So last Tuesday, my boss dumps this urgent client project on my desk with a deadline tighter than my jeans after Thanksgiving. Panic mode activated. That’s when I remembered “The Creative Pragmatist” book collecting dust on my shelf since last Amazon impulse buy.
My First Attempt – Total Disaster
Cracked open Chapter 3 where it talks about “creative constraints”. The book says limit your options to spark genius. Great! I locked myself in our breakout room with exactly three markers: red, blue, black. Drew Venn diagrams like a madman for two hours straight. When I marched back to my desk feeling like Einstein? Realized I’d solved last quarter’s inventory problem instead of the client brief. Epic fail.
The Turning Point
Almost gave up till I spotted the coffee-stained page about “wrong thinking”. Basically tells you to flip problems upside down. So instead of asking “How do we meet client demands?”, I wrote: “How would we deliberately ruin this project?”. Started scribbling awful ideas:
- Miss all deadlines by 3 weeks
- Use Comic Sans in the presentation
- Charge double for half the work
Suddenly – lightbulb moment! Saw exactly where we were cutting corners. That garbage list became our quality checklist. Mind blown.
What Actually Worked
Stopped forcing creativity like the book said. Started stealing tiny tricks instead:
- Set phone timer for 9 minute “panic sprints”
- Stuck Post-its ONLY on windows (book says change physical space)
- Drew stick figures explaining tech stuff to my cat
Ended up presenting to client using my cat diagrams. They loved the “human touch”. Project approved yesterday with bonus pay. Moral? Don’t swallow self-help books whole – chew what works and spit out the rest.
