they are comfortable with.  Writing could be on a blog, websites, discussion forums and contributing to trade publications and associations.  It’s a highly effective and time efficient way to to convey your thoughts and ideas.
5. Public Speaking - this tactic is a little bit more time consuming to coordinate and find an appropriate audience, but is another great way to convey your thoughts and ideas using a different angle to portray your brand.  Speaking could take place directly with a prospective client, at a trade association meeting/event, volunteer event, and the like.  You just never know who might be sitting in the audience!

The bottom line to this post is that developing your business needs to be focused on time and cost efficient means using web technology.  Networking is filtered throughout what you do and should be a constant and significant part of any small businesses core operations.  Without networking and a strong and supportive network, you are literally cutting yourself off to a global world of opportunities.

Emotionally Intelligent Workforces are More Successful…

Regardless of the state of our economy, the number one priority of organizations today is to succeed.  Success in the context of this post is defined as profitability, sustainability and growth for “for-profit” organizations and flawless service delivery, significant value and transparency for “not-for-profit” organizations.  It really doesn’t matter what the objectives are within each organization because people are what enables success to happen.  If people are the driving force behind success then the only question left is what propels people to succeed?

The question that I posed in the last line of the paragraph above can be answered in a million different ways but for the purposes of this post I am going to focus on the impact that interactions between people has on organizational success.  Another way to describe this and to answer what the driving force behind succes is, is emotional intelligence.  Emotional Intelligence can be defined in many ways but Joshua Freedman, Founder and COO of Six Seconds (www.6seconds.org) defines it as the ability to use emotions effectively.  What does this have to do with organizational success?

If people are the driving force behind organizational success, and people lead/manage people in organizations then it is a safe bet that there are thousands and thousands of discussions, interactions, conversations, arguments and decisions being made between people on a daily basis.  These instances require people to intepret their own, and others emotions and then respond in some way that makes sense.  People are feeling beings and it is a known fact that employee engagement directly correlates to how a person is feeling.  This feeling a person has is impacted by many different things, but the number one thing that impacts how people feel is other people.  In particular, the biggest contributor to how people feel are the interactions that occur between employee and manager.  There is no wonder that the number one reason why people leave organizations is because of their direct manager.  The relationship between employee and manager is so vital and crucial to ensuring employee engagement, employee commitment and ultimately employee performance.  All of the latter 3 things, which require emotions management contribute to organizational success.

In my own work experience, particularly working with organizations on employee engagement/satisfaction initiatives, the top 4 dissatisfiers in the workplace were my manager, informal recognition, opportunities to learn and develop and opportunities to advance.  It is no surprise that these dissatisfiers absolutely require the skills and competencies of emotional intelligence.   The 4 dissatisfiers that continually came up as the top 4 in each organization that I worked with is disheartening because they’re biggies and are huge contributors to organizational success!  They all have significant impacts on employee engagement and commitment.  Just imagine if these organizations were to focus on developing emotional intelligence in their staff (particularly leaders).  Without a doubt, they would all immediately realize improved organizational success!

So, what’s the point of all of this?  The point is that the competitive advantage of organizations today is to integrate in all facets of their organization the ability of employees to be emotionally intelligent.  Being emotionally intelligent will allow employees to manage their emotions effectively and in turn able to manage the emotions that are constantly around them in a way that will result in greater success for the organization.

Current & Future State of “Work”…

It’s been a very interesting time with the downturn economy… from a personal perspective, this is probably the first significant downturn economy that I have truly faced head on in my career, which started in 2000.  As a husband and dad, I have a significant interest in the economy and the critical issue of “making a living” to support my family.  As a result of what has transpired during the course of the past 3-6 months has led me to develop some very different ideas about the current and future state of work as we know it.

We all know that a traditional 9-5 job is still prevalent in today’s workplace.  We also know that the traditional relationship between employee and employer has changed drastically within the framework of a 9-5 job.  Gone are the days of loyalty, feeling a sense of being taken care of and just simply “playing your role”.  The workplace has now filtered into all facets of people’s personal lives to create something of a total work/life phenomenon that has been written about, discussed, thought about, researched and theorized.  We’ve all had these conversations about trying to find a balance between work and life, within your own life, which could be very different than the person who sits in the cubicle next to you.  Now, throw in the downturn economy, people are really talking about the idea of what I call “current and future state of work”.

