Not understanding something is fine. Making mistakes is also OK, as long as they were driven by the right motivations (be true, be brave, be kind, be wise)
By being vulnerable, we can create an environment of safety around us. Safety leads to trust. Trust leads to better ideas.
Give unfiltered opinion
We should be our toughest critics. Without feedback, it's really hard to improve on anything. We should be more critical than our clients, that's the only way to be proud of our work.
Remember to be kind! Opinions don't need to be judgemental. We are criticizing ideas, not people
Authenticity
We need to cultivate our own creative voice. This is probably the hardest thing there is in any art form. But that's the only to make clients want to hire us for our ideas, and not only for our skills
We shouldn't pretend to be someone else. We need to be true to who we are, and not push for ideas that we don't support.
Transparency
We have nothing to hide, especially not our mistakes
We should be as transparent as possible about how we work, our progress, challenges, and concerns. Both internally and with our clients. It's the best way to create long-term trusting relationships, and that will incentivize us to keep improving