For my next set of posts, I’m going to focus on some lessons learned while creating experiences.
While doing your work, challenges come up. Most of these challenges should be taken care of with the minimum time, effort, and cost to sufficiently overcome them in a way that still is in accordance with the project goals and overall mission.
That seems simple enough, but let me give you some real world examples of challenges that come up.
You learned a new way to do a part of it after you had already finished that part of it. Yes, the new method is better and would have saved you in some way and would be a fun challenge you could take on. But yes you are already done and it met the needs of the project. Don’t go rework what is already working just so it can be “better”. Your goal is not to have done things the best way. Your goal is to deliver something great to your participants. Save that knowledge for the next project that needs it. Move forward. Your participants are waiting.
Something isn’t perfect. There’s a little item that you wish could be moved just a litttttle to the side but you can’t figure out how to do it so you fuss with it far too long. There’s a detail that will only be in the view of a participant for a split second and no one will notice – but YOU notice. And maybe your colleagues notice and are equally irked by it. Leave it. You owe it to your participants to create work they will notice.
Someone said it couldn’t be done. You ask someone you trust how to do something and they say it’s not possible to do it that way and show you another way. Instead of taking their advice you see it as a delicious challenge to try to do it the way you wanted. You are excited by the idea of doing the impossible or showing off or proving them wrong or breaking new ground or whatever. Don’t. If you have another way to get it done that works just do it that way. Your participants are waiting.
You learned something that piqued your curiosity but really isn’t related to your goals at all. This is a very popular one. Learning some surprising fact or discovering a new fascinating tool is like a drug to a creative. On this new high of surprise, they are so so tempted to insert this new thing into their process. Nevermind that they are a complete novice at this tool and the fact might not be that relevant. They felt a high of surprise and they want their participants to also feel that high because it is awesome. But it was only awesome because of how it landed in your process. You are not recreating your process for them, you are creating an entirely different experience.
The Resistance and Other Enemies of the Make
If you haven’t read Do The Work, read it. There’s an almost certain chance that the Resistance is a major force in making you fall in love with a challenge that is not on your path. It doesn’t want you to do the thing you need to do so it distracts and pushes you off your path.
You also need a mission you believe in and a clear set of parameters for your project. Without a north star and guard rails (sorry for the mixed metaphor), you’re never really off the path because you don’t have a path. You are “allowed” to chase any butterfly you want. But the chances of you turning out great work for your participants is reduced a hundredfold.
Finally, being mindful of what you are doing is critical to resisting unnecessary challenges. Without paying attention to your changing attention you can easily find yourself chasing unnecessary challenges. As always, I suggest meditation to help you develop the habit of paying attention to yourself.