Yes! I’ve been having that conversation a lot lately. Best of luck with the products. Uh oh.. If Ash subscribed to these comments, I might get scolded for using the word ‘luck’. n’t have any answers at all for any of it.“

<quote>"Mr. Ogilvy," said the chairman, " we are interviewing several agencies. You have exactly fifteen minutes to plead your case. Then I will ring this bell, and the representative of the next agency, who is already waiting outside, will follow you."

Before launching into my pitch, I asked…:

"How many people must OK the advertisements?" Answer: the twelve members of the Committee, representing twelve manufacturers.

"Ring the bell!" I said, and walked out.</quote>

I love that story so much. Ogilvy is also known to have said, "Search all the parks in all your cities. You'll find no statues of committees."

You're right, creative tasks should always be exempt from everything I said above. The relationship dynamic between strategy, creativity, and execution is precisely what I was trying to get at. You articulated it much better. I kind of wrote about that in "Agents Are Not Only for Writers and Actors

Granted, I hate people, so….there's that…

But in a more general sense, I understand the value of partnering up with someone who is insanely good at marketing, selling, pleasing people, or contract negotiation, etc… (I'm alright, but it's not what I care to spend my time perfecting when I know someone else will do a much better job and love doing it) and letting me take over the design work (this is a very specific example, but the point remains the same for most entrepreneurs). The problem with creative collaboration is that you inevitably end up creating an average of an average product. One mind needs to be calling the shots in that department. And I think, so long as you are the sort of person who is really passionately involved in your work, consistently learning and exploring new possibilities and opportunities within your field, it's not such a bad thing to say, "Eff yeah, I did that! Eff no, you can't touch it!"

But then again, so much depends on whether the main objective is money, time, personal/artistic integrity, or celery.

Mine happens to be celery. So there's that…too…
My recent post ride the highs, learn from the lows

Exactly. I hope the post came across as "If you start something with epic potential, it's more likely to achieve epicness with a team of epic minds."

"…this blogging stuff doesn't scale."

Yes! I've been having that conversation a lot lately. Best of luck with the products. Uh oh.. If Ash subscribed to these comments, I might get scolded for using the word 'luck'.

I've still got plans. They've changed as one dream fades (we get old, there's no help for it), but the plans are still simmering away.

My current take on it is this: it's not possible for me to become involved with something epic. I'm going to have to do it myself.

I have 3 products underway, one each over next 3 months. Then I'll take stock and see which way the wind is blowing. I'd like to get back to programming, this blogging stuff doesn't scale.
My recent post Website In A Weekend: Sunday – Dominating the Homestretch

That literally made me laugh out loud. I'm working on information products as well. Creating something that has value for others is awesome. That's one of the things I'll continue to do.

However, there are times when I want to be involved with something epic. Other times I just want to be involved with building something bigger than myself. I'm a firm believer in that whole… the value is greater than the sum of its parts bla bla bla. Even if I wrote the apparently non-existent "Great American Novel", I'd probably publish it in eBook form and nobody would take it seriously.

Maybe it's something to do with the linearity of certain processes that doesn't completely satisfy me.

Are you on the verge of unleashing a product on us?

Because some days I think $2 would be an improvement!

I don't have any answers at all for any of it.

But I can tell you what I'm doing about it: Writing for 1 hour every morning 6 days per week on product, stuff I can sell. Without exception, before I check email, before reading news, commenting on blogs, etc. It's the first thing I do.

It's working.

Once I finish this first one, I'll figure out whether the product it worth anything.

Right now the process is more important.

And the process is working.

My recent post Website In A Weekend: Saturday – Accelerating on the Backstretch

Welcome to the party!

Or…

"Symbiosis is easier to achieve than singular perfection, and is also more powerful… exponentially so."