Top tips for creative execution
 
You’ve certainly heard that “rules were meant to be broken.” Nowhere is that adage more true than in the field of creative services. Break the rules! Be a star!
 
If only it were that easy.
 
In this article, we’re going to show you some of the best rules for breaking. We’ll explain (briefly) why the rules are there in the first place. We’ll show you some good examples of opportunities for creative rule-breaking. And we’ll give you ideas of how to go about actually breaking those rules, in ways that will surprise and delight your audience—keeping them engaged and motivated.
 
Why have a rule? Why break it?
 
These are important questions. Rules exist—whether in grammar, design, composition, video editing, etc.—in order to make things easier on the audience. Grammar rules should make sentences easier to understand. Rules of composition should make a concept easier to grasp visually. So they’re not only well-intentioned; they’re important.
 
Which begs the question: Why would you ever want to intentionally confuse your audience?
 
The shortest answer is “context.”
 
We read a story of a film director who wanted to build suspense in a scene where someone dangerous was about to enter a house and threaten the heroine. The heroine is in the bedroom; the villain is approaching down the hallway.
 
Think about where you expect a scene like this to go. You see a shot of the heroine. You hear something, such as the first telltale footstep in the distant hallway. What happens next? What do you expect to happen next?
 
The fact that we can even pose that question exposes an interesting presumption. We can safely assume that you know the grammar of filmmaking, even if you’re not a filmmaker. Because when we tell you what you’d expect to see and hear, you’ll find yourself nodding:
 
You expect to see the heroine look up in surprise, in reaction to the off-screen sound. You’ll expect to see her walk cautiously to the doorway and just barely peer out, looking for the villain. And then you’ll see what’s called a cutaway or point-of-view shot, looking down the hallway, from the heroine’s perspective, of the villain, down at the end of the hallway, approaching. After that, you’d expect the movie to cut back into the bedroom, where you see the heroine duck back inside and shut the door, search for a weapon, attempt to escape, whatever. That’s the way these stories are told, cinematically. You know what to expect, because you’ve seen it all your life.
 
Let’s get back to this talented director. When the heroine peeked out of the doorway nervously, this director cut to a shot which barely showed you anything at all. How maddening, how wrong is that?! You get a quick glimpse of the hallway, and yet you barely even see any of the villain, just cut off on one side of the frame.
 
What’s the point of that?
 
Well, it’s actually pretty ingenious rule-breaking. The rule tells you to “show the audience what they want to see.” Breaking this rule turns the tables. It makes it hard for the audience to see. In their seats, they’re actually craning their necks, trying to “peer around the corner,” even though that’s patently impossible with a 2-D movie screen. They’re not getting the information they want. It’s making them nervous. Uneasy. And so it’s helping them to better identify with the plight of the heroine. It’s adding to the suspense.
 
Ta-dah. Simply by framing the shot of the villain differently—“incorrectly”—this director created tons more suspense. Which simultaneously makes the heroine more heroic. Because the odds stacked against her are greater. And now you’re rooting for her more than ever—more than if that director had “followed the rules.”
 
Playing against expectations
 
If you’ve read more than a handful of these blogs, you’ll know that we’re huge fans of the counterintuitive. We like the interplay of set-up and pay-off. It’s not just us. All humans have a hard-wired desire to engage with material in this way; you can witness it in everything from jokes to quiz shows.
 
How, then, and when, should you break the rules for that next creative assignment? Here are some examples to get you thinking:
 
Take a page from that director we just described. Literally! If you’re making a multi-page brochure or mailer, and you want it to be a real page-turner (and would you ever, really, want for it to be a snoozer?), you can cut something off from one page, just when it’s getting interesting, and intentionally set
 
it on the following page, just like we broke this paragraph in the middle, on purpose. It forced you to leap ahead. And when you got to the next page/paragraph, you got a little endorphin shot: your reward for figuring it out.
 
Compose yourself
 
Rules of composition traditionally allow for “breathing room” around the subject; remember the “rule of thirds”? Well, what if you’re working in a before-vs.-after context? (As in “before” and “after” this person experiences the products or services of Company A.) Here’s a case where you really want the “before” shot to be uncomfortable. So crop it differently. Force that subject right up against the edge. Simple. (And, like the best creative solutions, free!) Save the “breathing room” for the “after.”
 
