Growth vs Creative Risk by Me
I don't really know how to start this post. It's complicated and deep, so let me just throw some ideas around until I've said everything I need to.
- Creative risk is essential to growth.
- Your projects may not get off the ground at all if you don't take enough risk, or they could burn to the ground if you take too much.
- You don't have to 'bet the farm' - there are ways that you can and should mitigate the downside of potential failure so you can take more risk, safely.
- If you don't take creative risks, you cannot grow.
- Anything that isn't growing, is dying.
- If you're going to put the effort into doing something, then you may as well take the maximum amount of risk you can, so that you get the maximum amount of growth at the end. (There are exceptions to this of course).
- Professional growth = personal growth. Professional development is not a luxury, it is essential to a satisfying, fulfilling and happy life.
Let's take a few steps back.
Last year, I had an exhibition. The invitations went out 3 months before the exhibition, and I didn't tell anyone about what I was working on or what I would be exhibiting - not even the gallery owner.
I kept everything a complete surprise until the absolute last minute. Even as guests arrived, all of the pieces were covered in black fabric. I played a short film at the start of the exhibition to explain the work, and then the fabric came down so people could finally see the work.
The Highest Form of Hope Exhibition - 2023. We love a good mystery.
As the night went on, someone said: "I can't believe you booked a gallery, invited everyone you knew, and THEN taught yourself how to draw and created all of the pieces".
Indeed, that does look like an extraordinary amount of risk for someone to take 😅 (and it was), but what she didn't know, was that it was carefully calculated risk, with a lot of consideration, safety nets and a proven track record underpinning it all. It was not the adrenaline fuelled gamble that she thought it was.
In 2011, I had done something similarly outrageous, but slightly more reckless (because I didn't know any better).
- I gave myself 5 weeks.
- I planned to complete 20 shoots over 2 weekends.
- I invited everyone I knew to an exhibition I had no venue for.
- I had to teach myself how to use photoshop to create advanced composites.
- I had close to 30 people involved, all providing me with locations, props or posing as models.
- By this point I had been a photographer for ONE YEAR.
- I hired a bunch of expensive gear I had never used before until the first day of shooting.
- Every shoot required complicated and challenging lighting set ups.
- I had no experience working with printers, or large scale prints. I didn't even know what a colour profile was.
- Before this, I had done ONE SHOOT with off camera lighting, using gear I borrowed from Wintec.
To say that this was a logistical and creative challenge is an understatement.
I had never organised or created anything on this scale before (or since).
You can read about the Banksy project and see some of the images here.
So, back to my last exhibition, and the similarities 12 years later:
- Outrageous timeline ✅
- Exhibition ✅
- Brand new skillset required for completion ✅
Let's take a look at our graph again.
Creative risk is essential to growth. The amount of discomfort you experience while you take that risk is dependant on a lot of things. You don't need to be terribly uncomfortable when you take risk, although the two do tend to go hand in hand a lot of the time.
In the graph above, I mapped out the link I see between creative risk and growth, and where my sweet-spot is. (Yes I know the colour gradient should be going horizontally, but this makes more sense in my brain).
Not Maximising Potential / Too easy
In the graph above, I mapped out the link I see between creative risk and growth, and where my sweet-spot is. (Yes I know the colour gradient should be going horizontally, but this makes more sense in my brain).
Not Maximising Potential / Too easy
- You haven't taken enough risk
- You are still in your comfort zone and/or are just going through the motions.
- 'Success' is almost certainly guaranteed, but it's not really an accomplishment because it didn't challenge you.
- No or very low levels of growth.
- This project/goal might be so uninspiring that it never gets off the ground to begin with.
- If it does, you will probably be disappointed after you finish, and feel like it wasn't worth the effort.
Ideal
- The sweet spot.
- This is where I aim to be when I actively choose projects with a 51% chance of success.
- 'Flow state' literature talks about this area as: just the right amount of challenge. Enough to be enjoyable and require your full attention and focus, but not so much that it's stressful because it's actually beyond your abilities. Consciously incompetent, moving to consciously competent.
- If you get to the upper limit of this area, you will maximise the amount of growth you achieve when it's all over.
- When you finish this project/goal, it will be a milestone in your memory, and this will feel like a worthwhile time in your life.
- You will feel a degree of satisfaction and fulfilment when you finish.
- New skillset acquired.
- After you complete this, you will be able to do something you couldn't before, and attempt an even more challenging project next time.
Panic & Overwhelm
- You've bitten off more than you can chew.
- Stressful.
- A similar feeling to when you were young and realised that you drifted too far to the deep end of the swimming pool and suddenly can't feel the floor beneath you. A breathless need to get back to safety.
- I do experience this feeling sometimes, even in the green area, but it tends to only be at the 75% progress mark, when the deadline is rapidly approaching but I still have quite a lot of work to do. At this point I either need to manage my self-care better, narrow the project scope or change my approach completely. This feeling is a big red flag that something needs immediate attention.
Magic & Miracles are Required
- This area is either a Complete Shitshow or a 'Rebecca Black' moment.
- The Complete Shitshow:
- You have overestimated your level of skill or you have self-sabotaged your way into this.
- Absolute stress and disintegration.
- This project is likely to burn to the ground.
- You have dependencies in your plan that require the work of God, magic or the universe - none of which you control.
