What’s your credo? Are you able - am I able - to condense in to just a few lines the standards by which you try to live along with the things you believe to be most important?

The thought has been rolling around in my head since I came across Ben Brooks’s credo a while back:

1. Less is more

2. There are no half-assed solutions

3. Readability is of utmost importance

4. We are who we are

5. Working 40 hours is unnecessary

6. Being creative is necessary

I was fascinated - and impressed - to see that he’d included the point about readability. Unfortunately, it’s not something that many of us would elevate to the level of being part of a personal credo. Or if we did, we’d probably present it as yellow typeface on a white background…Anyway, whilst I could have happily signed up to Ben’s list as my own, I preferred to look around a wee bit more. I’m glad I did because I came across Tony Schwartz’s Ten Principles to Live by in Fiercely Complex Times on the HBR blog. Three in particular resonated with me:

1. Always challenge certainty, especially your own.

2. If you do what you love, the money may or may not follow, but you’ll love what you do.

3. You can’t change what you don’t notice and not noticing won’t make it go away.

So, rolling all of this together, I’ve had a go at drafting my own credo:

• Challenge certainty

• Be curious and look for the unexpected (Inspired by a Robert Mapplethorpe quote, I’m looking for the unexpected. I’m looking for things I’ve never seen before)

• Empathy and humility are worth striving for

• Love at least 60% of what you do in your day job

• Ignite the imagination (Inspired by an Emily Dickinson quote, Ignite the imagination and light the slow fuse of the possible)

I’d be fascinated to get your thoughts and opinions.