Here, from adman Joe Doucet, is an interesting take on the heart of creativity:

The essence of what makes a truly great creative person is the ability to remove oneself from the process. You have to become the person for whom the work is being done. And what that means in terms of my work here is that it’s never done for a client; it’s done for the people the client is talking to. That removal of oneself is critical, not only to executing the work but also in explaining why a solution is right for the client.

— Joe Doucet, Design director, Kirshenbaum Bond + Partners, New York, New York in Fast Company.

What a fascinating notion. Excellence is not measured in awards from peers, or kudos from gatekeepers, but by what’s good for the end user. And the engine that drives that sort of excellence? Empathy. Presence. Immersion. Entering into the user’s experience. Dare we use the theological term incarnation?

• How great is the distance between you and the end user of your product, service or experience?
• What can you do in the next 30 days to narrow that distance?
• One evidence that a company or business leader is self-absorbed is anger toward customers. Reflect on the last 30, 60 and 90 days: On a scale of one to five (1 = almost constant anger, 5 = almost constant pleasure), where would you place yourself and your company or unit?
• Another evidence of self-absorption is contempt. Considering the last 30, 60 and 90 days, place yourself and your company or unit on a scale where 1 = almost total contempt and 5 = almost total respect.
• Think — better yet, write — about how you would apply the following to your company and its The The end users:

Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

— Mark 10:42-45, New International Version