“This fucking sucks. Try again.”

I was in my mid 20s. I was cutting my teeth as a freelance tagline jockey for a small agency. And this is the first bit of feedback I received.

I froze. Took a deep breath, and frantically cranked out a hundred more mediocre lines for that therapy-averse CD to take a creative dump on for the next 3 hours.

By the end of the week, I was having panic attacks. I was questioning myself, and confidence was shot.

I carried that feeling of inadequacy with me throughout my career.

I had another CD tell me I just wasn’t creative, and never would be.

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Death to aggro-bro creative leader.

Somewhere along the way, creative leaders — particularly white dudes — bought a narrative that it was OK to be shitty to young creatives. They believed that somehow this produced great work.

Here’s the thing, I produced my worst work at that time — not because I was bad at what I did or because I was not creative or never would be. I just didn't feel safe to be me.

My boss became the abusive alcoholic step father that throws dishes at you when they’re not spotless. You’re just trying to make a maniac happy. He never will because he never was.

I've watched in horror as other creative leaders used and abused young talent in this way. In some cases these "leaders" scared brilliant creatives out of the business.

If you’re this type of creative director, it’s time to go to therapy. Talk about your dad. He wasn't nice. Neither are you. Congratulations.

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What constitutes a creative safe space and why it matters.

In the words of Carl Jung, “The creative mind plays with the objects it loves.”

True creative expression is playful. For creatives, nothing is so sacred, precious, or written in stone that it can’t be totally dismantled and rebuilt in new, exciting ways.

This playfulness sparks innovation and brings fresh, new ideas to life, and simply doesn’t happen if you don’t feel safe.

There’s a lot of talk of ‘safe spaces’ in the chaotic dystopian nightmare we’re all currently living through. In many cases, what most people mean when they say ‘safe space’ is a place without conflict or discomfort. That isn’t a safe space. It’s a cocoon.

A creative safe space is simple: it’s a healthy environment where you feel completely free to share your ideas.

This means you’re not afraid to give or receive feedback.

You’re not afraid of the discomfort of healthy debate because you know your collaborators are just trying to bring out the best in you.

The Messy Room Phenomenon

Part of this means creating an environment where creatives can make messes —physically and/or virtually. A New York Times article lovingly titled, “It’s not a mess, it’s creativity” lays this out quite well in the form of a research study:

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The big idea: don’t take yourself too seriously, and don’t do creative work with assholes. Life’s too short to feed someone’s creative ego with mediocre work.

Get in the ball pit. Silliness wins.