Making Ideas Happen (26 page)

Society is a bit hypocritical. The mainstream shuns wayward creative people with skepticism, especial y when they defy the status quo. Dropping out of school or choosing an alternative career is frowned upon. But at the same time we celebrate the successes of the artists and entrepreneurs who enrich every aspect of our lives. Society celebrates the outcome of what society shuns.

We make grave errors when we consider creative success as a one-off. Ideas are not made to happen by accident or out of luck. Creative achievement is simply the logical outcome of doing something different and seeing it through to completion. What society views as a tremendous risk may appear to some of us as an obvious and compel ing opportunity. Whether or not the project becomes something meaningful depends on our capacity to organize and lead.

You must learn to gain confidence when doubted by others. The uncharted path is the only road to something new. As pressures mount, you need to stay the course and consider the doubts of others as an indication of your progress.

You cannot rely on conventional knowledge, rewards, and procedures as you lead creative pursuits. As you have learned, the ways that you manage your energy and engage employees and partners must al be questioned. Nothing extraordinary is ever achieved through ordinary means. With a deviant mind-set, the pressures from others become a source of confidence. By shedding the obligations and expectations bestowed upon you by the status quo, you can organize and lead extraordinary ideas to fruition.

Keep an Eye on the Backward Clock

In hindsight, it is easy to talk about assuming the deviant mind-set and defying the status quo. But it is very difficult to take the leap. Many of us postpone our creative pursuits for a whole host of reasons. We want to stay in our current jobs a little while longer, perhaps to increase our savings or get “one more promotion.” Or maybe we are “waiting for the right time” but can’t real y say for sure when that time wil come. These might be rationalizations. Or, they might be perfectly good reasons to put off actualizing our ideas. Either way, we pay a price for postponing action.

Consider for a moment:

You are sitting in a dul meeting. Tuning out the conversations, you become entranced by the passage of time on the wal clock. You watch sixty seconds pass, a minute of your life that you wil never get back.

During that time, were you taking any risks to push your ideas to fruition? Were you moving the bal forward in any way? Were you marketing yourself for an opportunity to get closer to your true interests—or angling to further develop an area of expertise?

Were you harnessing the forces of connection and opportunity around you?

Depending on how you consider your current career and the state of your ideas, this vignette is either a painful reminder of wasted time and lost opportunity, or a motivational reminder to use every minute to pursue life to its ful est.

The notion of the backward clock is simple: if you were told the exact year, day, and time that your life would end, would you manage your time and energy any differently?

Even if that date were seventy-three years, twelve days, two hours, and thirty seconds from now, would you become more aware of time passing, minute by minute?

In essence, we al have a final date and time ahead of us, but we are not burdened with a countdown. This is probably a good thing, given the anxiety that such information would create. Nevertheless, there are some benefits from keeping an eye on the backward clock. As you seek to capitalize on your creative energy, insights, and ideas, the window of opportunity is always closing. A dose of pressure is a good thing.

The fact that time is ticking should motivate you to take action on your ideas. When little opportunities present themselves, you might decide to seize them. An eye on the backward clock helps you stomach the risk because, after al , time is running out. Get on it.

The Love Conundrum

Love plays a strange role in creative pursuits. At first, love sparks our interest and a relentless desire to focus and learn. During the tough times and project plateaus, love keeps us engaged. But love also creates a chasm between our visions and accomplishments. Love can lead to great disappointment.

Love drives us.
There is an extraordinary gentleman named Jason Randal who knows a lot about love. You may have seen Randal perform magic on one of the late-night talk shows or at world-famous conferences. Or perhaps you have seen his stunt double work in one of his films, including
An Officer and a Gentleman
,
Tequila Sunrise
, and
Pretty Woman
. Even if you have, you probably don’t know that Randal holds a PhD

in social psychology, plays and writes for five musical instruments, speaks three languages, and is a board-certified master hypnotherapist, licensed locksmith, NAUI master scuba instructor, and master certified flight instructor for both airplanes and helicopters.

We’re not done. Randal is also a seventh-degree black belt in karate and has instructed for six years at the Chuck Norris karate school. Believe it or not, the list goes on. More than anything else, Randal is an expert in developing an expertise.

Lucky for al of us, Randal is wil ing to share his secrets. He emphasizes three critical components for developing a mastery: (1) a deep desire and interest in a topic, (2) the ability to learn it, and (3) the capacity to enlist support. The deep desire and interest, Randal explains, prompts an intense and lasting engagement with the topic. When you couple this obsession for a topic with the ability to learn (through comprehension, mnemonics, or otherwise) and the involvement of others, you can accomplish extraordinary feats.

As Randal describes his approach to his many interests, the common theme is a deep and authentic love for every skil he has developed and his experiences using them. Randal has an insatiable desire to become better, but not out of ambition or competitiveness. Randal is driven by love. Love keeps him engaged long enough to learn, experiment, and take bold risks. As a tremendous salesman of his own projects and philosophies, Randal is able to engage his community. His positive energy is contagious, and his projects benefit as a result. Randal demonstrates how love can carry us toward great accomplishments.

Love disappoints us.
In the beginning of the book we met Jonathan Harris, a very accomplished artist whose projects are al complex attempts to explore his fascination with emotion. When I met Harris, he shared the complicated role that love plays in his work.