This downturn economy has placed significant pressures on all organizations today regardless of sector, and regardless of the product they manufacture or the service they provide.  Disposable income has plummeted, investment values have plummeted, unemployment has skyrocketed, operating costs have increased and overall cost of living has increased.  Related to work, this has had an impact on commuting costs, both in time and money, childcare costs, again, both in time and in money and overall personal health with trying to do your job in the face of downsizing, which results in employees trying to do more with less.  As an example of the above statement, people who live in 905 areas have a couple of commuting options: GO train, if it’s operating but is usually late anyways… drive to the nearest subway station and park then hop on the subway or just driving straight to their place of employment.  Regardless of the choice, they all have significant monetary and time costs associated.  We’re not talking about 30 minutes each way but rather 2 hours each way or more.  This is a significant burden on anyone to absorb in light of escalating costs and the constant battle to make a living and maintain/balance their households.

This is nothing new but I truly believe that the state of work has started to change and will change more drastically in the coming months and years.  What will start to replace the traditional job will be contract work, 100% telecommuting, increased self-employment, increased emphasis on using virtual technology to have meetings (will replace in-person meetings between employee and peer and employee and client), employers will start offering as retention tactics to pay for transportation and childcare costs and employers will begin offering more childcare assistance that make sense for a variety of employee preferences.  Sure you’re all thinking nothing I have listed is new or ground-breaking but I will say this….. what is new is the fact that these things will become mainstream in the workplace, and will start to become the norm rather than a creative strategy.  People will start taking control of their own destiny in the work they do, and organizations in the face of labour shortages and a shrinking global economy will be forced to adapt.

I for one has completely taken off the possibility of working in a 9-5 job ever again in my career.  Never say never but the objective of flexibility, job satisfaction, technology, cost control and balancing work and life have led me to think about other solutions that are more practical and sensible.

In a sense, a revolution has started or will about to start, similar to the one that initially brought unions to our working environment, except this time… this revolution will contribute to organizations achieving their desired business outcomes, not hinder them.

Leadership… to the point…

For those of you that have an interest in leadership, I am sure you have read a gazillion articles since the market tanked. Did you read the “top 15 must do’s for CEO’s to lead your organization through a downturn economy”? Or, how about the “19 do not do’s in leadership”? I must admit, I have read a number of these articles, which in my opinion have been excellent reading, and all very similar in terms of perspectives. Do I agree with these perspectives? Yes….. And no! I do agree because the do’s and don’ts are all correct, and I think all organizations should be constantly focusing on critical leadership strategies, tactics and practices. But….. Yes…… you saw the “but” coming didn’t you? I’m not convinced that a leader would be highly effective in suddenly overhauling his/her leadership style as a result of an economic downturn, on its own. What I mean by this is that employees of an organization are very very very cognizant and aware of leadership style in their organizations. People have formed their opinions and perspectives on how competent and able their leader is in leading their organization. This is true whether or not the economy is good or bad. So, think about this…. if you’re an employee of a company and you think the President & CEO of your company is not the strongest leader in terms of his/her ability to communicate effectively, demonstrate complete transparency, be completely honest and truthful and so forth, I don’t think a drastic and immediate change in that leaders’ leadership style is going to result in anything positive. In fact, I would argue that a change in leadership style as a result of an economic downturn when employee perception of leadership isn’t all that positive would add fuel to the fire and make the situation worse.

So, given the above and my potentially unique perspective, what are leaders to do in light of an economic downturn? As with any function within business, if a leader is to make any changes to leadership style, the key piece is communication. Yes, communication…. organizations are made up of human beings, and particularly in Canada, of different races, nationalities, life experiences, ages, beliefs, value systems and so forth. Perception is probably the most important aspect of any organization, and I truly believe that perception of something is directly linked to communication. Transparency, frequency, medium used, honesty and originality are words that come to mind that, in a communication effort would impact employee perception of the leader’s messages, and in turn would translate into credibility, believability and commitment.

So yes… there are many things a leader can do whether in a downturn economy or not. The most effective leadership strategy any leader can implement in a downturn economy is highly effective, regular and consistent communication. An effective communication style that is built on all of the things I mentioned above will optimize the impact of the communication effort, and in turn, will engage employees to join in the quest to both survive and prosper in light of difficult economic times.

