🔮 Creative Friction
*Process: Comfortable being uncomfortable
Hello my friends,
The mindset that creates transformative products relies on maintaining space for tension, not eliminating it.
Truly great product teams are comprised of exceptional individual contributors who thrive in a team environment.
A common trait in these individuals is their relationship with discomfort.
They don’t rush to consensus.
They deliberately embrace opposing viewpoints.
They understand that team conformity throttles advancement.
“Without contraries is no progression”
— William Blake
We’ve become obsessed with “alignment” and “getting along”. Feigning harmony for progress.
The most innovative teams understand the difference between psychological safety and intellectual fragility.
(The former enables advancement. The latter guarantees mediocrity)
Those building tomorrow's defining products aren't avoiding tension.
They're embracing it.
Breakthrough products emerge from the ruthless pursuit of results, not ideological adherence to process.
As a leader your job is to forgo obedience and allow your team to reshape and reimagine the creative direction you gave them.
What’s needed isn't more collaboration tools, but the courage to welcome the uncomfortable collisions where disruptive thinking happens.
Nothing truly game changing is created in a straight line.
Create an environment where ideas must survive contact with reality and a willingness to adapt to the world as it is.
Friction isn't a barrier to creativity, it’s the spark that ignites it.