Contraditions in Productivity Part 3 - Think Inside the Box

When working towards a solution to a problem or in developing a new idea, one of the most liberating (yet challenging) things to do is to identify your real limitations.  Is there a deadline this Friday?  Do you only have 30 dollars with which you can solve your problem?  Does your customer require that you use only specific colors?  

On the surface, it may feel like rigid requirements and lack of resources are limitations (especially to an artist).  But in fact, well defined walls provide a solid framework on which to build your talent and find creative solutions.  Loopholes and workarounds don't exist without first having rules.

Learn to Think Inside the Box

Artists need a medium.
Projects need a deadline.
A wise musician practices with a metronome.  An athlete needs the unmovable earth to push against to express his power.  I've noticed that the most successful people around me are able to create boundaries for themselves and have the discipline to work within a limited medium.  The freedom of deciding what you shouldn't do often liberates you to use simpler tools and focus on what you do best rather than toil away on things that are best left to someone else with different interests. 

On the subject of real limitations, many people and organizations need to learn to think within their budget.  It's been said that "If your outgo exceeds your income, then your upkeep will be your downfall".  However, the flip side of that coin is that if we get creative, save, and live within our means, the box will expand, the limitations will lessen, and what was once perceived to be confining will become a source of liberation.

With a nod to my new friend, Tommy Jones, proprietor of theBox, a coworking space in Marietta, Ga, with whom I enjoyed a delightful and refreshingly hopped beverage last weekend.

Share your work in progress

Oftentimes there's a great temptation to keep our creative work hidden until it is finished.
I think that, in most cases, that is a mistake and that we should constantly get feedback from others during the creation process.  (Proverbs 15:22)

Of course, we should be wise about who we share these unpolished gems.  (Matthew 7:6).  Not all feedback will be helpful and not all should be taken into account, but very often someone will have a fresh perspective or a constructive criticism that you'll completely agree with.

Here's the latest version of a project I'm working on now:

I'm making a 'branding' animation for my home based computer graphics venture.  I've started a thread here in a forum full of similar minded artists who may give me some good feedback.    Hopefully I'll share some of what I've learned along the way with their community as well.  (Proverbs 27:17)

I'm really excited to continue the project because I have set the expectation of some of these people, and they're kind enough to encourage me and challenge me along the way.

To whom should you show your unfinished work?

What do you believe about yourself?

I once enrolled in a prayer counseling course called Elijah House which was held at the home of my great friend Josh Weaver.  Overall I found the course to be an amazing experience and I grew as a person tremendously.  On the first night of the course a woman came with a large bag of gifts that each had a letter attached.  She said that she'd been praying for each of us and that she believed that God laid a message on her heart for each person enrolled in the class (she didn't know any of us).  She opened the bag and let us each come up, one by one, and pull out our present.  As we all read our letters, I heard sobbing around the room and whispers of "oh my God".  I was shocked at how well I felt like the letter pertained to me personally.  Many others in the room felt the same way.  The following is a transcription of my letter:


"Have you ever been in snow country?  Snow falling gently to the ground in amazing softness.  It brings a quiet and stillness to the soul.  You can find a peace that stills things all around you.  Nothing is hurrying and all the animals are stepping softly and slowly.


But then in the midst of your stillness you hear a sound, it is not still and it is not quiet.  It is a trailblazer.  Someone coming along where no path is and making the way known that someone is there.  This is you; you are one to make your own tracks.  Going where others have not yet stepped and showing others can come too.  This trailblazer can be a skier, a snowmobile, or a truck in 4 wheel drive.


Four wheel drive that is you.  All the wheels turning to get where you want to go.  It does not matter if others have done it but somehow there is a way to get there.  You know where you are going and it is with fun.  Sometimes we have to figure out the way to get there because surely there is a path somewhere.


Only sometimes the snowmobiles hit a barbed wire fence hidden in the snow.  Snow that is soft and flying suddenly becomes a bed for you to land in.  There will be traps, and hidden snares along your journey of life. Things that will trip you up or throw you.  But there is still a path to go on.  There is still a trail to go on.  Someone must make a new path in the wilderness that is the leader in you.  We need that someone who will make things happen especially for others.  They used to say pioneer, now it is called progress.


There is a process of being made or developed that intrigues you.  You want to know the in's and out's of things.  What makes things tick, so to say.  It is like the 4 wheel drive giving power from the drive shaft.  If I use all 4 wheels then i can get better traction under difficult conditions.  You make the best of things; you try to find the good in hard times.  The power to go on in you encourages others.  You see no obstacles; you just see a way that has not been before.  You know how to ease the friction.  Friction is needed to keep going forward or to make progress.  You can take the friction and use it to propel you into a better place or person.  using all the means possible to get where you are going.  That is why you love a challenge, it keeps you going.


