Doing Bad Work
As human beings, before undertaking any task or project, we are inclined to check out the landscape to find out if the effort is really worth it. If you are predisposed to some sense of self doubt before trying something novel, this post is for you.
The usual workflow.
The first step is often making the decision to undertake the activity, for instance writing (Insert any process involving some independent creative effort). This step in itself involves its own measure of internal debate and doubt, but that is a another post on its own.
The next step is actually getting started on the creative process which usually involves a few attempts and trials, which is followed by a review and editing process. The potential output is scrutinized on the basis of what the reception might be and if it is really good enough.
For some of us, we never really never get past the decision phase, for others never past the editing phase and some of us have a mountain of work that’s never really seen the light of day for the sole reason of not being good enough.
Overcoming the hurdle.
How then is this hurdle overcome?
The answer is in the realization that it is simply easier to get better at any activity by doing it over and over again.
Improving your work is a hundred times easier than getting the guarantee that your work will be fine.
Hence the title, doing bad work and its importance . Seth Godin plainly states it in his interview on Simplify podcast that incrementally building on your work will always be easier than waiting around for an explicit validation that a creation is worthy of publishing.
The simple action of deliberately and consistently working on your craft will eventually give way to a product of greater quality and it goes without saying will lead to an increase in your skill.
An everyday perspective.
To put this into greater perspective, as a junior software developer, it is often tempting to try and virtually see the whole picture before embarking on coding up say a user interface.
This approach however often ends up consuming more time than just starting off on doing a base implementation. More often than not, with the second approach, ideas arise on how to make it better and make it complete and you are done in a shorter amount of time.
The final takeaway.
This is nothing new and certainly not mind blowing information, and so what can we really gain from such a post?
Its simply a reminder, that it never hurts to try. It might end in a failure, which would essentially be a learning opportunity, one that you can build upon. Doing bad work does not mean intentionally creating something so bad that it can’t be consumed, but rather exercising your craft consistently to the point that it’s perfectly refined.
So go ahead and engage in your craft and put it out there for all the world to see.
To put it in Seth’s words,
Do bad work, do it often, do it generously and then work to improve it.
