Know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em...
That's true in the creative process just as in poker. But there are some differences. Poker is a game of chance, with definite, learnable odds. Over a longer period of time, the human dynamics of the poker table can also be learned. (There are just so many ways a person can bluff you.) In poker, experience is your best guide: if you've sat at hundreds of poker tables, you read the situation better than if you're still wet behind the ears.
Yet, when it comes to creativity, experience can (and usually does) blind you to new possibilities. You should only "fold 'em" after you've thoroughly incubated an idea, looking for buried treasure in tangents and confusion, if at that point it turns out that your idea doesn't merit further work. Don't turn to the past for guidance until you're well along the path of exploration.
In creativity, the only experience that counts is the experience of being creative. Learning and practicing the creative process will teach you to postpone decisions about what to hold and what to fold until you've developed rich insights. Then and only then will you apply your expertise to flight-test your idea and see if it's going to work.
And if it doesn't? Don't just walk away from the table. Turn the problems with your idea into creative fodder. Go back to your tangents and confusion, to your discarded insights. Keep playing! Sooner or later, you're going to walk away with the jackpot.
That's true in the creative process just as in poker. But there are some differences. Poker is a game of chance, with definite, learnable odds. Over a longer period of time, the human dynamics of the poker table can also be learned. (There are just so many ways a person can bluff you.) In poker, experience is your best guide: if you've sat at hundreds of poker tables, you read the situation better than if you're still wet behind the ears. Yet, when it comes to creativity, experience can (and usually does) blind you to new possibilities. You should only "fold 'em" after you've thoroughly incubated an idea, looking for buried treasure in tangents and confusion, if at that point it turns out that your idea doesn't merit further work. Don't turn to the past for guidance until you're well along the path of exploration.
In creativity, the only experience that counts is the experience of being creative. Learning and practicing the creative process will teach you to postpone decisions about what to hold and what to fold until you've developed rich insights. Then and only then will you apply your expertise to flight-test your idea and see if it's going to work.
And if it doesn't? Don't just walk away from the table. Turn the problems with your idea into creative fodder. Go back to your tangents and confusion, to your discarded insights. Keep playing! Sooner or later, you're going to walk away with the jackpot.
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