You are going somewhere and you know how to use the friction in your life to get there.  Today it is described as character building or integrity.  So as you journey through this class and through the obstacles you will face, know that it is good that all 4 wheels are turning.


You are blazing that trail so others can follow in your tracks.  Be the leader you were meant to be and as you go along to figure the way, know may others will see your trail and follow.  Happy 4 wheeling!"


I believe that the stranger was right, this was a message for me, inspired by God.  What do you believe about yourself?  

Never Stop Learning

The internet has ensured that there will never be a shortage of information or tutorials or resources.

You may have some great skills, but you should always add to them.

Are you a good musician?  Learn a different style.  Learn a new recording technique.  Learn to sing.  Seek out new music theory.

Are you a good writer?  Learn new features of your editing software.  Study some grammar.  Seek out new words.

Are you a programmer?  Study some new math.  Make 'hello world' in an unfamiliar language.  Enter a programming contest.

There's always a field just next to yours that you may find a lot of fertile ground in.  Never stop learning.

Contradictions in Productivity - Part 2

Part 2: Pride vs Humility
 
Should we take pride in ourselves and our work or be humble? Is it possible to be both? I say yes, and that we should seamlessly shift from one position to the next.  Pride without humility makes one deaf to imported ideas and creates an offensive person to work with.  Humility without pride is self-deprecating; it closes doors before they open and prevents your work from being taken seriously. I believe that it is necessary to be both humble and proud, but the right approach must be used in the right situation.

Have you ever seen someone present their work and in the same breath apologize for its quality?
Examples include:

• Presenting technical information and saying something like "sorry about the small font on this chart" or "sorry about the resolution of this image".
• Playing a musical recording to your friend and pointing out the mistakes in the performance as they occur.
• Asking a colleague to read your draft article and saying "there are probably a bunch of typos" or "this is a real rough version".
• Sharing some art with a potential client and throwing in comments like "I'm not so sure about this part" or "the colors here didn't turn out the way I wanted" or "this is the best I could do in the time allotted". 
• A speaker stammering over a word and then pointing it out with a nervous chuckle and a phrase like "Gosh!  I just can't talk today".

These types of self-criticism (destructive humility) can distract from your message and color the audience's appreciation of your work. It's better to not call attention to your own imperfections before someone else does.  This undermines your work and highlights flaws that may otherwise go unnoticed.  Communicate that you are proud of what you've done.  The frightening thing is that people may come up with their own opinions and you must always produce to your own standards.

On the other side of the coin, we must be humble. When showing a draft to a colleague, mentor, or client we must be ready to take any constructive suggestions in stride.  It's pointless to try to invalidate someone else's criticism, even though we may not agree with it.  It's far better to validate the opinion of your boss or customer as opposed to making excuses.

Serve with your excellence and present it as such.  Take pride in your work and don't make excuses.  When others criticize your work (lovingly or otherwise) humbly discern what you need to learn in order to become an even more excellent servant.  Humbly pursue new skills and take pride knowing that it will pay off.

Time to turn in the homework

As promised, here's the music and animation that represents the creative project that I mentioned in last week's post:

 
I wrote this guitar piece about 10 years ago just after I moved into an apartment with some friends.  I was playing in a metal band at the time, so I didn't do much of anything at all with it until now.  I ended up making the audio recording in 2003.  My friend Joel, who ran the studio, wrote "Sam's Home" on the CD he gave me, so that name just kind of stuck.

I started aimlessly tinkering with the animated rhombuses several months ago, but didn't make much progress on it.  I firmly believe that having the deadline gave me the much needed push to produce this animation.  Now I have something that is among my best animation work.

What projects do you have lying around that need a deadline and an audience?  Set and communicate an appointed time and place to show your unfinished project.  Then, get to work.  Once that time arrives it's time to wrap up all of the loose ends and turn in your homework.

Initiate Launch Sequence

Do you have an unfinished creative project? A half-developed idea that you have lying around? An outline, sketch, riff, verse, program, design, note, problem, chapter, or melody? Is your brilliance gathering dust? One sure-fire way to get it off the ground is to assign to it a deadline. Broadcast this deadline to other people and then there's no turning back.

A deadline, when taken seriously and used appropriately, can bring tremendous stimulation to the creative process and yield thrusts of prolific output.

I've seen this principle in action many times at work; a huge developmental milestone in the team will occur when faced with a customer related deadline. It is during these times when entire systems get pulled together, problems get solved, decisions are made, synergies happen, teamwork blossoms, designs are finished, processes are streamlined, and ultimately projects get launched.

Your work needs to be launched. Start the countdown. Define a clear moment in time where all preparation ceases and the project is published, sent, shipped, mailed, handed off, shown, shared, recorded, posted, played, performed, displayed, or launched.

I'll call my own bluff. Today is 9/4/2011. In exactly one week I'll post a rather ambitious creative project here that I've neglected for quite some time. Now that I've said that, it's time to blow off the dust and get to work.