Being creative on demand
For money. With a deadline. Time is ticking.
Creativity is not an on-demand resource, even though working in the creative field makes it feel that way. People hire you for your creativity based on your track record or your client list or because they think you’re a “creative person.” Sometimes creativity flows effortlessly and other times it’s so absent you start to wonder whether you’re actually creative at all. Because creativity takes so many forms it’s hard to create simple rules for cultivating it. Instead, drop down a level and think of the environment, the attitude, and the range — conditions which nurture a culture of creativity.
The environment:
When I graduated design school I was hired at the San Francisco office of the German design firm, MetaDesign. The office space was impressive and immaculate: dark metal flooring, bright white walls. Everyone had the same desk, chair, filing cabinet, and desk phone (RIP desk phones). While this environment was impressive for prospective clients, I found it very hard to think creatively in such a stark, well designed space. I would spend much of my days walking around the block outside because I found the relative messiness of the surroundings more stimulating. It is important to pay attention to the environments that make you feel creative as well as those that don’t. Being in trains, boats, and old garages make me feel creative. Being in planes, office parks, and cafés don’t. Learn which environments put you in a creative headspace and then go to these places when you need to think. Don’t forget to bring a notebook.
The attitude:
Creativity contains a balance between freedom and constraint. Too much freedom and there’s nothing to push against or play with. Too many constraints and there’s nowhere to explore or be original. Since creativity is so hard to pin down, it’s important to maintain an attitude of openness and levity. If you aren’t sure where a great idea is going to come from, don’t approach your work being overly critical. You might kill a good idea before it has time to develop. Besides, editing happens later. There will always be some pressure in the form of deadlines and clients. This pressure tends to amp up the closer you are to the deadline. Some people thrive with this pressure and others shy away from it. Either way, there’s no point putting added pressure on yourself. At A Hundred Monkeys we want to hear and understand all the constraints our clients have. In the end we collectively settle on the two to three constraints that are essential to the work.
The range:
Creativity involves going down a bunch of paths and seeing what’s interesting and what resonates. While on one of these paths, there’s often a voice in your head asking “is this good enough? Am I wasting my time here?” For every creative option that gets presented there are several behind it that will never see the light of day. A proto version of this narrowing happens in our own heads when we’re thinking over which creative paths are worth exploring and which aren’t. In probability theory this is called “Explore-Exploit” or the “Multi-armed bandit,” named after casino slot machines. Focus on only one or two ideas and you can easily miss other interesting approaches. Try out 50 directions and you won’t have the time or energy to explore the depths of what any one direction is truly capable of. Part of the answer here is about giving yourself room for uninterrupted thought — avoiding the distractions of phones, email, colleagues, and everything else. The other part is being honest with yourself about when an idea has run its course because there will always be more out there. Running a studio means I’m always working on multiple projects. If I’m focusing on a project and finding that I’m not getting anywhere useful, I switch my attention to something else for a while and schedule time to come back to it. Separation makes the heart grow fonder.
This essay appears in the most recent issue of Backstage Talks (#6) alongside illustrations by Jakob Bachorík, who I can’t find online anywhere 🙂
