The process of creating is a complex one that does not often have a clearly defined roadmap to follow. The opportunities available are not vast blank canvases ready to receive a person’s brilliance. Rather they are full of limitations and constraints that must be worked around and adapted for. Passion for an ideal here is more than just foolish, it can be a death sentence for the successful completion of the project. Bringing a project to life in the real world involves compromise and adaptability. Compromise and adaptability are served by commitment to progress, clear understanding of the realities of the situation, and a methodological and iterative approach to achieving the goal.

This flexible and iterative approach is not the romantic view that many have of the creative process. There is this vision of the passionate independent filmmaker that battles the odds and risks it all to create the film of their dreams, eventually putting all of the naysayers and Hollywood insiders to shame when the film becomes a box office sensation and is universally adored by the public. Or the diligent startup founder who eschews selling out and instead bootstraps his way to success. But these visions are fantasies. That passionate filmmaker who battles the odds will most likely never get their film made, the startup founder who never pivots will have a product that is never released. Not because they were stopped by the establishment, kept down by ‘the man’. Rather they never put their passion to the side to take the necessary steps to push their project forward. Getting a project completed is not a grandiose affair, but rather a series of steps that are closer to work than art.