Let's overthink that some more.

The one sure way to slow down the creative process or kill the creative flow it is to overthink things.

You need to trust your creative instinct and your gut and go with it. Make creative leaps even if there is no net below.

Worse still is when multiple people and processes get involved and so many opinions are being thrown at an idea, that's when 'overthinking' tends to take over and the idea starts to get eroded.

The other problem is when you get someone in the decision making process who simply lacks guts and conviction when it comes to making a call and wants to look at more and more options and angles, unfortunately many of them are more interested in protecting their jobs than protecting the value of a great piece of creative work. They are the worst kinds of people to have in any role involved with creative decision making. They tend to undo more than they do.

Trusting your gut is still one of the best litmus tests for ideas. Playing it safe is not being creative.

Do guts ever get it wrong? Of course. But so do the overthinkers because they have watered down the idea or taken it into the safest of territories thus making it boring and forgettable.

Creative decision making is all about making a call, often tough calls. It's not easy, but that's how it works. No guts, no glory.

Fortune favors the brave.

There's no room for fear when it comes to bringing creative work to life. You wont get to great by following the path to mediocre and that's what happens when you overthink and second guess what it is you are doing or your staff is doing.

Steve Jobs famously didn't believe in research, which is basically the same as having a committee tossing in their opinions and overthinking everything and messing up the original idea.

“It's really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them." Steve Jobs

And...

“Some people say, ‘Give the customers what they want.’ But that’s not my approach. Our job is to figure out what they’re going to want before they do. I think Henry Ford once said, ‘if I’d asked customers what they wanted, they would have told me, ‘A faster horse!’’ People don’t know what they want until you show it to them. That’s why I never rely on market research. Our task is to read things that are not yet on the page.” Steve Jobs

For good or even great creative ideas to live and be the best they can be you need someone, a decision maker, and that could be yourself, who truly believes in the idea, has guts, is willing to be wrong and fail, is willing to put their reputation and experience on the line. Without this approach and attitude and without a decision maker who is willing to not second guess and overthink everything you will just have ideas created by committees and here is my favourite quote about that -

'A camel is a horse designed by a committee'.

Rodd

I'm a Creative Director / Writer / Strategist / Thinker and a bit more. I work with clients/brands directly and with agencies and production companies. I also teach creative thinking and idea generation to groups and individuals. You can read more of my LinkedIn musings here. You can also find me on Twitter,  Instagram and on Facebook. Or drop me an email – [email protected]

Words (aside from credited quotes) Copyright Rodd Chant 2018

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