How to Think,
Not What to Think
Are formulas killing originality
Most of the world still runs on instructions. Do this, don’t do that. Follow the formula. Stick to the playbook. It’s efficient. It scales. But creativity doesn’t live there.
The creative process isn’t about memorising the right answers. It’s about learning how to ask better questions — and sitting with the ones that don’t have neat conclusions.
The Comfort Trap
When someone tells you what to think, it sounds helpful at first. There’s comfort in having someone else solve the problem for you. It feels like progress, fast, clean, done.But replication is safe. And safe doesn’t move culture forward.
You see it everywhere: brands sounding identical, ideas blending into one another, visual trends looping back until everything becomes familiar but forgettable. Take the current state of brand identities, how many startups are using the same sans-serif wordmark with a gradient circle? It’s optimisation over originality.
There’s a real loss when creativity becomes about ticking boxes rather than making something meaningful. And that’s exactly what happens when we overvalue instruction over insight.
The Shift: Learning How to Think
Thinking differently isn’t about being contrarian for its own sake. It’s about developing a process that creates conditions for original ideas to emerge.It means slowing down enough to notice what others overlook. Being willing to ask uncomfortable questions, not just of others, but of yourself. Drawing connections that don’t make immediate sense, and being patient enough to let them reveal something new.
It means resisting the urge to tidy up complexity too quickly, and instead learning to sit with the unknown.
This isn’t about waiting for lightning-bolt inspiration. It’s about building a mental environment where insight has space to land.
Saul Bass, one of the great designers of the 20th century (IMO), put it perfectly
“I want everything we do to be beautiful. I don’t give a damn whether the client understands that that’s worth anything... It’s worth it to me. It’s the way I want to live my life.”
At first, that sounds idealistic. Now I see it as essential. That’s not just a creative principle, it’s a philosophy for moving through the world.
The Messy Middle Is Where Magic Happens
Every creative project hits a point where things stop making sense. You’ve gathered too much research. You’ve seen too many references. Nothing connects.The temptation is always to reach for clarity quickly. Jump to the first decent idea. Settle for something that resembles insight. But this moment reveals how you actually think. Do you edit too soon, or give complexity time to breathe? Do you back your instincts, or look for comfort in what’s already been done? Are you reaching for recognition, or reaching for truth?
The creative process isn’t about control. It’s about attention. The more attention you pay, to the brief, to the tension, to the nuance in between, the more likely you are to uncover something real.
The Age of Perfectly Imperfect
Today, almost anyone can create. Figma, Midjourney, Canva and 100s more all at your fingertips. Production has been democratised. That’s brilliant. But it changes the questions we ask.The creative conversation often becomes: “Will the algorithm pick this up?” or “How do we make it go viral?” Even clients who value creativity fall into this mindset, asking not what’s meaningful, but what’s most likely to perform.
But virality isn’t the point. True disruption isn’t something you manufacture on command. Ironically, the work that resonates most feels slightly raw. Specific. Human. Perfectly imperfect - not messy by accident, but intentional in its refusal to be over-polished.
In an era saturated with AI-generated everything, what stands out isn’t slickness or scale. It’s point of view. It’s tone. It’s tension.
It’s you.
When Culture Trains Us to Stop Thinking
This isn’t just a creative challenge, it’s cultural. Media algorithms, political discourse, social platforms they increasingly shape not just what we see, but how we interpret what we see. They encourage instant reactions. Certainty. Division.We’re taught to take positions before we’ve had time to reflect. To pick a side instead of understanding the spectrum. If you’re not conscious of it, you begin internalising other people’s thinking as your own without even noticing.
This is why how we think matters more than ever.
It means staying open when it’s easier to close off. Staying observant when you’re being nudged to pick a team. Holding space for complexity, even when the world wants simplicity. Because meaning, real meaning, isn’t handed to you. You have to carve it out. On your own terms.
Why This Actually Matters
The most impactful brands, artists, and thinkers don’t tell you what to think. They offer a new way of seeing. They open up a question. A possibility. A slightly altered angle. They leave space for you to find your own connection to the work, and that’s what makes it last.Great Creators, from Creative to Film and Music, they don’t follow formulas. They create frameworks for others to think differently.
In a world increasingly driven by shortcuts and best practices, following someone else’s path might feel safer. But it won’t lead you anywhere new. You don’t need another manual. You need time, space, and the courage to think for yourself.
What do you think? How do you create space for original thinking in your work?
Further Reading & Links
“The Rise of Imperfection in Design”
(It’s Nice That) tracks how designers push back on algorithm fatigue by injecting texture, “flaw,” tactile mess, the analogue.)
”Unlock Your Creativity in the AI Era”– Harvard Business Review
An interesting take on how AI tools are reshaping creative work and why originality still matters.
“Why Virality Isn’t the Goal” – The Drum
On the trap of chasing reach instead of resonance.
“The Messy Middle” – Scott Belsky
A practical and philosophical guide to the hardest part of the creative journey.
“Obliquity” – John Kay
A powerful case for why indirect paths often lead to the most meaningful outcomes.