The ol’ one-two
 
Sometimes, you’ll want to surprise your audience with a big reveal. Depending upon the medium you’re working in, this can be challenging. What if it’s just copy, for example? You can’t cut to the shot of the big surprise. You don’t have any music or sound effects at your disposal. What, then, do you do?
 
Well, you can try some creative rule-breaking. You know how sentences go: subject, predicate. Well, you can break that rule. You can intentionally create a run-on sentence to leave the reader breathless—and then hit ‘em with one or two short fragment sentences (another broken rule!) as the payoff. Or lull them into complacency with lush, flowery language… and then just when you’ve got ‘em where you want ‘em, slam them with your big reveal in terse, bold language. It’s the literary equivalent of the jab/cross combination from boxing.
 
Need help with that next creative assignment? Overwhelmed by all these rules, let alone knowing when and where to break them? Never fear. We tackle these kinds of challenges everyday, and would be delighted to help you with yours. Contact us now for a no-obligation consultation. 

Back in 1776, the thirteen colonies that would become the United States asserted their right to take control of their destinies, famously promulgated in the Declaration of Independence.
 
What led you to create, or join, a consulting firm? Was it the promise of independence? More importantly, how does “independence” factor into the value proposition you offer your clients and prospects?
 
In this article, timed not coincidentally with the July 4th holiday, we’re going to look at the meaning of “independence” as it applies to your business and your business development.
 
When in the course of business events…
 
Consultants, by definition, are experts. Outside experts. You could be the most experienced and adept person inside Company A, but so long as you work for Company A, you’re a Company A asset. This is why so many people who have toiled for years inside the “Company A’s” of this world eventually strike out on their own as consultants. This way, they’re able to leverage their knowledge and experience to the benefit of lots of companies in the sector in which Company A competes. And of course, this benefits the consultant, too, in terms of income, prestige, and control of his or her destiny. Consider this passage from the Declaration of Independence: The colonies-turned-independent-states proclaimed that they had the full power to “…contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do.”
 
Not that Company A was a tyrant that led you to rebellion and war. But you get the idea.
 
It isn’t always self-evident
 
We worked with a consultancy that advised companies about a certain factor of their business. They served numerous verticals. And they touted their independence as their biggest strength. As a third-party advisor competing against enterprises that offered “free advice” bundled with sales of their services, this seemed to be a clear-cut path to take.
 
Only it wasn’t.
 
Research of both the target audience and the competition revealed otherwise. Current and previous customers alike cited their need for “knowledge of the subject matter and trends” to provide advice that would “let them sleep at night.” They already assumed that any advisor would be independent. Saving money or getting the best deal, by the way, were further down the list; they were willing to trade off higher prices to get expert advice.
 
Reviewing the competition online revealed the same misperception: They all touted their “independence” from the big enterprises that bundled “free advice” with sales of their service. In other words, not only was “independence” not high on customers’ wish lists, but it was not a point of differentiation, either. It can’t be—not when everyone else is offering it.
 
As it turns out, this client did boast points of differentiation that clients cared about and competitors failed to match (such as a late-night hotline and thought leadership which pushed the envelope amid changing regulations); these were deemed to be the leading points and business-builders.
 
A free and independent state of doing business
 
Other times, “independence” really is a prerequisite. We worked with a consultancy in the tech space that would help devise, and broker (on their clients’ behalf) best-in-class solutions, often using hardware and services from different, and even competing, vendors.
 
Here, the qualification of “independence” is essential. This consultancy must proclaim that it is “vendor-agnostic” from the get-go. Anything less would be suspect. Similarly, we worked with another consultancy that offered advice and solutions—solutions which faced competition from other vendors. This put the burden on our client of explaining why their “solutions” arm didn’t represent a conflict-of-interest to prospective customers.
 
Life, liberty, and… what??
 
We all know that the Declaration cites our inalienable right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” But when Thomas Jefferson penned these words, he borrowed from—and altered—the writings of the philosopher John Locke, who wrote of “life, liberty, and property.”
 
We like the change. But we see Locke’s point. Sure, property can’t buy you happiness, but taking control of your business destiny can.
 
Need help crafting your messaging or weighing what to tell your prospects? Contact us for a no-obligation call to review your needs. We’ll help you submit the right facts to a candid world.