“What’s up with your name?”

We get asked some variation of that a lot. Why “New Boston”? And that’s perfectly understandable. It seems like a weird choice, if you don’t know the story. Once you know the story, it seems cool, right?

Lately I’ve been thinking more about the rest of our name: “Creative Group.” Kristin (quite rightfully) insisted on including this phrase a long time before we settled on “New Boston.” And it’s quite descriptive, IMHO, of who we are. But more than the “Creative,” lately I’ve been pondering the “Group.”

I love ensemble shows. I’ll watch just about any movie or TV program that promises to showcase an interesting set of people whose efforts turn out better just because they’re together. So in Glee, the Harry Potter movies and Notting Hill, for instance, the actions (and happiness) of the individual within the context of the group fascinate me. And I really do believe that together we’re stronger than alone and all that. Call me old-fashioned, I don’t care. I’ve been called worse.

At New Boston, we’ve got a broad range of ages in our ensemble. We mesh the resilience and enthusiasm of the Gen Y-ers, the growing professional confidence of the 30-somethings, and the experience of those of us who remember The Brady Bunch when it first ran (OK, maybe that’s just me. Sigh. Although Susan’s getting up there.).

When I hesitate to try some new thing, the kids give me so much grief about it, I have no choice. When they get down or discouraged by a setback, I can provide perspective along the lines of, “Well, I remember, back in ought one, the same thing happened and it turned out fine.” Older workers balance youthful recklessness, and the newbies keep the grown-ups from stagnating caution.

Sometimes I think it would be more…restful, maybe?…to work in an office with more people my age. But I know it’s really good for me…and our clients…that we have a nice age spectrum. We’ve got people who love that Tangerine Tango is the 2012 Pantone Color of the Year, plus the people who predict that Tangerine Tango might become as reviled as Avocado Green or Harvest Gold because we saw it happen.

Although Avocado’s back in style…and I could have predicted that, too!