“The love you have for what you’re doing is actual y the most important thing,” Harris explained. “Love is the only thing that’s going to pul you through and get you to finish . . .

but there is also a paradoxical and interesting fact: The thing you actual y end up making is going to be such a failure compared to the original feeling that you had, the original vision that you had. If you finish and you find out that it’s not a failure, it means that you didn’t try hard enough, because when you real y fal in love with something, you idealize it, and you develop a vision of it that’s actual y unattainable in reality. The feeling of it is so pure that you can’t make a real thing that has that feeling and so you’re inevitably going to be disappointed by it. And in some way, the depth of that disappointment is in direct correlation to how beautiful the vision was to begin with.”

Harris argues that love motivates us, keeps us loyal throughout our projects, and then ensures some level of disappointment at the end.

Reconciling love.
You may have heard the old quote “How do you get someone to stop enjoying what they love to do? Pay them to do it.” The adage suggests that when your passion becomes your work, your relationship to your passion changes. There are many examples we’ve come across—a designer gets hired by a big firm, an entrepreneur gets hired to run a business within a large company, a novelist gets commissioned to do a story for someone else—in which a bout of suffering sets in as we start to go through the motions. The mechanics of these projects weigh on us. As we relinquish control and realize that others wil take credit for the outcome of our labor of love, we start to question ourselves.

Your chal enge is to maintain an organic relationship with the craft that you love. The expectations and rewards imposed by others wil only compromise your passion if you rely on them as the source of your interests. Like a fleeting sense of lust, passion fueled by traditional incentives wil quickly fade. You must stay focused on the intrinsic rewards of your work and stay motivated by the means rather than the ends.

Love is a cause of both commitment and then, often, a great deal of disappointment.

But an enduring love for an idea or interest can push you past the obstacles. The people who transform industries and change the world are people who have mastered what they love. They continue to practice their craft because they love the process more than the outcome. And they are constantly finding new ways to reengage, keeping the love affair alive despite the suite of pressures that come between our visions and reality.

AN OPPORTUNITY AND A RESPONSIBILITY

WHEN PEOPLE HEAR
a new album, read a new novel, or celebrate the achievements of a revolutionary new product or business, they seldom grasp the magnitude of effort and capabilities required to create it. But as creators ourselves, we should view the world of innovation with a lens that sees beneath the glamour. We should round out our creative talents and impulses with a continuing education in the forces of execution.

The case studies surround us every day. When breakthroughs and accomplishments are celebrated—spectacular movies are released, novels are published, and companies grow—we should work backward in our minds and imagine al that was required to push the idea to fruition. How much organization and sheer perspiration was involved? How many late nights, team fights, and spurts of personal growth took place along the way? How many drops of perspiration (and tears) were shed?

There is a deep sense of understanding and respect shared among creative leaders who have encountered success. The bond is not a result of their shared sense of achievement. Rather, it is the result of empathy and mutual admiration. Regardless of industry, every creator who has successful y made an idea happen has fought and survived a very long war. While the scars and memories may be from different battles, they al know what it’s like to be out there, struggling across the project plateau and constantly pursuing innovation against the grain.

Our raw curiosity and sense of wonderment fuels our ideas, but bringing them to fruition requires a steadfast commitment. Al of the insights, unnatural restraints, and personal compromises we have discussed are part of this arduous commitment. And if you stick out the journey, you wil have a unique opportunity to make an impact in your world.

It is not naïve or a cliché to say that the creative mind holds the answers to al of the world’s problems. It is merely a fact. And so, you should balance your desire to use your creativity with a sense of responsibility.

Please take yourself and your creative pursuits seriously. Your ideas must be treated with respect because their importance truly does extend beyond your own interests.

Every living person benefits from a world that is enriched with ideas made whole—ideas that are made to happen through your passion, commitment, self-awareness, and informed pursuit.

Chal enge yourself to withstand the self-doubts and societal pressures that wil ral y against you. When they do, take comfort in the knowledge that you are in good company.

We al struggle, but we persevere. Adversity makes us stronger. Relish the fact that you are on an important path, emboldened by both the opportunity and grave responsibility to create something of value—a value that is rewarding for you and enriching for al .

Acknowledgments

WHILE THIS WORK
is the result of many years of research and writing, the idea would never have materialized without the support and leadership of my col eagues on the Behance team, mentors, and family. Many of the concepts and perspectives shared in this book are the result of your influence and the opportunities you have provided. While I have sought to cite every source properly, I know that my knowledge is an outcome of countless discussions, experiences, and great mentorship. I am extremely grateful and want to acknowledge the great impact you have had on this book.

Matias Corea, my founding partner and the chief designer of Behance, has taught me that design is at the center of organization and communication. His vision has enabled Behance to make an impact in the creative world, and his partnership has made al the difference along the way. I learn from Matias every day, and the research and realizations of Behance are an outcome of our friendship and his leadership and mastery of design.

I also thank Matias for the art direction and design of the cover for this book.

I am extremely fortunate to work with a bril iant and committed team at Behance.

David Stein and Chris Henry have led technology at Behance since the very beginning.

Their insights and stewardship of Behance extend wel beyond our services and played a crucial role in our research. I also wish to thank Bryan Latten and our growing technology team that has rounded out Behance’s technology and development and have infused new insight into Behance’s products and services. I must also thank Brittany Ancel , Behance’s chief of operations, for her mastery of organizational principles and her leadership of Behance’s operations that provided the bandwidth for me to write this book.

I extend my gratitude to my col eagues Alex Krug, Oscar Ramos Orozco, Joshua Jabbour, and Zach McCul ough for breathing fresh insight and leadership into Behance.

As Behance’s senior designer, Zach is also to thank for his help with the il ustrations for this book. Behance would also not be what it is today without our special relationship with JB Osborne and Emily Heyward from Red Antler—and the guidance from our esteemed advisory board members. Thank you!