I feel most alive when I hear my friends talk about what they want to build. The ability to create things that don’t currently exist is underrated. Mostly, I find it easy to see the big picture of where they could take the things they are currently imagining. However, translating what is in your head into something that exists in the real world is easier said than done. Organizations need to be formed, and products and asset classes that do not currently exist need to be brought to life by creative minds. But getting from thought to tangible product doesn’t always have a predictable, clear path, so people get stuck.
Over time I’ve discovered a technique for writing, and creating anything really, that has helped me to get more done. I know have the product in me, and I use this process/ way of thinking to get it out. I find it helpful to remind myself of this when I am facing a block or feeling stuck. I’ll describe it here in terms of sequential steps, but it really is more of a way of thinking, than a strict process.
Stage 1
First, I write with the freedom of knowing that I am writing my first draft. It need not be perfect, and I feel no pressure to make it perfect. I constantly have to remind myself that my first draft is a necessary condition, it doesn’t need to meet any standard. The goal is to have something to work with, something you can chisel down and perfect later. Sometimes while writing the second paragraph, I immediately know how the article should end, and I break rank to write down the end, before I go back to creating the middle. There are no rules, really.
The goal at this stage is not be great, but just to create. The fear of creating something unoriginal or subpar is paralyzing enough to make you create nothing. But if you create nothing, you can never create anything great. This works well if you are in the workforce as well. If you want to shake things up and inject a mild form of cocaine into your creative process and output, go for an approach where you create fast and get frequent feedback. Over multiple iterations of creation and feedback, you get a more polished product that almost seems to create itself.
Throughout the first stage, above all, avoid getting stuck. If there is an idea that needs you to break your creation flow to perfect it, move on to the next. Be guided by the part of your mind that is not bogged down or heavy, but is instead nimbly creating and remixing ideas. the goal is to end up with something that represents you putting in all your best effort. It represents getting all your idea out, and more is more. You need to have something to work with. Think of the first stage as coming up with all the puzzle pieces that will be used to put the picture together, and assembling a few. The trick is that you will generate more pieces than are needed to create a complete puzzle, so the next thing you need to do is to figure out what to keep, how to arrange it, and what is most obviously a throwaway.
Stage 2
The second stage starts when it starts. I might reread the work and find the most obvious way to improve it. This is the important part; we know your work is not perfect, but now you can focus on making high impact improvements, not perfecting granular details. Some of the most obvious areas where your creations can be improved will be in sequencing of ideas, areas with obvious lack of clarity, clear misspellings and mistakes of fact, and so on. Focusing on the most obvious mistakes will elevate the value of your creations immediately, making them distinct from the work of the rushed or less experienced.
I find the second stage requires the most focus. It is also the least sexy. it is like pushing an unbelievably heavy boulder up the final stretch before the peak of a high hill. Once you break the hill, you’ll shift into a new state of work, but for now, you just need to get there.
During the second stage, the themes and distinctions between the sections of what I’ve written become more obvious. Smart section titles are also more obvious. You begin to see what needs to be added or removed to make meaningful improvements that have outsized impact.
At the end of the second stage, you should have a product that is functional and effective, but in need of refinement. We’ve all seen something, whether a product or some media, that is good, but not yet great. Done right, you’ll use the second stage to organize and refine everything you put out in the first stage. When all is said and done, you should have something that is good enough to release, publish, or share. Yes, it is not refined or perfect. But it is ready to move into the final stage.
Stage 3
The final stage is polishing.
This work and rework approach has me thinking about writing publicly. The articles on this page are largely products of that approach; I tend to publish them before I think they are perfect. This means they are published at the end of the second stage. Subsequently, I reread them, and make changes to the article while it is live. At this stage, nothing critical is added, but whatever I think is unnecessary or stilted is removed. What is left is the final product. If you read anything I write when it is first published, you are likely seeing the beginning of the final stages of the creation process, before redundant material is shaved off the frame, and the surface is made smooth. If you read it again in three weeks it will be shorter and sharper.
I sometimes wonder what it would be like to make this finishing process more obvious, blurring the lines between publishing and creation. For example, what if there was a little tag on each article that showed whether it was in its first, second, or final revision? I can’t prove it, and haven’t researched it, but I think musicians use this strategy when they release new albums. Since the distribution is generally digital, improved sounding versions of a song can be swapped out. It stops perfection from hindering publishing and distribution. You might notice your favourite new album sounds sonically more pleasing over the first few listens. If you think you’d like to see me use that technique, let me know.
Using this method, it sometimes feel as if the work is being created through me, rather than by me. I am not superstitious, just saying, it feels that way.
Creation vs. perfection
This method of creation helps leaders and entrepreneurs from becoming ineffective due to the desire for perfection. As a rule, if your first effort is perfect, you released it too late. If you’d like to offer a useful product or service, chasing perfection makes you rigid, and locks you into unnecessary dichotomies. Instead of focusing on how long it will take to bring your vision to life, ask yourself “what can I do with what I have access to right now?”. This ia a mark of flexibility and innovativeness. Release fast, and improve your product or service based on feedback. The alternative is death by obsession over minuscule details that cause you to never ship anything.The saddest thing is that this hesitancy to create and share a beta version of anything we build is based on an incorrect understanding of how great things are created. it is not you that decide what to build next, it is your users, partners, and customers. Think less “build it and they will come” and more “When they come, they’ll tell me what to build”. Exercise enough empathy to give a damn what your audience desires, by releasing a signal, and listening close when they inevitably tell you what they need in response. The idea that the path to creating useful and widely loved products is lined with perfection is incorrect. Instead, the path begins by taking the first step of releasing a meaningful addition to our already rich lives, and in so doing opening a portal of dialogue between you and your listeners, clients, and fans. This dialogue determines how to move next.
Ultimately, remember this: The cycle that happens with the people that enjoy what you build is a partnership. You need them as much as they need you. Without them, what ever you create is like a tree falling in the forest; there’s no one to hear it. So when you think of collaboration and partnership, don’t only think of brands and firms and other creators. Think also of the interplay and the give-and-take that you have with the people who enjoy what you create as your biggest collaboration and your most important partnership. You are both collaborating in the co creation of the global, regional, or personal reality that comes about when work like yours is widely consumed. They will be changed by the consumption of what you create, just as you change through the reality that your imagination and creativity, the fruit of your mind and hands, are being widely consumed.