- Procrastination, delusion, and sleepless nights.
- It ends in disaster, regret and humiliation.
- You spend the next however-many-years reliving this trauma and every stupid mistake you made, too burnt out or scared to try again, convinced that you're 'just not cut out for this' / 'it's not meant to be'.
- See also: Fyre Festival ; WeWork.
- The Rebecca Black moment:
- You realise this is one hell of a gamble and you are prepared to lose the farm over it (and are totally fine with that loss), or you're completely oblivious to what you're doing and do not care at all (unconsciously incompetent/beginners luck/just winging it/having fun).
- God, magic or the universe actually deliver - (it does happen sometimes) - you win the lotto, the RIGHT person sees your stuff and opens some magical door for you, chance and fortune deliver you something amazing and you achieve success.
- The level of growth here is low, because you didn't really DO anything to make it happen and the results can't be replicated.
- Your skillset is not what made you successful, and so you can't sustain it and eventually fade away into oblivion.
The real question
When trying to figure out if I am taking the maximum amount of risk I can, I ask myself one question:
"In principle; can I do this?"
'In principle' does not mean: 'am I good enough right now to do this?'
The answer to that question should be NO. At day 1, you should NOT be good enough to do this, that is the whole point of the project.
If you were good enough to the do the project right now, there would be absolutely no point in doing it.
The point of the project is to develop you into the kind of person that has the skillset that IS good enough to do this.
In principle = do I have a rudimentary grasp of the fundamentals, that with the diligent application of time, effort and practise, could conceivably improve enough to create/achieve the thing I want to?
Let's look at this in practise..
1. Banksy project: "In principle; can I do this?"
Do a photoshoot? yes ✅
Use photoshop? yes ✅ (this one was a stretch. I knew how to open Photoshop, what layers were and how to use the eraser 😅).
Use off-camera lighting? yes ✅ (again a bit of a stretch, but the key part of the phrase is IN PRINCIPLE)
2. The highest form of hope project: "In principle; can I do this?"
Illustrate? No, but I can:
sketch ✅
draw lines and circles ✅
teach myself something ✅
So yes, in principle, I can do this.
Safety nets and plan Bs - managing creative risk safely
In preparation for my exhibition last year, I reflected on all the things that went wrong with the Banksy project and did everything I could to manage or prevent them from happening again.
I was open minded and flexible about what I would make. I didn't go into it with a highly spec'ed out briefing document I then had to implement.
I had to fill a gallery space in 3 months time, and that was it - how I got there was up to me!
AND, most importantly, I gave myself one out.
IF for some reason, it turned out I was wrong, and didn't possess the skillset I needed, I would pivot and fill the gallery with photographic work, which I knew I could do to an excellent standard.
That gave me the safety net I needed to go forth and risk creatively.
In summary
- Creative risk is essential to growth.
- Your projects may not get off the ground at all if you don't take enough risk, or they could burn to the ground if you take too much.
- You don't have to 'bet the farm' - there are ways that you can and should mitigate the downside of potential failure so you can take more risk, safely.
- If you don't take creative risks, you cannot grow.
- Anything that isn't growing, is dying.
- If you're going to put the effort into doing something, then you may as well take the maximum amount of risk you can, so that you get the maximum amount of growth at the end. (There are exceptions to this of course).
- Professional growth = personal growth. Professional development is not a luxury, it is essential to a satisfying, fulfilling and happy life.
And just for fun, here is a summary of my points by AI:
John discussed his approach to personal projects and growth, emphasizing the importance of taking calculated creative risks to achieve maximum growth. He explained how he sets a personal threshold for creative risk, aiming for projects with a 51% chance of success, and how this approach has led to meaningful growth and development. John also highlighted the connection between creative risk and growth, arguing that successfully managed risk translates directly to growth. Later, he discussed the different stages of the creative process and the importance of recognizing these stages to avoid overshooting and risking creative burnout. John emphasized the need for safety nets and Plan Bs to mitigate the potential negative consequences of creative risk-taking.
(The AI I used referred to me as John, because 2024.)
- Linda ✌🏻
P.S I am now offering limited spaces for 1:1 creative coaching! Message me if you need help clearing your creative blocks, managing your projects and/or navigating all of the challenging emotions and mindset stuff that comes along with doing creative work.
email me at lindaradosinska@hey.com to book. (new site coming soon)
John discussed his approach to personal projects and growth, emphasizing the importance of taking calculated creative risks to achieve maximum growth. He explained how he sets a personal threshold for creative risk, aiming for projects with a 51% chance of success, and how this approach has led to meaningful growth and development. John also highlighted the connection between creative risk and growth, arguing that successfully managed risk translates directly to growth. Later, he discussed the different stages of the creative process and the importance of recognizing these stages to avoid overshooting and risking creative burnout. John emphasized the need for safety nets and Plan Bs to mitigate the potential negative consequences of creative risk-taking.
(The AI I used referred to me as John, because 2024.)
- Linda ✌🏻
P.S I am now offering limited spaces for 1:1 creative coaching! Message me if you need help clearing your creative blocks, managing your projects and/or navigating all of the challenging emotions and mindset stuff that comes along with doing creative work.
email me at lindaradosinska@hey.com to book. (new site coming soon)