Knowing why we are doing something is inarguably important. Being able to define what one successfully looks like is fundamental and critical. This is particularly true when we are the ones that are guiding development of the deliverable, and there is a creative component to what needs to be produced. While we would like to say that we know what successful completion looks like, there are many factors that can create roadblocks for us. Most of which exist in our own perceptions.

Process is important. It provides useful and relevant guidance on how to get things done. And yet process can also be a crutch, particularly when we presume the real world works exactly as the process prescribes. For process to be useful, then, we need to rethink how we relate to process.

We’ve all been challenged by that one person in the meeting who opposes everything, simply for the sake of opposing. Or because they’re afraid. Or because they just like to argue. The role of the devil’s advocate is challenged. It’s also challenging. But under the right circumstances, it can be hugely helpful.

Are we having fun yet? This question often conceals a great deal of derision. It gets asked most when things are stressful and challenging. But it’s actually a great question. Exploring why we should embrace play and fun when the going gets really serious.

We all hit that point where we hit a wall creatively. We are drained, spent, wrung dry. The challenge is how to recognize it and what to do about it. Finding wellsprings of creativity in the desert of our souls.

Sooner or later, it all devolves to work. Success is about showing up and doing the best possible work we can. Much of the role of purpose is helping us to adapt that mindset. Which means it’s all a bit of a mind game. But it’s a really important mind game.

We tend not to like the idea of constraints. Boundaries are, after all, rather limiting. And yet they are also essential to creativity and innovation. The essential value of limitations in thinking big.

I delivered a webinar a couple of weeks ago that was not awesome. I had hoped it would be amazing. The opportunity was there. And yet it fell short. The reason why provides a lot of insight into how creativity really works.

We are surrounded by increasingly strident exhortations to “think outside the box.” It’s an interesting expression, and one that has almost become a cliché.

How much guidance do we need for a model to actually be useful? The very value of models is that they are abstractions. They provide ways of taking complex situations and simplifying them through structure, categories and labels. They make the infinite shades of grey a little bit more black and white.