HOW I WORK
The thinking behind the work
Creative work is often judged by what gets produced. But the quality of the result also depends on what happens before and around the making, how well the challenge is understood, which possibilities are pursued and whether the team has the confidence and conditions to do strong work.
What I do changes with the situation. What doesn't change is starting by understanding the problem properly before deciding what the work should become.
01
Understand before creating
Get close to complexity
I spend time with the subject and the people who know it best. I research, ask questions and stay with unfamiliar material until I understand enough to contribute, rather than simply respond to a brief.
Evidence before answers
Real evidence goes beyond the science or the treatment. It includes what it's actually like to live with a condition, the layer that makes work genuinely connect and affect behaviour.
Find what matters
Once I understand the wider picture, I can work with the team to find a creative solution that impacts how people think, feel or behave.
02
Make clear creative choices
Push with purpose
Safe work can sometimes be the right answer, but it should not be the automatic one. When the brief calls for something more ambitious, I rely on the evidence and insight to help the team push with confidence.
Back what matters
Exploration still needs a point of view. The team needs time to explore and play before we start refining, creating space for the strongest ideas to surface, ones the whole team can get behind.
"Where others are content to settle on the first or second idea or solution, Steve is motivated to continue challenging ideas and collaborating to make things better."
– Kaitlyn Sportelli, Group Account Director
Make complexity usable
Accuracy alone does not make complex information useful. I look to remove the friction in understanding it, without losing the meaning, nuance or credibility that made it worth saying in the first place.
03
Lead with an understanding of making
Step into ambiguity
I do not need every part of a role or situation to be neatly defined before I get involved. When direction is missing, I am comfortable stepping in, working out what is needed and taking responsibility.
Build creative confidence
Teams do their best work when they understand the challenge and feel trusted to explore it. I give people clear direction, useful feedback and room to take ownership of the work.
Lead through making
Years spent designing, developing concepts and working through production and execution shape how I lead. That experience helps me judge what is ambitious but achievable and see what an idea needs to become real.
04
Improve the conditions around the work
Connect the system
Individual pieces of work are shaped by the brand, people, process and tools around them. I look to connect these things, so a decision in one place doesn't limit what's possible in another.
Create better conditions
Sometimes the most useful contribution is a clearer brief, an earlier conversation or a better way for people to work together. Improving those conditions gives stronger ideas a better chance of reaching the finished work.
Explore responsibly
For me, the most useful contribution is an earlier conversation and more collaboration. As a leader, I try to get out of the way and trust people to do what they're good at.
