Uncertainty & Judgment

Uncertainty - Turning Fear & Doubt into Fuel for Brilliance, by Jonathan Fields

"Uncertainty & fear of judgment go hand in hand. The more you lean into uncertainty and the greater the risks you take to create something that didn't exist before, the greater will be the potential for you to be judged & criticized. The judgment is almost always served up in a three layer cake: Judgment from those whose approval you seek, judgment from those whose money you seek in exchange for our creations, and judgment from yourself." p.32

Let's take this apart a little and dismantle the foundation of the fear. Technically if we were looking at the dictionary definition of judgment or criticism we would understand that they are neutral. They are a measuring, and a weighing of the scales so to speak. Unfortunately, by their overuse in the negative, we have come to view judgment and criticism as nearly always detrimental, a slight, a condemnation, destructive in nature rather than constructive. After all, we do have a tendency to tear ourselves down with internal self-criticism thus confirming our distaste for any form of critique. Forging forward in creativity can be thwarted by our first thoughts on the journey.

I was very fortunate to be trained to receive judgment & criticism as not only neutral but constructive. During my years at University, studying for my Bachelors & Masters in Architecture, (interestingly a constructive industry) we were routinely required to display our endeavors thus far and receive the input of our fellow students, and the facility staff overseeing our education. This meant an internal battle with my fears on a routinely weekly basis, certainly not for the faint of heart. These events were called a 'Crit,' short for criticism. 

My childhood, to that point, was filled with negative judgment & criticism, a silent or verbal disapproval of nearly every decision I made. That foundation didn’t exactly fill me with courage for the weekly Crit. But what an incredible time of learning and progress awaited me on the inside, and I had the fortune to be surrounded by loving, kind & generous tutors. I learned to discern useful, thought through & valuable input from shallow, meaningless and subjective personal opinion. I learned how to apply those valuable insights to iterate and improve my designs. 

“Exposure to judgment and uncertainty aren’t going away. Nor, as a creator, do you want them to. Judgment, delivered constructively, provides the information needed to create at higher and higher levels. And uncertainty is a signpost of novelty and innovation, telling that what you’re creating is really worth creating.” p.35

It’s the feel of the balance of riding a bicycle to accept the uncertainty as opportunity, and face the fear of judgment & criticism, push through it like a vapor and find the gold of the feedback that you need for improvement. Search for it. It is vital, life giving and will bring you freedom. I’m on my bicycle daily feeling for that balance…