How long did it take to get that flash of creative brilliance: a week or two or three or more? Creative time is enigmatic: what looks like an instant and feels like days, in fact, took much longer.

I’m referring to original creativity not derivative execution. Original creations are – in large part -- an individual’s past analogies combined to capture new forms. Creative time is not limited to the combining of analogies but in accumulating them. It’s often called research but can resemble play.

Is anyone going to argue with me if I say that “play” is critical to the process of being creative? Go ahead, but I’ll warn you, it’s a very defensible position.

Now imagine you’re a business man who needs a creative solution. You agreed to cut your deadline from three months to one, what do you sacrifice? That’s right. You eliminate play. The good news is that you’re so talented you deliver great stuff on time.

The bad news is that your client’s (and your own for that matter) expectations have been set. The result: job after job delivered using that same past analogies combined to capture new forms. Sooner or later you run out of analogies and – thus – new forms are harder to find. Furthermore, in using the same past analogies, your tendency is to follow previous patterns.

My point: stop playing (uh - researching) and sooner rather than later you’re producing derivative executions. How long does it take before you’re clients notice?