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Three good ways to let go of expectations
I was recently speaking about Creative Doing at a workshop, and had suggested that participants would be better off lowering their expectations for what their creative work would do for them. One participant responded by asking, “What are some good ways to let go of expectations?” Three prompts come to mind for practicing letting go…
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What can you demo?
At some point in the future, you’ll probably need to help someone understand something you want to do. For example, you may need to pitch an idea to someone. A great way to think about this is to build a demo—the closest approximation to your idea that you can make with a few resources and…
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Make another option
A nice way to think about making something new is simply to show up to the marketplace with a new option. That thing you’re making is just an option for the customer that happens to express what you want. If people happen to like and buy your option, that’s great. If they don’t, that’s fine…
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Unscheduled and flexible
When I recently started a new newsletter, Three Thought Starters, I originally intended to send an email out every Sunday. I was very excited, because I’d been planning to put a newsletter out for months. Things were coming along nicely, and my subscribers received the first few issues very positively. After a few weeks, I…
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Helpful overconfidence vs. hurtful overconfidence
Sometimes, being overconfident can actually be useful. For example, when you behave like someone likes you—even when you’re not sure—you create a self-fulfilling dynamic where they may be more likely to reciprocate your behavior. When you are overconfident about how much influence you have over your attitude, you also choose to deliberately shape it. Here…
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Potential
When you are new, people will see you as unrealized potential. They haven’t seen your work, so they will make decisions based on signals. With the right introductions, or the right work samples, or the right publicity, they may be willing to give you a shot—maybe even to make a bigger bet on you as…
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Three things I learned after placing Creative Doing in a bookstore
Several months ago, I cold called a brick and mortar bookstore and pitched Creative Doing to the manager of a bookstore. To my surprise, the manager placed an order for a few copies right away. Since cold emails have a low success rate, I had thought the odds would be incredibly low for something like…
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5 pieces I re-read recently
I recently pulled up some of my old work to re-read, either because the ideas came up in conversation or were related to something that I was thinking about or feeling. They were great reminders for me, and maybe they’ll be helpful for you too: The work needs to be enough: A creative manifesto: “To…
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Clarity, success, and confidence
What does success mean to you? What values does it reflect? How certain are you that you can accomplish what you set out to do? What reasons and evidence do you have for this certainty? What are you willing to risk if you fail? What can you gain if you fail to accomplish your goal?…
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Three dimensional business cards
I once heard a CEO of a construction company describe his buildings as three dimensional business cards. It was a great way of thinking about work, and emphasizing why it’s important to do a good job on everything. When a prospective client sees the work you did for somebody else, even if they’re not on…