The creative cold start problem
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“Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.”
Vincent Van Gogh
The tension of starting
I recently talked to fellow newsletter writer and Better by Design community member
about our experiences starting entrepreneurial and artistic side-projects. As we talked, I noticed that a number of our shared struggles seemed to come from a tension with our background as designers.Designers are trained to look out at the world, talk to people, identify problems, and then start solving them. The problem is that starting from zero is notoriously ambiguous no matter how you slice it; you have no customers to talk to, you have only a general idea of the problem you’re solving, and you have limited resources to take action. It’s an environment where a designers’ tendency toward perfectionism can quickly become an insurmountable obstacle, blocking them from making a meaningful start.
However, that feeling isn’t unique to design. As an artist, it might manifest in some form of “writer’s block” and in business, it might surface as a variation of the Cold Start Problem.
The creative cold start problem
I came across the idea of the Cold Start Problem via Andrew Chen’s book.
It focuses on describing how companies build network effects that help them create momentum and eventually break through to popular success. Interestingly, when you’re just starting out, you not only don’t have a positive network effect, but you often have a negative network effect: people don’t get value from the network since there aren’t enough other people using it, but you can’t get more people to use it until you’ve built the initial network. It’s a real “chicken or the egg” type scenario that can leave companies stuck at square one.
What piqued my curiosity while reading was considering how creative individuals also experience a kind of cold start problem when beginning their projects. Before starting, the blank canvas is intimidating and can feel like a negative network effect, blocking you from taking a first step. After starting, building momentum is challenging, but once you get the ideas flowing, more ideas tend to follow and start to behave like a positive network effect, helping better work surface organically.
While Andrew outlines tactics to help unblock corporate cold starts, I want to explore a few ideas for unblocking creative cold starts; a handful of simple reframes for getting over that first hurdle and on your way to making something great.
Problems of starting and how you might unblock them
“I don’t have a good enough idea yet”
Rich Roll has a great mantra (“mood follows action”) that works just as well for creativity: “creativity follows action”. If you find yourself waiting around for a good idea to appear out of thin air, you’re very unlikely to come upon anything.
Instead
Just make anything! Improvise! Any idea is acceptable to start.
The likely outcome is that the first thought won’t amount to much, but the ideas that cascade from it very well might.
If you don’t have even one starter idea, take inspiration from something external. Like I mentioned in my article on lessons from improv, you can “mirror or do the opposite” with any creative input.
“I can’t live up to my grand idea”
I have unfortunate news for you: you will not achieve your grand vision on the first attempt. Just accept this reality and move on.
Ideal solutions are never feasible in the first build, but this shouldn’t stop you from making something. In fact, since your first idea is rarely “the one” anyway, it’s a blessing that you can’t just shortcut your way there.
Instead
Think of everything as an experiment and focus on prototyping. Build something lightweight just to try it out and see how it feels. If it’s good, great! But if not, no harm, no foul. You will have learned something and can redirect your energy in another direction that might be more fruitful.
“I’m not making something original”
Designers and engineers often fall into the trap of thinking they have to be 100% original. In theory, it’s cool because they have the skill set to potentially pull it off. But in reality it’s an overreach that often leads to getting stuck.
In my opinion, achieving originality mostly comes from doing a lot of experiments to see what sticks while trying to be as authentic as possible in the process. Ultimately what’s original is you, your interpretation and your execution, not an idea that’s probably been floating around for years.
Instead
Give yourself permission to use common patterns and remix. Collect building blocks and aim to never be “starting from scratch”. You’ll still make plenty of “original” choices in the process of combining and reworking things you were inspired by according to your specific intent.
“The early feedback is lacking… or too good”
Early on, you have to be very careful about your relationship to feedback.
On one hand, depending on how early you are, your idea might just be insufficiently developed for others to be able to give you meaningful feedback. Just because they’re unable to clarify your hypothesis doesn’t necessarily mean you’re on the wrong path.
On the other hand, you need to be mindful of asking people with a vested interest in your success for their opinion. The classic example is asking your parents. Don’t ask them for feedback! They’re way too close to you to be able to give an impartial review so if you take their words at face value you’re going to end up somewhere you didn’t intend.
Instead
Look to two groups for the best early feedback:
An inner circle of people whose work you admire and whose opinions you trust. Like a writing circle for authors or songwriters or a “mastermind” group for business people.
Strangers. Since they have no stake in an ongoing relationship with you they can be truly, painfully real. Seeing their reactions is scary, but critical.
“I don’t want to make what the market is asking for”
Coming from a design background, I think it can feel almost sacrilegious to say that you don’t want to make what people are asking for. But if you’re feeling that way, the truth is that you’re just not the right person to solve that problem. That’s okay! It’s meant for someone else. There are other ideas out there waiting for you.
Instead
Seek to match your intrinsic and extrinsic motivations.
Look inward as much as you look outward and find the overlap between what lights you up and what resonates with people. If you discover something people want that you don’t want to make, don’t force it! Tell someone else who might be a better fit to solve that problem.
Then set your mind back to finding what you’re uniquely suited to provide.
Resources
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