As part of the launch of their new beta site, Accidental Creative requested that members come up with a seven word bio in order to help facilitate clarity and a focus on our true passions as creative individuals. I joined. Now I need to write my own seven word bio.

This post is a recording of my thought process as I work on the bio. It’s definitely a thinking-out-loud post, so please excuse the lack of polish. If you know me personally or have read through my blog archives, you know that I have a broad range of interests, talents, and job descriptions. Distilling all that I think, do, and desire into seven words will be quite a challenge – I can tend toward wordiness in my writing. I mean, Twitter is work for me, expressing a complete thought in under 140 characters. But it’s good practice for this exercise. So here goes.

First Draft:

I harness the innate creativity within teams.

Not bad; it captures that fact that I work in and lead groups (web project teams, musical groups)  that have a creative component. Not sure that “harness” is the right word, however. Smacks too much of “tied down” – think sled dogs in the traces, or horse racing. I prefer to think that I do not tie down my team. “Innate creativity” is good, however, since I believe that everybody has creative potential within them; sometimes it just needs to be encouraged to come out.

Second Draft:

I facilitate creativity in teams.

That’s only five words. Do the rules say whether or not that’s OK? More than seven of course is forbidden – that’s the whole point of it being a “7 Word Bio.” But fewer than seven. Hmmm….. Is there a bonus for bringing in in under budget?

Checked the Accidental Creative site. No mention there whether or not fewer than seven words is permitted. So I’ll go with a strict interpretation, and assume that it must be exactly seven words.

Third Draft:

I help people realize their creative potential.

Well, that’s ambitious. Not sure it’s accurate, either. At least not yet. While full-time creativity consulting is something I can see myself evolving towards, I have a ways to go before I can credibly claim that that’s what I do. Were I to attempt to claim that mantle today, I’d be no better than the hordes of  self-proclaimed “social media experts” that keep promoting their businesses spamming me on Twitter.

Fourth Draft:

I explore the connections across many domains.

This is close. Design, music, art, project management – the things I spend my time doing in my professional and private life – all have so many shared characteristics. Concepts of rhythm and structure, for example, that I learn as a musician have visual counterparts in graphic design. I’m a firm believer that innovative thinking springs from the intersections of disparate domains, which this draft describes nicely as well. And as a project manager, I draw upon my broad domain experiences to enhance my understanding of the detailed challenges that my team faces, so even that is addressed.

I’m going to go with this one for now. I’m sure it’ll evolve over time as I grow, but “close enough” is “good enough” for this exercise.