Whenever we choose to ignore the warning signs that we are violating the natural rhythms of the creative process, either by choice or because of our work environment, there will be unhealthy side effects. We can often go for weeks at a time without feeling them, but we will eventually begin to experience these drawbacks: apathy, discontent, boredom, exhaustion, frustration, a general lack of ideas. Working in the create-on-demand world, expected to be constantly on, you probably experience each of these side effects on a regular basis. Just like your car may continue to run for a while in disrepair, you can be very effective in short bursts, even violating your natural rhythms for a time, but eventually the negative side effects will catch up to you in the form of these symptoms.
While creative workplaces are very complex and there are many dynamics at play, there are three damaging side effects that serve as broad categories for all the others. I (Todd Henry) like to call them the “assassins” of the creative process, because they are stealthy and they effectively neutralize our creative capacity. They can creep into a work environment almost unseen and begin to undo our capacity to perform at our best. Once you understand these assassins and can spot their effects, you can begin to systematically weed them out.
The three assassins of the creative process are dissonance, fear, and expectation escalation. While each of these dynamics is present in varying degrees in every organization, for some teams and creatives they have become a way of life. The net result is a workplace in which rationalization and mediocrity become the norm. Innovation is often the rallying cry, but bunting for singles is the everyday ethic.
DISSONANCE
Resolving dissonance is one of the main functions of creative thought. We are quick to notice when things don’t add up. But while it’s usually helpful when used to solve the creative problems in your life and work, this ability to recognize and resolve patterns can also provide unwanted distractions to your creative process. You have only so much capacity to process data, and when there is a high amount of dissonance in your environment, it can rob you of some of that capacity. You can spend a lot of time spinning your wheels trying to resolve things that are ultimately unresolvable.
One of the most important responsibilities of a creative leader is to eliminate these areas of dissonance as often as possible. They need to ensure that the “why” and the “what” are lining up for people on their team by consistently reminding team members of the overall strategy and how it aligns with their current day-to-day work. Doing this helps creative workers stay focused and energized, and eases the subterranean dissonance that can quickly emerge when doing complex work.
FEAR
Humans have evolved with a set of traits that made it possible for our ancestors to form social groups, develop new technologies, and outwit their enemies. Unfortunately, these are the same attributes that can inhibit our creativity. The most damaging of these hardwired traits is fear.
A fear of what might happen if they make a mistake, creatives play it safe. They elevate the potential consequences of making a mistake to unhealthy (and unrealistic) levels and, in order to avoid those consequences, do mediocre work. More often, we simply don’t want to stand out, whether positively or negatively, because of the fear of being ostracized by our peers or managers.
This kind of fear can be corralled into two categories: fear of failure and, even worse, fear of success.
EXPECTATION ESCALATION
We allow comparisons to affect our current creative engagement. The moment we place concrete expectations on the end results of a project, we begin closing off potential executions and helpful thoughts because we deem them “not useful enough” in accomplishing our escalated expectations. Doing this too early in the creative process can seriously derail brilliant ideas and prevent them from ever seeing the light of day.
The result of all this is a phenomenon I call “expectation escalation.” As our perceived expectations escalate, we become almost paralyzed with concern about not measuring up. We want our ideas to be fully formed from the beginning rather than giving our creative process time to play out. If we don’t see the idea as stacking up against the best of the best, then we don’t spend time on it. But this ignores the reality that all brilliant creative executions began as infant ideas and had to be tweaked and developed. Expectation escalation causes us to self-limit as a result of comparison.
* Source: The Accidental Creative by Todd Henry