The Disability Question…

We all know that Canadian workplaces are not allowed to discriminate on the basis of disability.  This relates to hiring, managing performance, workplace accommodation and so forth.  Rules are rules…. but then there’s reality.  People are humans, and we all know that people are all different, come in different shapes and sizes and with different upbringing, beliefs and value systems.  So what’s the point here?  Well, as a person with a disability myself I am faced with adversity each day in being able to do the things that people without my disability take for granted.  I could do 1 of 2 things… I could say “well, it’s not fair that I have a disability and hide behind the law in everything I do”….. or, I could take the positive and proactive approach, and do whatever I need to do to adapt to our constantly changing world and demonstrate that I can adapt, can be effective, can produce, can contribute to society and can compete at a high level with those people that are not faced with the same adversities as me.  The first option is definitely the easier of the 2 but without a doubt, I would choose the 2nd option to take control of my own destiny and do the things I need to do to live my life to the fullest while being a healthy contributor to Canadian society. 

I am not saying that it’s easy but what I am saying is that in this day and age with the baby boomer population approaching retirement and a pending shortage in skilled labour, our current economic climate, complete integration of technology into our daily living, organizations demonstrating more flexiblity and progression in the workplace, governments creating and implementing new employment laws helping those with disabilities, the world is slowly turning to our favour.  Let’s take hold of this shift and “kick some butt”.  It has been proven that people with disabilities are better performers in the workplace, are more punctual, take fewer days off, are easier to manage, are more loyal to an organization, stay longer with an organization and are more focused in their tasks and responsibilities.  Kick it up a notch and use your disability to your favour… tell the world about your disability and how you’ve overcome your barriers and achieved great success.  This demonstrates many key competencies that employers look for — resilience, flexiblity, drive, leadership, creativity, intelligence, and the list goes on. 

Turn your disability and subsequent achievements into a positive message that make it impossible for employers not to hire you.  Educate people about your needs, feel confident about your situation, set your goals and do whatever it takes to achieve them.  GO FOR IT!!!

The Creative Resume…

We all know that there are a million and one self-help books and internet resources that say they have the silver bullet to how to do a truly effective resume.  You need to use a generous amount of white space, you need a “personal profile” statement, you can’t go beyond 2 pages, you can’t do this you can’t do that, do this and do that!  Do you really think any one of these so called experts have “the” solution?  If you ask me, nobody has the right answer nor the wrong answer to this question.

Think about it, when you implement a sales strategy, you identify the audience and you design a strategy that will hopefully optimize its effects on that particular audience.  For example, if you are selling a mobile phone that has every gadget you can possibly imagine attached to it, it would make the most sense if you target the young person age category, instead of those older than 70.  What does this have to do with a resume?  Well, when you’re sending a resume out for a particular job posting, do you really know who your target audience is?  If you say yes every single time then you must have truly amazing “shrink-like” powers.  I would argue that more often than not, you have virtually no idea who will be reading your resume, and more importantly, what will trigger their interest in you?  Could it be that they are instantly drawn to your resume because you use a generous amount of white space, or you worked for a cool company like Nike, or you played basketball in high school, or you use colour in your resume?  If you’re asking me, I have no idea what it is that peaks someone’s interest in a resume?  Theoretically, someone should be assessing your resume purely on your experience, skills and competencies as required of the role that is being recruited to, but you know very well that we do not live in a perfect world.  We know that perceptions of competence are determined by many factors that have nothing to do with the words in the resume, but rather on other factors.  Some of the most effective promotional campaigns of our time focus on things that have absolutely nothing to do with the product.  So, I guess what I am trying to say is, you should approach your resume in a similar fashion to how marketers approach promoting a product.

So, if the above comments are real and play a huge role in ensuring our resumes receive optimal exposure, then how do you put together the creative resume?  In my view, it has nothing to do with the resume itself.  It has to do with how you can supplement the resume and create a buzz about you?  Of course, I am making the assumption that you have fully explained in your cover letter and resume your skills, experience, competencies and interests that are pertinent to the job.  But, what if you supplement your resume with something else like a URL to a personal website, or a blog, or a URL to a LinkedIn and ZoomInfo profile?  How about mailing in your resume inside a shoe in a shoebox, and on the coverletter, it reads, “now that I have my foot in the door, give me a call”!!  By the way, this actually happened to me once when I worked for the Provincial Government of Alberta.  What happened?  The job applicant received a call because I had to return the shoe back to him, but the point is, how creative was that?  A tactic could be to find someone internally to the organization to refer you and create the buzz for you.  Or, lean on one of your networking contacts you established through one of your networking groups you’re a part of.  Whatever the tactic is, you ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO SUPPLEMENT your traditional resume with something else that is creative, innovative and thought-provoking.