💐 Honoring the Harvest and the Creative Process

MIDJOURNEY PROMPT: a hand enter the frame to arrange a bouquet in the style of Jan Brueghel. Lucious fruits lay on the table.

The creative process is emotional terrain. Hope. Anxiety. Attachment. Rejection. Iteration. And finally—if we’re lucky—breakthrough.

So when the idea blooms, when the work ships, when the presentation lands, it’s not just a milestone. It’s a harvest. And harvests should be celebrated.

Good Ideas Don’t Always Survive—But That Doesn’t Make Them Bad

In every project, something gets cut.

• A headline you loved.

• A visual you labored over.

• A weird, wild concept that maybe wasn’t right now… but might be right later.

As a creative leader, I normalize this:

“Not every good idea is a right-now idea. Save it for the archive. It might find a better home.”

That simple shift helps your team detach from ego and disappointment, and move forward with hope, not resentment.

The Love-Hate-Whatever Rule

I often tell my team to show three concepts in Round 1:

1. One to love

2. One to hate

3. One to feel indifferent about

This forces diversity in thought and frees the creative mind from attachment to just one right answer.

And when the final choice gets the stamp of approval—from the boss, the client, the board—it’s not just a win for the designer who built the deck.

It’s a team win.

Strategy, research, feedback, feedback-on-feedback… they all contributed to the outcome. Celebrate that.

Don’t Let Good Work Go Unseen

In larger teams, missing what others are working on is easy. The wins become whispers. The effort becomes invisible.

Fix that:

• Host Friday Share-Outs via Zoom.

• Start a “Win Wall” in Slack or on an actual wall (with print-outs!)

• Create space in your all-hands for people to walk through the process behind the final product

It builds connection, inspiration, and culture. It teaches. It lifts.

And it reminds everyone: this is what we’re capable of.

Give Credit Like Sunlight

When a plant grows tall, we don’t praise the sun alone. We honor the soil, the water, the roots. The same goes for creative wins.

Be specific. Be generous. Be inclusive.

“Shoutout to Jamie for the visual system, Dani for pushing the story arc, Leo for the research, and Alex for fighting for this direction with the client.”

Creative leadership means sharing the spotlight—even when it’s shining on you.

Creativity Grows with Gratitude

Celebration isn’t a luxury. It’s a nutrient.

In a world where the pace is relentless and the wins can be fleeting, make time to honor the process and the people who bring the work to life.

Because when a creative feels seen—not just for what they made, but how they made it—they don’t just stay on your team. They thrive in it.