I'm a huge fan of NOT starting from scratch. If there's a remnant of a leftover idea, approach, or possibility sitting around, I always want to begin innovating there and get that much of a head start toward a final goal by incorporating what I've done before.
Earlier this year, long-time friend Vince Koehler stopped by while in town. Vince shared his approach on collateral updates: he requires his staff to throw out all the copy on a brochure that's being redone and start over with a creative fresh start.
The reason? Doing so forces strategic thinking and a fresh creative view of the program that's being marketed. There's the potential for tremendous innovation value since this is another way of forcing a different look at a familiar topic.
If you've got a project that looks and feels like a re-do but needs some new creativity, why not give this strategy a try? Toss out everything that's gone before, and it will feel just like starting over. - Mike Brown
