Creativity in Development is Essential

Several years ago, I presented at a local chapter meeting for authors. The topic was how to write “fresh," and I pitched finding middle ground between familiar and off-the-wall. Getting too crazy–breaking the implicit contract the author of a genre has with her reader–means the publisher has no idea where in the bookstore the book will sit. That’s a rejection. Getting playful and maybe hitting on an idea that you wouldn’t have considered had you colored inside the lines? That’s good stuff.

When I recommended loosening up internal restrictions and getting playful with writing by trying unconventional ideas at the grammar/punctuation level, one author rolled her eyes at me. Why? Because an editor would never buy a book with no quotation marks. (See also, Cormac McCarthy.)

This thinking is how lukewarm or even non-starter careers happen. Sure, there’s comfort in the familiar, but too much comfort will lead to boredom, even with avid readers. You have to write fresh. You have to be daring and shake loose from the familiar.

Technology is not different. Whether it’s the product or the process you use to develop that product, you have to be willing to get creative. Be playful. Experiment and see what happens when you loosen perceived restrictions.

In the world of software development processes, you can have timeboxed meetings with rote discussions about what worked and what could work better, but power comes when you try something different. Gamify your retrospectives or even your work. Rephrase the typical approach. Come at it backwards. Help the team break out of habit and see if it leads to new methods that work even better for everyone.

Are customers going to visit your site if the whole thing is emoji-fied? Stranger things have happened, but probably nope. However, if you go down the emoji rabbit hole, play with the off-the-wall ideas, what else are you going to find? Stories don’t always need to be linear. Software dev doesn’t always need a rote standup meeting. Websites don’t always need to use the tried-and-true base templates.

Creativity isn’t just for doing away with quotation marks, but it’s a good place to start. And once you've kicked those quotes to the curb, that road will always lead you to something fresh.

Originally published at NrrrdyGrrrl.com (https://nrrrdygrrrl.com/2019/06/20/at-the-corner-of-publishing-and-technology/)

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