The Excellence Dilemma: A Survival Guide for Stressed-Out Creatives

9 helpful habits for protecting your creativity, authenticity, AND sanity when there’s mediocrity in your midst.

Paper collage on digital ground

Welcome (or welcome back!) to Multifaceted, a weekly newsletter about finding delight and direction in a creative life made up of many different interests.

I debated whether or not to write this piece. The general premise could come off sounding kind of… I don’t know, mean? 

But over the last few days, this topic has bubbled up in conversations with five different creatives on entirely separate occasions.

Either something’s in the water… or there’s a shared challenge that’s worth writing about.

So, what’s the problem? 

It’s a dilemma that comes with creative excellence: If you’re firing on all cylinders creatively, you’ll probably find it hard to cope with people who aren’t. 

It’s hard to thrive alongside collaborators or clients who you see as being less creative, less competent, and more wrong.

As multifaceted creatives, we’re critical thinkers and problem-solvers. We use divergent approaches to make connections nobody else can make. 

Our creative toolboxes run deep. We can call on skills across multiple disciplines because we dabble in everything. 

We’re not afraid to try new things since we do it all the time. So, we get up and running a lot faster. 

We might even get good at things faster, too – simply because we obsess over them until we’ve put in our 20% effort to achieve 80% success. 

Chances are, there’s also some other stuff going on in our busy brains. Maybe we’re highly sensitive. Neurodivergent. Struggling perfectionists or happy high-achievers. “Gifted and talented” – or wildly underestimated. 

These double-edged swords can enrich our creative lives while making it harder to play well with others who aren’t on the same wavelength. 

That’s us in a nutshell. 

And if we had our way, we’d while away the hours alone in a creative daydream, whipping up the most authentic work possible. Ideally, every project we touch could serve as a true reflection of our creative vision and a testament to all that we’re capable of.

Not always possible in the real world, is it? 

This isolated artist approach isn’t always desirable, either. Quite often, we need collaboration to make progress – or to make money. (Hey, team! Hello, clients!) 

Plus, a little creative community can go a long way toward our sense of belonging, fulfillment, and purpose. 

Best-case scenario, we pair up with creative partners who get it. We land dream clients whose desires match up perfectly with ours. Our paths cross with life-changing editors, directors, mentors, or managers who push us to make stronger work than ever. 

But we’ll always run into folks who let us down and drive us crazy throughout the creative process:

• The collaborator who drops the ball constantly. 

• The higher-up who pushes for a change that makes the final piece worse. 

• The client who ignores our expert advice – so we have to create work that's well below our standards to meet theirs. 

• The creative team that can’t get it right thanks to poor communication. (I imagine that’s how cringey, big-budget movies get made.)

• The specialist in another discipline who, somehow, isn’t as good as you are in that discipline.

It’s disappointing when group projects don’t go our way and when our very best work is dragged down a few notches. When our name and reputation are on the line, it’s hard to put work out there that we’re ultimately not happy with. 

Beyond that, it’s upsetting when other people hold us back and frustrating when they get in our way. 

Plus, it’s genuinely baffling to see others operate at a lower standard than our own. (Do they not see how badly the thing turned out? Do they not care? What’s that like??)

Whether we’re stuck with a mismatch in skill, vision, drive, or commitment level, it’s a real drag.

Unfortunately, this sort of scenario can crop up anytime. 

It doesn’t matter if you’re a creative employee, solopreneur, or artist who considers collaboration an essential part of your work. You’ll always come across somebody who makes you want to pull your hair out.

That’s just what happens when a creative with high standards walks into a (low) bar. 

Thinking back on my initial hesitation, I don’t think this idea is mean after all. It's just a challenge that people don't often talk about. 

At least, not in the creative sphere.

In sports (which I know very little about), the rising star gets bumped up to the varsity team. That way, they can play alongside and compete against people who are literally in their league. 

If they’re good enough, they’ll keep jumping up the levels until they’re at the Olympics.

Okay, cool. Now, where’s the equivalent structure for creative people? There’s no Art Olympics. (Not anymore, at least). Most creative leaders don’t hold tryouts and divide folks into varsity and junior varsity teams.

Nope, if you’re in the game, you’re playing with everyone.

So, how can you maintain both your sanity and creative integrity throughout the collaborative process?

Here’s what I’ve come up with. 

Call them survival tips, coping mechanisms, or friendly reminders, these practices can help you keep your cool even when there’s mediocrity in your midst: 

1. Don’t lower your standards. Maybe you’re stuck with a project leader who wants to cut corners left and right. Avoid adopting those habits for yourself. Maybe you can’t stop the project from being messy, but at least you’ll know you gave it your best effort.

2. Remember why you’re doing the work. Is your creative effort earning you a paycheck? Well then, maybe it’s not so upsetting to give your client the version they’re asking for, even if you like your version more. Are you just in it for fun? Try cutting your collaborators some slack and you’ll all have a better time.

3. Speak up through the appropriate channels. If you see something, say something! Maybe your team is scattered and nobody else caught the glaringly obvious issue. Let folks know and you might just make a difference. 

4. Make your multifaceted experience known. There’s a good chance nobody thought to approach you for help fixing up the messy part of the project. Offer to pitch in and steer things in the right direction.

5. Refocus your energy. If you’ve got too many cooks in the creative kitchen, there’s a chance your best efforts won’t make a difference. Don’t let the process, outcome, or people drive you too crazy – it’s not worth it. Pour your passion into another project and you’ll soon forget about what’s troubling you.

6. Reflect on your experience. See if you can discover something about yourself or find ways to stretch into new areas. For instance, say you’re a graphic designer but you have a better ear for podcast editing than you thought. On a future project, why not volunteer to take on the editing work?

7. Connect with other competent creatives. I guarantee this will restore your faith in humanity. Plus, you won’t feel so alone in your rage against mediocrity. (Remember when I said I had this same conversation with five people in one week? Yeah. You’re definitely not alone.)

8. Stay humble. You aren’t perfect in every way – none of us are! So, don’t let a big ego ruin your reputation. Nobody wants to work with a know-it-all.

9. Start from a place of empathy. Maybe you don’t think too highly of so-and-so’s work or skill set. Give them some grace, be patient, and try to see things from their point of view. 

Maybe you’ll find there’s more to the story than mediocrity, after all.