Wax on, wax off: Why shortcuts kill creativity

Wax on. Wax off.

When Mr. Miyagi puts Daniel to work cleaning his fleet of classic cars, it feels pointless. It's repetitive, hard work and Daniel can’t see the goal.

It’s always tempting to skip the dull parts, especially now, when AI and shortcuts make it easier than ever to jump straight to the answer.

But those ‘boring’ fundamentals? They're often where the magic begins.

One thing I always tell junior creatives: A good planner will show you where to look, but not what to see.

If we’re told what to see, we don’t really look. We don’t explore. We don’t make the connections ourselves. And that’s exactly how the most powerful ideas are found. Through the work.

Albert Szent-Györgyi said it better:
‘Research is to see what everyone else has seen and to think what nobody has thought.’

So next time you get a brief, don’t skip the hard bits.

Read every page.
Uncover every insight.
Work through every angle.

That’s how you build stronger ideas. The kind that no one else took the time to find.

Wax on. Wax off.

Matt Arbon is Creative Partner and Co-Founder at ScienceFiction.