How hard can it be?

Let me tell you a story, when I first saw Ayana hunched over his drawing tablet working, I remember saying to him,” Maaaan, that S#%& looks easy, how hard can it be to draw”, after he gave me an enthusiastic 30-minute lecture on how hard it actually is, he draws a face and gave me his stylus and told me to draw the same face again next to it, I won't bore you with the details of what happened after that, let's just say he made his point.?

This incident got us talking about the times when clients, friends, and “Bosses”? used the word “how hard can it be” when it came to what we did. But the fact of the matter is that this happens to anyone and everyone who “Does” something whether you paint walls or make aircraft, whether you make animation videos or lead a million-dollar business, someone out there will use the phrase “How hard can it be” to describe what you do.?

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But, here's the thing, why?? Why do people feel that way, (get ready for a makeshift Psych lesson). It's easy to attribute this way of thinking to narcissism and the good old-fashioned EGO, but let's do the Adult thing and take a deeper dive. We can break down the “how hard can it be?” phenomenon into a couple of cognitive biases, The first big factor is the Optimism bias, where people underestimate the likelihood of negative events while overestimating the likelihood of positive ones, this contributes to the perception that a task like drawing illustrations will be easier than it is, creating a sense of excessive confidence ??.?

Another one of these cognitive biases is the Dunning-Kruger effect, simply put, it's when I massively overestimated my ability to draw, and that was highlighted by my “ how hard can it be statement’, which showed my limited understanding of the complexities involved in drawing, leading me to believe that is simpler than it truly is.?

Societal pressures and cultural influences are also huge factors that foster this mindset. Societies often value confidence and decisiveness, and that compels people to downplay the challenges in front of them, even to themselves. It's not unreasonable to think that admitting uncertainty or acknowledging the potential difficulty of a task may be perceived as a sign of weakness, further reinforcing the tendency to underestimate complexity.

Enough with the big words, After that moment with Ayana, we began to notice this “how hard can it be” attitude from prospects and clients we've encountered more often, and it left us wondering how we could deal with the delicate balance between the perceived simplicity of what we do and the intricate nature of producing meaningful work. Clients sometimes underestimate the complexities involved in the creative process. Yes, as creatives and service providers, we also need to work on communicating the depth and intricacies of our services and creative endeavors, which often go beyond mere technical skills and involve subjective elements like emotion, feelings, and aesthetic sensibility. Establishing a transparent and open dialogue with clients needs to be at the forefront. This leaves us with the task of navigating not only the technical challenges of our craft but also managing the expectations of those on the receiving end.? Educating clients on the intricacies of the creative process, and fostering a collaborative relationship that recognizes and respects the complexities inherent in bringing imaginative ideas to fruition is paramount.?

Balancing artistic vision with client expectations requires a delicate dance, a dance everyone in the service industry needs to know how to perform. At the end of the day, Expectations will make or break relationships. While optimism and confidence are valuable traits, they must be tempered with a realistic understanding of the challenges at hand. Both service providers and clients need to manage our expectations and create an empathetic playing field where everyone is given a chance to win.?

If you got this far, it means you care, so here, have a puppy ??!

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