Every so often, someone will see something I whimsically created for the day job that went from a rapidly-assembled demo to a core aspect of the business in just a few weeks. Inevitably, they ask about my creative process. They know about the steps I follow to gain the necessary political capital within the organisation before management becomes aware of the project, but they are curious about how ideas form and come to life so quickly. The answer can be a bit hard to believe for some, so I generally lead with a question: Do you want to know the real process or the generic process?
When someone says "the generic process," I reply with something along the lines of:
When inspiration strikes, I set everything else aside and follow where it leads.
This is a little too generic, though. So when someone asks about "the real process," I let them know exactly where the vast majority of the best ideas come from:
My creative process consists of an honest back-and-forth conversation with God. There can be no ulterior motives behind the work; otherwise, there is no conversation. When it's just me working on a problem, the solutions are functional but sub-optimal.
This usually results in people excusing themselves from the conversation pretty quickly, as though the topic of God were taboo. It is a shame, really. It is not my place to evangelise or impose, but I do not see any reason why someone cannot admit that their best work is thanks to guidance from the creator of reality itself. Muslims are permitted to dress traditionally and thank Allah. Progressives are permitted to demand everyone adhere to their pronouns. Why are Christians held to a different standard?
That is a topic for another day, however.
When I say "it's a conversation," some people have asked if this means I'm hearing a voice while creating. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Instead, it's more like a prioritisation of responses. When I am in a flow state, my mind asks an endless number of questions. Answers bubble up almost instantly, and it's the ones that "glow" a little more than the others that attract attention. I am not sure how else to describe it. Any question can have multiple answers, none of which are necessarily perfect. It's the ones that are less opaque that generally arrive fastest and are more correct. Each answer often results in additional questions, which result in additional responses. When the most immediate and clear of these are followed to their natural conclusion, something interesting is created.
Occasionally people will ask how I know this is God rather than just imagination. A fair question, but one that can't really be answered in any measurable way. It is an act of faith that the best ideas that pop into my head are not from me, but from something far greater than I will ever comprehend.
The most interesting pattern I have found is that when the flow state arrives and I just follow where the responses guide, the end result is quite different from what I had originally envisioned and often more complete – a better answer for multiple problems rather than just the one I had been considering before writing any solution. But this only happens when I am open to whatever the end result might be. If I try to force something into existence for fame or fortune, then the entire project is a struggle.
As such, when I sit down to create something, a number of questions arise:
- Who am I creating this for?
- Am I really creating this for others? Or is it for personal aggrandising?
- Really?1
- What does a complete solution look like for the target audience?
When I consider the endeavours that I have struggled with the most over the past few years, this pattern is seen repeatedly. When I try really hard to build something that will allow me to be self-employed, the project almost always fails. The solutions are incomplete. When I do something for others in such a way that the work seems invisible, though, it succeeds.
When you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all.
– The Universe (Futurama)
These "conversations" have not happened very often lately but, when they do take place, I relish every moment. Even if the end results are never put into use the way I originally hoped, there are often new insights discovered that can be applied elsewhere in the future. Every conversation has been a learning opportunity so far, and thank God for that.
I understand that my ego needs to be held in check a lot.