Trying to please everyone with your work is the fastest route to something nobody remembers.

CREATIVITY

WHAT THIS MEANS

Work that avoids every possible objection ends up with no edges, and edges are what people remember. Each time you soften something to keep one more person comfortable, you remove a decision, until what is left is inoffensive and forgettable. Nobody dislikes it, and nobody carries it around either. Somebody’s mild disapproval is often the price of mattering to somebody else.

Look at your current project for the part you are tempted to smooth out for safety. Keep it, at least in one version, and see who responds. Decide who the work is for and let the rest be fine.

A QUESTION TO SIT WITH

Who were you trying not to upset in your last project?

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