Start by starting...

...no sh*t!

“Start by starting” is one of those overused phrases that gets thrown around casually in the world of innovation and the entrepreneurial community.

A phrase, especially when demanded of you flippantly by someone lacking a clear point of view or guiding words of wisdom on which direction you should be facing, let alone heading in, can be construed as extremely condescending.

Yet as much as I despise the phrase, the most important part in any creative process is there, front and centre.  It’s so important some overpriced consulting firm crafted a phrase in order to invoice millions of dollars to some unsuspecting executives by conjugating it for the sake of alliteration.

The verb in question, you guessed it, to start.

That word is key, in theory so simple, yet in practice far more challenging.  I myself have fallen victim to theoretical paralysis more times than I’d like to admit, starting this blog & procrastinating on a podcast being a prime example.

But why is it so intimidating to start something, especially the creative process. 

Staring into the white abyss of a blank piece of paper is beyond intimidating,  so you have to pick something and just go with it, see where it takes you.   

For me and this post?  I’m going to start with the word itself, the origin of this verb, and attempt to pull some interpretation from it that can keep you hooked for another few paragraphs.  So here goes...

The Old English “sterten”, is to rush out or leap, it’s related to the Dutch “storten”, to push and the German “sturzen”, to fall headlong or to fling. All these derive from a sudden initiation of movement, quite an abrupt way of setting out on a journey and the starting a process.

It’s impossible not to notice the slightly aggressive yet ambiguous nature of this etymology and yet to start a creative process is ultimately a leap of faith into the unknown, with high hopes that the journey to the promised land, full of milk and honey will be smooth sailing.  Sounds easy, possibly even pleasant…said no creative before, and if they did, it’s post rationalising a journey for a funding pitch or they’re in downright denial!

In my mind a true creative has a clear vision on the destination, but embraces the ambiguity of the journey, has the humility to learn and adapt, makes necessary changes but has the tenacity & strength to fight the lazy compromises that are detrimental to executing and delivering a vision.

This leads me to my leap of faith, the beginning of this creative process, my journey to the promised land of content creation, with high hopes of clicks & money, but no true understanding of what obstacles I’ll need to overcome. Yet thankfully I have a clear vision and a simple plan (which I’ll lay out in another post).  There must be method to the madness, something I’ll explore a lot moving forward, in fact that will also be in the next post,  that other classic innovation phrase, “think big, start small”, the ability to zoom out and zoom in.

But first why start a blog at all?  Supposedly it’s good for you to journal?  Get your deepest most meaningful thoughts out into the world, or at least out of your head.  Although my ultimate ambition is to start a podcast, I want to fling myself headlong into organising some thoughts in words and commit some ideas to “paper” to later explore verbally, perhaps with some hedonistic monologues and certainly with various friends and associates from the creative industry.

I guess the practical side of my brain sees it as a way to explore some thoughts with a lower barrier to entry.  The more intuitive side of my brain thinks I might enjoy writing and using words to express my thoughts on a page.  But rather than just thinking about creating a blog, I’ve finally decided to take the plunge and start.  I’m by no means a professional writer, in fact I really didn’t enjoy writing at school, it’s partly why I decided to go into the world of design where I can communicate ideas with drawing & visuals…minimal use of boring words, less writing, great, I’ve found my niche!

But as I’ve got older, matured and debatably wiser, I’ve come to understand the importance of both written & spoken words in communicating creative ideas.  The story that accompanies your idea and the way it is articulated will make or break how far it can go and is a skill often overlooked in design education.

So I’ve decided that I have some thoughts to share and more importantly a learning journey to go on, something I hope others will benefit from, but ultimately it will be a selfish endeavour!

Now to attempt to finish something that is all about a start.

To start is hard, the etymology of the word adds a level of fear and uncertainty to the meaning, but ultimately if you never take that plunge, creativity will not happen, it does not manifest itself, as hard as I’ve tried.  It takes work, it takes iteration and of course it takes courage.

So in the spirit practicing what you preach, it’s time for me to fling some semi-cohesive sh*t at the wall and see what sticks.