Summer day camps are in full swing, and a friend’s five-year-old has caught the magic. Her mom told me, “It’s something new every day. When they painted, she wanted to be a painter. When they played music, a musician. Now she’s obsessed with watching the Women’s World Cup after an afternoon of soccer. Who knows what’s next?!”
It’s easy to laugh off what goes on in a kindergartener’s land of make-believe. But there’s something to be said for unbridled imagination. Maybe grown-ups are doing it wrong.
Think of the last big team project where there were disagreements. Laser focusing on a single solution and then doubling down is overrated. (For instance, in negotiation rooms, I’ve learned there are only so many times you can say to the other side, “Hey—I’m right!”)
Instead, powering through challenges gets easier by putting your imagination to work. Not through fantasy or future faking—the trick is to have constructive creativity.
If you’re wondering how to begin, here are two pieces of good news: Your first idea won’t be your last. And your first idea probably isn’t the best one. Like a gemstone, ideas get better by being refined. That’s a lesson Janie Deegan, owner of Janie’s Life Changing Baked Goods learned.
Janie Deegan overcame addiction and persevered until she built a multi-million-dollar business. But blowout success didn’t happen on day one. Navigating the job market seemed impossible after Janie got sober in her mid-twenties. She remembers being so ashamed of her past that it was sometimes hard to look people in the eye.
Eventually, she landed the ultimate work-from-home job—being a building superintendent. The flexible hours gave her freedom with her time, and she started baking as a combination of artistic expression and self-care. Slowly, baking became a way to connect with others, and one day, a woman asked to purchase a cake! Janie remembers, “It was someone having confidence in me that I could not have in myself.”
Janie continued experimenting, ultimately inventing the “pie crust cookie,” a combination of pie dough, pie filling, and a crumble topping. The grit to keep generating test recipes, despite plenty of mistakes along the way, led to her greatest success.
In the July series, Three Work Skills to Make Grit Cool and Easy, we’re talking about how to leverage work skills to make sticking to your goals—especially in challenging times—a little easier. Last week, we discussed how being persistent is crucial. The second critical element is creativity.
You may listen to the case study and think, Recipe testing sounds like such a grind! And there would be a kernel of truth: Persistence isn’t glamorous. However, grit gets much simpler if you see it as steppingstones to success.
So, boss up with style and soul by taking a fresh approach. Anyone can use their imagination. Moreover, recognizing that you need to iterate isn’t failing—it’s brave. Obstacles can be reinterpreted as opportunities to grow, stretch, and build your courage muscle.
Here’s how you can break through big challenges by applying the soft skill How tactic of creativity:
Imagination isn’t a nice to have—it’s a quantifiable, marketable skill essential to solve problems. So, don’t get waylaid by the messy middle, even if you’re not “a creative type.” Make grit effortless by using imagination to your advantage.