In writing 'The 99% Invisible City,' one author focused on including the best possible individual stories, while the co-author prioritized ensuring they fit into a cohesive book structure. This creative tension forced them to justify each inclusion and resulted in a stronger, more balanced final product.
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Miller credits his contemporary, Alan Moore (*Watchmen*), for making him a better creator. Knowing Moore was producing groundbreaking work at the same time forced Miller to push his own boundaries, especially as a writer, demonstrating the powerful, positive impact of having a high-caliber rival.
When faced with overwhelming research (290,000 words), author James Nestor found clarity by structuring his book around a simple, 20-day personal experiment. This narrative "through-line" provided a skeleton to hang complex topics on, making the book engaging and coherent.
The creators of '99% Invisible' found managing a long-deadline book project alongside their weekly podcast was 'excruciating.' The constant churn and immediate feedback of the weekly show conflicted with the slow, distant payoff of the book, creating a unique motivational challenge for the team.
Jacob Collier explains that beautiful music relies on controlling dissonance (tension), not just playing pleasant notes (consonance). This applies to teams: leaning into creative tension and resolving it leads to a more meaningful outcome than avoiding disagreement altogether.
A highly effective creative process can be structured like a business with specialized departments. In songwriting, instrumentalists first create a 'vibe' or emotional foundation. Lyricists then interpret that feeling and build a narrative. This division of labor allows each member to excel in their specific 'sandbox' without needing to be a jack-of-all-trades, resulting in a more cohesive and efficiently produced final product.
Imposing strict constraints on a creative process isn't a hindrance; it forces innovation in the remaining, more crucial variables like message and resonance. By limiting degrees of freedom, you are forced to excel in the areas that matter most, leading to more potent output.
Teams can cultivate a shared sense of taste by encouraging constant and rigorous critique of both internal and external work. This process allows the team to self-regulate, learn from each other, and elevate their collective craft without top-down mandates.
The "99% Invisible" podcast subjects every script to a live table read where the entire staff provides hundreds of written comments in a shared document. This process is intensely rigorous but culturally gentle, focusing on elevating the story without personal criticism.
The "99% Invisible" team uses shorthand phrases like "CWGHF" (Can We Get Here Faster?). This coded language transforms potentially harsh criticism into a shared, objective problem to solve, depersonalizing feedback and protecting creative morale during intense group edits.
Instead of developing a strategy alone and presenting it as a finished product (the 'cave' method), foster co-creation in a disarming, collaborative environment (the 'campfire'). This makes the resulting document a mechanism for alignment, ensuring stakeholders feel ownership and are motivated to implement the plan.
