I am having a blast reading Creativity Inc. by Ed Catmull. The point I read today is how Ideas for Movies suck at the beginning.

early on, all of our movies suck. That’s a blunt assessment, I know, but I make a point of repeating it often, and I choose that phrasing because saying it in a softer way fails to convey how bad the first versions of our films really are. I’m not trying to be modest or self-effacing by saying this. Pixar films are not good at first, and our job is to make them so— to go, as I say, “from suck to not-suck.” This idea— that all the movies we now think of as brilliant were, at one time, terrible— is a hard concept for many to grasp.

Catmull, Ed; Wallace, Amy (2014-04-08). Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration (Kindle Locations 1425-1429). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Today I finally pulled together a short description of a service today and sent it around. Normally I would be looking for approval. But, today I said this is my first draft. It sucks. I need to fix it. One of my friends sent great comments. Sent another response with other ideas. Those suck too. OK. Let’s keep moving. Let’s see if I can come up with another idea that sucks.

This technique reminds me of something I figured out training in Aikido. Everything gets so much easier if you “Give up your Space.” So many times you stand firmly in your spot and try to do your technique with your feet planted, trying to make others move around you. If you “give up your space” let others have your space, then techniques happen with much less effort.

If you accept your ideas suck, then you can listen to feedback with less effort. It is hard to listen to feedback if you are firmly planted with your ideas.